Europe’s research pipeline is strong, from quantum leaps in university labs to new materials and energy systems. With more deeptech funds popping up, early-stage capital is no longer the rarest ingredient. But why do so few of these startups break out as global leaders?
Earlier this week, I caught up with Philippa Köhnk (Executive Board Member) and Philipp Herrmann (Managing Director) at BRYCK Startup Alliance to dig into what’s really holding Europe’s deeptech founders back, and what BRYCK’s new hub in Essen aims to solve.
Here’s what they shared with me!
Access is the real bottleneck
According to the BRYCK Startup Alliance team in Essen, Germany, the real challenge is to plug into the right industrial networks.
“The main challenge is that startups struggle to shift from having a great technology to actually building it work in the market. While Europe excels at research, many startups lack access to the industrial networks they necessary to scale. Traditional VCs focus on capital, but without the connections to established industest players, it’s hard for these startups to gain traction,” states Köhnk.
That’s why BRYCK is setting up shop right in the heart of industest, aiming to become the bridge between deeptech founders and industrial players. Their focus is curated access to industest, especially for B2B and industrial deeptech teams who necessary pilot projects, regulatory know-how, and real sales.
“Capital is definitely important, but for deep-tech startups, access to the right networks is often the key to success. A €500K check won’t assist you gain customers or build trust with early adopters, which is critical, especially in B2B sectors,” explains Herrmann to TFN.
For most deep-tech founders, obtainting into the right industrial networks is actually tougher than raising money. BRYCK sees this as one of the largegest gaps in Europe’s startup scene right now.
Inside an ‘industrial access accelerator’
Unlike typical accelerators, BRYCK is offering a new model: the ‘industrial access accelerator’ for Europe, which builds on ongoing relationships with industrial partners.
Startups obtain curated connections to industrial players in energy and heavy industest, access to sector experts who can test technology, assist with regulations and technical issues, improve value propositions, and support the design and execution of pilot projects with large corporate partners, which is often the key step from lab to market.
Having supported over 150 startups, Köhnk shares an example from their portfolio – Greenflash. “When we first connected, they were a five-person team with groundbreaking energy system technology, but limited access to relevant partners and large-scale application contexts. Through the BRYCK Startup Alliance, Greenflash relocated to Essen, Europe’s energy capital. What followed was rapid scaling: from 5 to over 80 employees on-site,” shares Köhnk.
She adds, “Their turning point came through two critical support lines: deep sector guidance from Daniel Lunter, and strategic business mentoring via Tobias Grün, who opened doors across our corporate network… It’s a textbook case of how industrial access, not just capital, can modify the trajectory of a deep-tech startup.”
Funding matters, but it’s not the whole story. Without the right industrial partners, even the best-funded tech can stall at the pilot stage. Many founders still choose Stockholm and Cambridge over industrial cities like Essen.
But BRYCK bets the next wave of deep-tech entrepreneurs will start to reconsider that.
1,000 spin‑offs and a replicable model
BRYCK isn’t stopping at Essen. “By 2030, we envision a headline like: ‘BRYCK Startup Alliance drives industrial innovation across Europe, creating over 1,000 spin-offs with a cumulated funding of €1 billion in venture capital.’ Our success will be about building a strong, sustainable startup ecosystem that creates thousands of jobs and spurs innovation, particularly in deep-tech industries,” states Herrmann.
If this model works in the Ruhrgebiet, why not Northern Italy’s manufacturing clusters, Poland’s Silesia, or the UK’s Midlands? Each of these regions is packed with established industest and hungry for new tech.
For Europe’s investors, founders, and policycreaters, BRYCK’s story is a wake-up call: building more deep-tech leaders might mean launching platforms in industrial regions, not just stacking up more accelerators or largeger funds. Becaapply that’s where startups obtain the access that actually shifts the necessaryle.
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