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Deep Tech investments

We help the tech start-ups powering the next industrial revolution

Our Deep Tech portfolio

Orbex logo
Orbex logo

Backed in

2020

Status

Current

Founder(s)

Chris Larmour
Deep techorbex.space

About Orbex

Orbex is finding ways to put tech into orbit more cheaply and more sustainably. The team uses the latest 3D printing techniques to build components quickly and cheaply for their rockets.

The company has developed one of the most advanced, low-carbon, high-performance micro-launch vehicles in the world, Orbex Prime.

It offers a flexible core launch service and a suite of supporting services to make life easier for customers. Its advanced launch vehicle means higher reliability, more flexible mission profile types and a regular, scheduled launch service.

The market for small launch services is large but there was no dedicated micro-launch facility in Europe. The combination of demand, limited supply and Orbex’s market-leading position has enabled them to agree contracts for their first 25 launches, just five years after the company’s formation.

Space these days has become the provision of billionaires but Orbex represents a new breed. Its progress towards achieving sustainable space travel will have positive repercussions over generations.

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Quantum Motion logo
Quantum Motion logo

Backed in

2020

Status

Current

Founder(s)

Simon Benjamin & John Morton

About Quantum Motion

Quantum Motion launched to commercialise world-leading silicon spin technology and architecture developed at University College London and the University of Oxford.

The company is developing a revolutionary technology platform – not just a qubit but a scalable array of qubits based on the ubiquitous silicon technology already used in smartphones and computers.

Silicon-based integrated circuit technology is the bedrock of a digital revolution. It allows billions of transistors to fit in a stamp-sized space.

Quantum Motion’s goal is to fast-track the development of true fault tolerant quantum computers and reach one million qubits and beyond, by leveraging existing knowledge in device fabrication within the trillion-dollar silicon industry.

This technology will power high-impact applications in areas vital for human progress in the 21st century: in-software discovery of new chemicals, materials and drugs; the reduction of wastage through optimisation of resource usage; and enabling new models for AI and machine learning.

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WaveOptics logo

Backed in

2020

Status

Current

Founder(s)

Richard Parker

About Altitude Angel

A pioneer in the drone industry, Altitude Angel provides software that helps autonomous drones safely integrate into the sky. The Altitude Angel team wants to enable more people to access automated drone technology. They know that to do this, drone air traffic needs to exist harmoniously alongside all other airspace use.

This technology is an important first step towards making airspace operations less human-centric and more machine-centric, and has the potential to transform lives and businesses through safe, unmanned deliveries.

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Evi logo
Magic pony technology
Origami Energy logo
Origami Energy logo

Backed in

2014

Status

Current

Founder(s)

Peter Bance
Deep tech

About Origami Energy

Origami’s independent energy data platform is accelerating the global green energy transition.

Its technology gives access to all major energy and short-term power markets. This enables energy companies to harness the shifting commercial opportunities of the transition and optimise increasingly complex physical, financial and contractual positions.

Understanding assets takes agile, real-time digital infrastructure, whether grid-connected or behind the meter. So Origami provides advanced SaaS applications for asset owner-operators, energy services companies and route-to-market providers.

It helps customers with peer-to-peer electricity trading, ambitious ESG strategies, fully matched 24/7 green tariffs and more.

The cloud-based platform gives greater transparency and control over complex portfolio performance. Its SaaS applications give instant access to robust data. Together, they make successful trading in complex markets much more accessible.

Ultimately, Origami allows asset owners and energy service companies to focus on their portfolio efficiency over long periods. This means future-proofed customers against a backdrop of complexity and volatility.

Origami is on a mission to help build a green energy world, powered by smart technology – by building and investing in the most powerful open, modular and configurable solutions for the energy transition.

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Trafi logo
Trafi logo

Backed in

2013

Status

Current

Founder(s)

Martynas Gudonavičius & Mantas Vizbaras
Deep techtrafi.com

About Trafi

Trafi builds connected mobility solutions for people, cities and companies to move towards a more balanced and sustainable future.

It works with cities to connect and automate all their mobility options – from public transport to micro-mobility and every service in between – into a single platform.

And it works with businesses to create mobility solutions, budgets and apps that help corporates achieve their sustainability goals, while giving employees something they love to use.

Trafi is helping users find, plan, book and pay for all their trips. It covers all needs, like assistance planning and routes discovery, real-time public transport information and shared mobility vehicle location and availability. It also offers a streamlined payment solution for any integrated mobility service, plus the possibility to compare the duration and cost of each trip.

The company powers Jelbi in Berlin – the world’s largest MaaS network – and Yumuv – Switzerland’s intercity solution and the first regional MaaS network in the world. Its tech also enhances mobility products developed by Google, Apple, Lyft and Gojek.

Trafi wants to encourage the global shift to shared mobility systems that are managed by cities, enhanced by companies and used by people everywhere, including generations to come.

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vHive logo
vHive logo

Backed in

2019

Status

Current

Founder(s)

CEO Yariv Geller and CTO Tomer Daniel.

About vHive

Construction inspection today puts people in danger. Whether it is climbing a tower, scaling scaffolds, hanging off the side of a bridge or needing to move heavy equipment throughout a worksite, Field staff need to get to unreachable places in order to sample data. vHive are solving this human problem through drones, which can reach and gather data. But the future of drone technology in everyday business operations is not about a single expert pilot flying a single drone, but in multiple drone operators managing autonomous hives across several industries- telecommunications, insurance, agriculture and construction. vHive’s end to end, cloud-based enterprise platform does just that through the power of AI-powered analytics. Based on the data captured throughout the years, vHive has developed a robust AI engine to support the operational and business needs of enterprise customers. Guaranteeing safety by using autonomous drones decreases the risk for employee injuries, increases the visibility to high-resolution imagery and helps businesses identify, collaborate and take actions on business insights.

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Phoelex logo

Who we’re backing

Advancing technology touches every aspect of our lives: agriculture, education, health, commerce, communication. We seek out the founders who are solving deep technical problems across every industry in ways that will transform our world. They’ve pioneered new business models to create opportunities and invent entirely new markets.

We’ve supported start-ups such as augmented reality eyewear manufacturer WaveOptics, machine learning software company Magic Pony Technology, orbital launch services leader Orbex and silicon chip analytics provider UltraSoc.

Why us?

We bring our own deep scientific expertise, experience of growing complex businesses, and rich networks of universities, angel investors and experts to help make your big idea a reality.

The successes of the teams we’ve invested in speak for themselves. They’re powering Snap’s AR glasses, revolutionising the food supply chains and delivering payloads into orbit. It’s results like these that drive our passion to invest time, heart and hope into your vision, from quantum computing to robotics, and sensory augmentation to 3D printing. We have an office in the US and extensive resources to help founders who are based or expanding there.

Octopus Ventures Deep Tech team

The investment process

These are the general steps we follow – note that the process is slightly different at the pre-seed stage of investment.

Step 1

Send us your deck – if we think we’re a fit for your business, we’ll set up a call

Step 2

Meet some of our investors at a discovery meeting

Step 3

We’ll visit you at your office and spend some time with your team

Step 4

Present to our wider team at a partnership meeting

Step 5

We’ll tell you our final decision – if we’re not investing, we’ll say why

Our Deep tech portfolio founders

David Mitchell XYZ founder

Cloud construction: David Mitchell

Deep Tech
Founder David's augmented reality solution helps construction teams get the build right, first time…

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