IEEE’s Hard Tech Venture Summit convened innovators at SRI to refine strategies and build new networks.
Today’s hard tech startups play a different game than the software companies that once defined Silicon Valley. Building novel physical components based on significant scientific or engineering breakthroughs, these companies are advancing sectors like robotics, materials, semiconductors and electronics, aerospace, and biotechnology.
“After a period where software startups dominated the entrepreneurial landscape due to their scalability and lower initial costs, hard tech is witnessing a renaissance,” observes Bruno Iafelice, who chairs the IEEE Hard Tech Venture Summit, a program of IEEE Entrepreneurship and the IEEE Systems Council that aims to bridge the gap between lab research and scalable production.
But scaling a hard tech startup presents unique challenges. These companies typically require long time horizons. And, unlike many software companies, they’re often confronting a significant degree of technical risk in addition to the omnipresent market risk.
“Telerobotic surgery was just a concept when SRI started putting the pieces together. Now, our spinout Intuitive and its da Vinci system save lives. That’s why we’re so excited about these opportunities to convene the hard tech and deep tech entrepreneurs of the future.” — Peter Marcotullio
This April, IEEE convened its Silicon Valley Hard Tech Venture Summit at SRI’s Menlo Park lab. This is hallowed ground for technology innovators — the place that gave birth to the first AI-powered robot, invented the computer mouse, and made internetworking a reality.
The two-day program brought together early-stage founders with VCs, angel investors, and service providers for pitch sessions and discussions of topics like regulatory compliance, manufacturing challenges, and opportunity areas like agricultural automation and clean energy. Investor participants included Bosch Ventures, Althing Ventures, At One Ventures, Samsung Next, Sony Semiconductor Solutions, and Monozukuri Ventures.
“The summit reflected strong momentum in hard tech innovation,” says Don Tan, vice president of technical activities at IEEE. “It brought together more than one hundred startups and investors, showcased outstanding technologies, and demonstrated how IEEE helps innovators — both IEEE and non-IEEE members — build long-term relationships that can turn research into new ventures. Being at SRI made it especially meaningful, given SRI’s extraordinary legacy of innovation and its nine IEEE Milestones.”
By serving as a convening hub for founders, investors, and ecosystem stakeholders like IEEE, SRI is bringing tomorrow’s world-changing breakthroughs out of the lab and into the real world. In addition to its work with IEEE, SRI is accelerating hard tech and deep tech solutions through efforts like its Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, the Deep Tech Security Accelerator, Global Innovation Labs, and many other recent projects focused on cultivating the global innovation ecosystems of the future.
Hard tech isn’t easy, emphasizes Peter Marcotullio, SRI’s senior vice president of commercialization. It requires a profound technical insight followed by years of persistence and strategic iteration.
“But that persistence pays off in ways that are far more than just financial,” Marcotullio adds. “Telerobotic surgery was just a concept when SRI started putting the pieces together. Now, our spinout Intuitive and its da Vinci system save lives. That’s why we’re so excited about these opportunities to convene the hard tech and deep tech entrepreneurs of the future.”
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