Heike Freund

Can Germany Win the DeepTech Race?

The core message of the session is that Germany has credible scientific strength in DeepTech, but winning globally depends on turning research into scalable companies with the right teams, partnerships, and growth capital. Jannis Gilde frames the discussion by arguing that Germany “missed kind of the digital race” in areas such as cloud and AI, and is now pinning hopes on DeepTech as a driver of economic growth. He notes positive ecosystem signals: newly founded startups are growing in Germany, including in DeepTech, and Germany performs well against the United States on publications in science and engineering per capita and on R&D expenses relative to GDP. The problem, as he presents it, is that this research base has not yet translated into a reliable path for scaling global market leaders. Heike Freund explains Marvel Fusion’s work as commercializing fusion energy: using fusion, the process that powers the sun, to create CO2-free, safe, reliable electricity without long-lived radioactive waste or chain reactions. She challenges the familiar “twenty years away” framing, saying the probability of seeing fusion power plants at work somewhere in the next ten years is higher than not seeing them. Her confidence rests on several specific factors: scientific breakthroughs, including the 2022 U.S. demonstration of more energy out than in using a laser-based approach; technological progress in lasers; urgent electricity demand; early customer contracts in the U.S. from big tech companies; and multiple companies working to commercialize fusion energy. The discussion then moves from the technology to company-building. Gilde highlights that while Germany’s research position is strong, active startups per capita are only about 55% of the U.S. level, and German Startup Monitor data shows 30% of German DeepTech founders come from research, meaning 70% bring experience from corporates, startups, and other environments. Freund says Marvel Fusion’s progress from lab technology to company has depended on three pillars: a diverse 150-person team from over 25 countries, strong academic and industrial partnerships such as its strategic partnership with Siemens Energy, and funding. She says Marvel Fusion has €400 million in private and public funding, but compared with the largest U.S. fusion companies, “there would be a zero missing at the end.” Freund also describes why she left a successful ten-year McKinsey career after meeting Marvel Fusion founder Moritz in spring 2020. She was persuaded by the potential of fusion, the emerging laser breakthroughs, and the chance to help grow a company of fewer than 10 people into a DeepTech venture addressing energy. On investment, she argues that DeepTech investors need to see an execution-capable team, tangible milestones, a plan to de-risk physics and technology, and evidence that the company does what it says. The provided transcript ends as the conversation broadens to the German DeepTech ecosystem, where Freund says early-stage startup culture and early-stage capital have improved, but the remaining challenge is scaling.