Matthias DeGroote at Boehringer Ingelheim, Kaisa Helminen at Aiforia Technologies, and David Sonnek at Navigare Ventures, about NLSDays’ Deep Tech super session interviewed by Chelsea Ranger, Senior advisor, SwedenBIO Numerous success stories have proven that the life sciences are a great use-case for advanced technologies across the entire value chain, from bioelectronics and bioinformatics to improved diagnostics and digitalization. The coalescence of life science and technology has created a host of highly impactful companies and sectors that did not exist a few short years ago, many of which now fall within a broader definition of “deep technology.” The Nordics are leaders in technology and life sciences, so it comes as no surprise that we are also a growing hub for deep tech. Finland is already considered one of Europe’s most advanced deep tech-focused ecosystems, having launched the Nordic’s first deep tech-dedicated fund in 2019 with Voima Ventures. It is now estimate that, between Finland and Norway, 40% of venture capital is going into deep tech start-ups. Here, we’ve asked three of the five session speakers for their take on deep tech and their upcoming session at Nordic Life Science days 2022. Matthias DeGroote, Applied Quantum Computing Scientist, Boehringer Ingelheim Boehringer has made a considerable investment in the application of quantum computing in the drug discovery cycle. We have a team of experts to understand the technology, map out its potential to our company, and research new solutions. All team members have a different scientific background which together covers much of the quantum computing research field. Since there is no knowledge imbalance when partnering with deep tech companies, we can better understand solutions, assess their value for Boehringer, and move quickly past proof of concepts to more meaningful applications. Our projects are driven by challenging use-cases from a wide range of internal departments. We engage with top-level partners (big corporations and startups) when there is complimentary expertise and a clear chance to boost our progress toward the application of quantum computers in our value chain. The projects we start are ambitious and allow startups and academic groups to undertake high risk/high reward investigations that they would not normally be able to without a strong partner. This pushes partners to expand their portfolio beyond existing solutions. We are focused on co-creation with partnering scientists where both parties bring specific expertise and, in this way, we raise the scientific level of both teams and allow bilateral knowledge transfer. Everybody involved is aligned to the same goal: develop faster, better and safer solutions to improve the health of humans and animals. In addition, we have a long history of drug development with large amounts of experimental and computational data at our disposal. This data forms a testbed for technology that is almost impossible to emulate and which can deliver realistic benchmarks of product performance. These benchmarks can be a valuable tool for startups to prove their potential to investors and new customers. And the quantum computing lab’s expertise also feeds into our internal investment strategy, which keeps a close track of the fast-developing startup scene globally. Kaisa Helminen, Chief Operating Officer at Aiforia Technologies Deeptech is one of the core elements that makes Aiforia. We are a medtech company, diagnostics company, SaaS company, and so on — powered by deeptech. From the technology perspective, this is the heart of our company: building products based on high tech innovations. One of the key success factors has been that we’ve been able to hire and retain exemplary technology talent in the team, all of whom are a real asset in developing highly complex, robust products in a way that it is practical and easy-to-use even for scientific experts without prior experience or knowledge about the technology. We empower pathologists and scientists in a way that goes beyond capabilities of a human eye (AI-supported diagnosis) and, in this way, can improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis and drug development processes, both benefiting the patient. Our team members are previously successful entrepreneurs who are hands-on in our field, so we have a deep understanding of the customer needs and like to refer to ourselves as ‘scientists providing products to other scientists’. We also have comprehensive, global connections in the field, helping to advance our business and its awareness. We absolutely relate to the sentiment that deep techs are THE game changers that will tackle society’s biggest problems related to health, life science, and the environment – and strongly believe that startups and growth companies have the agility, speed, and courage that is needed to rapidly test, try, revise, try again etc, which is needed to find the product-market fit. Aiforia’s strengths are our team, our agility, and our innovative prowess. David Sonnek, CEO of Navigare Ventures At Navigare Ventures, we believe that science is the basis of innovation and societal progress. The core of our activities is to closely follow scientific developments and invest in the hottest and most promising areas. Today, Life science is going through a technology renaissance, and we are very excited by the opportunities. A part of this renaissance is the convergence of traditional life science and technology. By combining biological data of the human genome, proteins, biochemical pathways etc, with methods from mathematics and engineering, it is possible to build digital representations of biological systems. Using these, without setting the foot in a bio lab, scientists can explore the human physiology, diseases and discover new cures. This development opens a universe of opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors. Thank you so much and see you in Malmö! Super Session 1 28 September 2022 Diving into deep tech – from buzzword to benefit in life sciences