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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsDeep-tech startups typically need more patient financing and take longer to move between funding stages than other technology firms. An OECD report, attributing the comparison to BCG (2023), says deep-tech ventures take an average of 25–40% longer between funding stages and face higher failure risks at each stage. That statistic is about the interval between rounds—not total time to revenue. Software ventures can often commercialize more quickly, but that does not make every software business inexpensive or low-risk.
For founders and investors, the practical comparison is not a universal dollar amount. It is how much validation, time, and capital a particular business needs before it can show credible technical and commercial progress.
What counts as deep-tech or a software startup?
Deep-tech generally refers to ventures built around science- or engineering-intensive technologies. Software startups span a much wider set of business models, markets, and infrastructure needs. Neither label predicts a company’s funding requirement on its own: a software company operating in a regulated market or running costly infrastructure may need substantial capital, while a deep-tech company may secure a commercial contract earlier than a typical development path suggests.
It is more useful to compare milestones and financing conditions than to treat either category as uniform. The OECD’s 2026 financing report discusses differences between deep-tech and other technology firms; its category-level findings are tendencies, not forecasts for an individual company.
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Why funding needs differ
Deep-tech can have a longer pre-revenue development period
Innovative startups may need external finance when internal resources cannot cover the work required to develop an offering before revenue begins. Deep-tech companies can face a particularly demanding gap: they may need to fund technical development and commercialization while the technology’s performance, customer demand, or both remain uncertain. A World Bank report describes this challenge in terms of needing to validate technical performance while also finding product-market fit.
This creates a practical difficulty for fundraising. Conventional indicators such as revenue growth and customer acquisition cost may not yet be available, and intellectual property can be difficult to value before the company has revenue. The World Bank also identifies limited early-stage specialist deep-tech capital and a lack of in-house technical expertise at some generalist investors as barriers to assessment. These structural observations come from its 2021 report, Financing Deep Tech.
Software may commercialize sooner, but is not automatically capital-light
The OECD says ICT companies, particularly software businesses, are easier or faster to commercialize and tend to have relatively low demand uncertainty. That is a relative sector observation, not a promise that a software startup will find product-market fit, become profitable, or raise its next round quickly. Software companies may still need significant financing for product development, hiring, customer acquisition, infrastructure, or expansion.
There is no universal dollar comparison
The sources do not establish a standard total funding requirement for either category. A meaningful estimate depends on the company’s technology, development plan, market, infrastructure, regulatory context, and evidence required for its next financing milestone. A category-wide dollar figure would obscure those differences.
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How do funding timelines compare?
The clearest quantitative comparison is that deep-tech ventures take an average of 25–40% longer between funding stages than other tech firms. The OECD’s 2026 report attributes this statistic to BCG (2023). It describes the average interval between funding stages; it does not say how many months or years a particular company will take to raise, or how long either category takes to reach revenue.
Deep-tech timelines can be less predictable because several technical components may need to work together before the company can demonstrate performance. At the same time, it must identify a market and establish that customers will pay. The World Bank report puts the distinction plainly: “Development timelines for deep tech are less predictable than for other start-ups.” Its account describes a double unknown—technical validation and product-market fit—which can delay the revenue and customer-traction evidence investors often use.
The OECD also reports higher failure risks at each funding stage for deep-tech ventures than for other technology firms. The sources do not provide a like-for-like failure-rate percentage or a fixed time-to-revenue benchmark for either category. Founders should therefore use their own technical and commercial milestones, rather than a category average, to build a funding timeline.
Which financing approaches may fit?
Financing options are not interchangeable. Their suitability depends on eligibility, geography, control, investor expertise, and the milestone the company must fund. The OECD and other institutional sources describe several approaches in the deep-tech financing landscape:
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- Venture capital: Can bring financing as well as expertise and networks, but investors need evidence they can assess against the company’s stage and risk.
- Grants and public support: May help fund development without relying solely on conventional equity financing; availability and eligibility depend on the relevant program and location.
- Public-private participation or co-investment: Governments use these approaches to mobilize patient capital for strategic sectors, according to the OECD.
- Longer-horizon or evergreen capital: Can be relevant where technical development and commercialization do not fit a short funding horizon.
- Corporate partnerships: May connect a venture with industry expertise or commercial opportunities, depending on the partner and agreement.
- Hybrid capital and venture debt or equity: A 2018 European Commission study recommends financial instruments better adapted to deep-tech risk, alongside stronger innovation ecosystems. These are policy approaches, not a prescription for every company.
For software ventures, a faster route to commercialization may make product and customer milestones more central to a financing plan. It does not eliminate the need to match capital to the company’s actual development and growth costs.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to plan the next funding milestone
Instead of asking only how much money companies in a category usually raise, founders can work backward from the evidence their next funding stage needs. The OECD’s incubation guidance identifies technological readiness, product-market fit, sales history, and management competencies as factors that inform investment readiness.
- Define the milestone. State what the funding is meant to establish: for example, technical performance, customer validation, a commercial contract, or a repeatable sales process.
- Separate technical proof from market proof. For deep-tech, specify what must work technically and what evidence will show that customers need and will pay for it. For software, distinguish a working product from evidence of sustained customer demand.
- Estimate the runway to that evidence. Build the timeline from the work, dependencies, and commercial steps ahead. Do not convert the 25–40% average funding-stage interval into a company-specific deadline.
- Choose financing that fits the work and horizon. Compare equity, grants, public support, co-investment, partnerships, and other instruments based on eligibility, control, expertise, and timing—not simply on whether a company is labeled deep-tech or software.
- Make the next investor’s assessment possible. Identify the technical, customer, revenue, or management evidence that can be credibly delivered before the next raise, especially if standard revenue metrics are not yet available.
Historical policy examples in institutional reports are not proof that a specific fund or program is currently open or that a startup qualifies. Verify current availability and eligibility with the relevant provider before relying on a particular source of capital.
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