Europe does not have a deep tech problem. It has a commercialisation problem.

The last European companies to reach €100B+ market caps were SAP and ASML, both founded 40–50 years ago. If Europe wants a new generation of deep tech champions, venture capital alone won’t get us there. Customers have to step in.

In this episode, Andreas Munk Holm is joined by Martin Schilling, former operator, investor, and founder of Deep Tech Momentum, to unpack why Europe excels at funding breakthroughs, but consistently fails to industrialise them.

This is a conversation about:

• why enterprise buyers are the missing link in European deep tech

• what corporates are doing wrong (and how they can fix it)

• how founders actually win large customers in complex, regulated markets

• and why courage — not grants — is Europe’s real constraint

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🎧 Here’s what’s covered:

• 01:15 Martin’s background: from N26 operator to deep tech ecosystem builder

• 01:52 What is Deep Tech Momentum (DTM)?

• 03:00 Why commercialisation — not capital — is the real bottleneck

• 04:19 The age gap: Europe’s top companies vs the US

• 06:26 Why US corporates acquire twice as many startups as Europe

• 06:54 The uncomfortable truth: Europe funds innovation others industrialise

• 08:54 Why corporates (not just VCs) must change behaviour

• 10:49 Neo-primes: the new system integrators Europe desperately needs

• 12:50 The four things corporates must fix to work with startups

• 15:06 Why startup collaboration must be CEO-owned

• 17:14 Buyers first: why conferences get this wrong

• 19:03 Money + customers: the only two things founders really need

• 21:27Trust, speed, and why procurement kills startups

• 23:25 Why trust starts inside the corporate, not with founders

• 27:03 Selling deep tech to enterprises & governments: what actually works

• 32:03 When CVCs help — and when they hurt

• 33:08 Enterprise sales mistakes founders keep making

• 38:28 Deep tech sales reality: defense, policy, and long cycles

• 44:57 Why DTM is not EU-funded — by design

• 49:07 The state’s real role: customer, not grant machine

• 49:23 Final takeaway: Europe needs courage, not more programs