💥 The Week Technology Started Building Itself

While others wait for the news, I track the signals before they break — turning deeptech research into next-generation opportunities.

Invest Deeptech

Nov 11, 2025

🚀 Deeptech Edge Weekly

Reading the world’s quiet signals before they turn into tomorrow’s headlines.

📅 Tuesday, November 11, 2025 | Your 3-minute shortcut to the future of deeptech.

My Note | The Radar That Never Sleeps

Each week, I decode hidden deeptech signals into clear, practical opportunities (the ones forming quietly before the headlines).
I spend time where most people don’t: lab notes, new patents, early funding rounds, and quiet government filings.
That’s where the real shifts begin, and where the real opportunities start to form.

And the truth is, after years of manually searching, scanning, analyzing, and sharing what I found, I started building what I call DeepRadar™.
It’s my personal system that watches the edges of innovation.
Those small, early clues that something big might be about to move.
DeepRadar™ spots the dots and shows me the first signs of momentum.
Then I connect them.
To make sense of what they mean and where the next opportunities might rise.

And this week, three new signals stood out clearly.
Together, they point to one thing: technology is starting to build by itself.

Let’s break it down👇

Signal #1 | Labs That Run Themselves

What’s happening:
A new peer-reviewed paper, “Self-Driving Laboratories for Chemistry and Materials Science,” explains how research labs are automating entire discovery cycles, from material design to testing. Read the study on ACS Chemical Reviews

These labs now run thousands of experiments per week, adjusting in real time based on what they learn.
In one example, a team discovered a new catalyst in just 21 hours (a process that used to take months).
And this isn’t theoretical. Battery and polymer research labs are already running autonomous pilot programs.
Supporting study: Autonomous Self-Driving Laboratories (PMC)

Why it matters:
This is the biggest shift in how discovery happens since the rise of the internet.
Research no longer depends on waiting for people, it’s continuous, adaptive, and self-improving.
Faster, cheaper breakthroughs in energy, health, and materials are now within reach.

For investors:
This is the cloud moment for R&D. The infrastructure layer will create the biggest wins: lab automation platforms, robotic hardware, and experiment management systems.
These companies will generate recurring data royalties and long-term partnerships with institutions.
Follow startups that partner early with major labs or spin out from university research programs, they’ll lead the first wave of consolidation.

For founders:
Build for speed and reliability. Labs want less complexity, more throughput.
Focus on products that make it easier to run, track, or optimize experiments.
Forget selling “AI for labs.” Sell measurable outcomes: “10x more experiments per week,” “half the cost per test.”
Proof will outperform hype every time.

For builders:
If you can connect instruments, automate tasks, or visualize experiments, you’re building the new foundation of research.
Learn how to integrate robotics APIs, sensors, and data management tools.
You’re not replacing scientists, you’re giving them superpowers.

My move:
Track early pilots in energy storage and drug discovery.
Once a lab publishes a material or drug developed entirely through automation, this field will take off.

Signal #2 | Europe’s Deeptech Engine Is Starting to Roar

What’s happening:
McKinsey’s new report shows how Europe’s deep-tech strategy (linking research, capital, and policy) could unlock over €1 trillion in value. Read the McKinsey report

BCG’s study adds even more weight, projecting up to €8 trillion in potential value across energy, materials, and semiconductors if the continent maintains its momentum. Read the BCG analysis

Why it matters:
Europe’s strength is shifting from speed to trust.
Once a company meets EU safety and data standards, it can sell across all 27 member states.
That’s regulation turning into infrastructure and compliance turning into scale.

For investors:
This is Europe’s infrastructure moment. The best returns will come from deep foundations: chip foundries, testing centers, certification hubs, and secure data platforms.
These are long-term, compounding assets that governments and corporations both rely on.
Follow where public and private funding align, that’s where durable value builds.

For founders:
Treat compliance like design.
If your product is transparent, traceable, and regulation-ready, you’ll scale faster.
EU programs like Horizon Europe and the EIC Fund are already backing deep-tech startups at seed level.
Learn their language early; it opens doors others can’t unlock.

For builders:
Engineering now needs a trust layer.
Document how your systems work, record key decisions, and handle data transparently.
The developers who can merge technology with accountability will define Europe’s next decade of growth.

My move:
Watch for new EIC funding calls in 2026, especially around quantum and photonics.
When one of those clusters gets full funding, it will attract the next generation of European unicorns.

Signal #3 | Computers That Think with Light

What’s happening:
New patents and research papers describe processors that compute using light instead of electricity.
Patent: Photonic In-Memory Co-Processor (US 11556312)
Research: Photonic Tensor Core, Nature 2025

These “photonic chips” handle massive calculations while staying cool and ultra-efficient (up to 100 times more performance per watt).
They could soon power everything from data centers to defense systems, replacing silicon chips where energy costs are critical.

Why it matters:
Every computing system today is hitting power and heat limits.
Light-based computing removes that barrier.
This is the kind of foundational shift that redefines industries, similar to how transistors transformed electronics 70 years ago.

For investors:
This is the quiet arms race of the next decade.
The smart play is the ecosystem around the chips: photonic foundries, design software, packaging tech, and developer toolchains.
The first company to make photonics programmable (like CUDA did for GPUs) will lead a trillion-dollar market.

For founders:
Don’t compete on hardware.
Build the ecosystem that makes hardware usable.
Simulation tools, developer SDKs, photonic design frameworks (these are the real leverage points).
The easier you make it to develop on photonics, the more valuable your product becomes.

For builders:
If you’re curious about how light works, start learning optics.
You don’t need a physics degree, just understand how information travels in waves, not wires.
Engineers who can code for light will be rare, well-paid, and hard to replace.

My move:
Follow early telecom and defense pilots.
Once they prove reliable performance with photonic chips, capital will rush in from every direction.

🔮 Prediction Drop

By 2026, a fully automated lab will publish results without human hands touching a thing.
By 2027, Europe’s Deeptech Engine will create its first €20 billion innovation cluster.
By 2028, light-based processors will power one in every four connected devices.

Progress isn’t slowing down.
It’s starting to run itself.

💡 My Lens (Where the Future Tilts)

All three signals tell the same story:
We’re moving from manual progress to self-driving progress.

Labs that learn.
Policies that scale.
Computers that run on light.

If I had to bet, the future tilts toward the people who see these patterns early and build into them. Not someday, but now.

❤️ Why I Care

I don’t write this to chase hype.
I write because I believe the right people ( founders, builders, investors ) can shape the future if they see it early enough.

That’s what DeepRadar™ is for.
It finds the early signals so you don’t miss them.
And what I share here is my read : what they mean, where they lead, and how to move before the crowd.

This is your edge.
Use it first. Use it well.
And when it pays off, tell me, so we can help more people grow.

🤝 Join the Community (Be the First to Build What’s Next)

I’m building The Deeptech Signal Network , a small group of founders, investors, and builders who share one under-the-radar signal each week.

If you spot a new patent, funding round, or policy draft worth watching:
👉 Send it to info@investdeeptech.com or just reply to this email.

You’ll get credit in next week’s issue : your name, your signal, your edge.

Let’s build the world’s radar together!

📲 Stay Connected

Instagram → @InvestDeeptech
LinkedIn → Invest Deeptech | Eden Djanashvili
Twitter/X → @InvestDeeptech

See you next Tuesday!
DeepRadar™ never sleeps.
It’s already scanning for next week’s signals.

—
Eden Djanashvili
Author, Invest Deeptech

🛑 For information only. Not financial advice.