Ignite Next has become a publicly known company that will operate as a scale-up programme with European roots. The main focus of the company is technology-based deep tech innovation, thus the company aims to find answer to one of the most persistent questions in Europe: how to effectively convert outstanding scientific research into industrial companies that can compete on the global market. Ignite Next is a programme, which logically operates in Dresden, in the middle of Silicon Saxony. The team, which is the main catalyst of the widely known programme Intel Ignite, is also the board of Ignite Next. Lead by a more collaborative vision, the team is now working as a separate entity.
With a focus solely on the development of the most innovative and complex technologies, Ignite Next did not want to be seen as a normal accelerator but rather as an agent that helps crossover the valley that exists between the laboratory and industrial-scale triumph. The programme therefore intends to take the successful cases of startups, the investors, and the technology giants from the global stage (the mentioned partners are Intel and Infineon) one step further by providing the founders with easy and unmediated access to the industry experts, decision-makers, and long-term commercial tracks.
Europe’s problem with the deep tech scaleup challenge
Europe is an area where science is well-advanced, and there are many sources of funds for the early-stage of companies, but the majority of deep tech startups have difficulties in progressing from pilots to proofs of concept. According to the CEO and co-founder of Ignite Next Markus Bohl, the real gatekeeper to that area is the step of scaling – more specifically, the step of gaining access to collaboration with the industry that would be able to both confirm, implement, and commercialize complex technologies.
Ignite Next is willing to solve that issue in a rather direct way: they provide assistance to founders on their journey from the point of pre-seed to further ventures such as Series B and beyond. This aid is rendered in the form of practice product–market fit, polishing go-to-market strategies, and acquiring follow-on funding faster. In fact, every three-month cohort provides a great deal of technical mentorship, commercial validation, and investor engagement, and is still fully non-dilutive.
“We’re creating the bridge that deep tech European founders have been longing for,” Bohl stated.
A model with multiple partners and founder-first
As a separate entity, Ignite Next is free to form a collaboration with different industry partners across various domains at the frontier of research such as semiconductors, photonics, robotics, AI, advanced manufacturing, and quantum technologies. Despite the fact that Intel and Infineon are great contributors, Ignite Next keeps its strategic freedom thus allowing deeper engagement across sectors without being limited by corporates.
“We keep on doing the same thing,” Bohl said. “It is a non-dilutive process. We do not take equity, we do not charge, we do not sell. The North Star for us is founder success.”
The emphasis on that goal seems to be yielding fruits. More than 70 percent of the Ignite Next graduates manage to take the step from seed to Series A, which is far above the usual market rate of 25-30 percent. Although a number of deep tech companies require several years to show full commercial impact, Ignite Next gauges early success through the continuous momentum further funding and kept going.
Stringent selection and quick decisions
Every cohort is very selective in nature, typically they choose approximately ten startups out of over 300 applications. Most of them have been recommended by leading venture capital funds, thus ensuring a highly curated pipeline of technically strong teams with scaleup potential. Unlike traditional programmes, Ignite Next grants fast yes-or-no decisions, something that Bohl says was hard in previous corporate structures.
Ignite Next is aware that a recurring issue in industrial innovation is the so-called “pilot trap”, a situation where startups do research with large manufacturers but fail to achieve a substantial level of commercial deployment. The programme tackles this problem head-on by focusing on creating strategic value rather than engaging in cost-saving projects that lead only to incremental changes.
Start-ups, while in the programme, pinpoint concrete industrial needs. A ‘beginning of the end’, as Bohl refers to it, is the real work for them: creating new business units, unlocking joint ventures, and matching startup technology with urgent end-customer needs.
“When it works,” Bohl said, “it’s startup tech plus corporate tech plus a customer who desperately needs the solution. That’s when scale happens.”
Deep Tech, Built Over Decades
The majority of the Ignite Next startups can trace their origins back to years or even decades of academic or industrial research. These are not spontaneous ideas, but rather fundamental technologies that have numerous potential applications. Ignite Next supports founders in prioritising their focus, preventing them from scattering their resources, and helping them to understand their exact position in complicated value chains.
This program also emphasizes heavily on the founder’s ability to take guidance. As the team progresses, founders might be encountering major changes in their roles, culture differences with the newly hired employees, and the pressure of long development cycles. Ignite Next is there to support through these challenges by providing mentorship, checking the chemistry, and offering long-term perspective.
With further corporate and institutional partners likely to be on board in the upcoming months, Ignite Next is getting into the position of being a key pillar of Europe’s deep tech ecosystem. It is a great help in realizing those breakthrough ideas born in the lab and transforming them into the industrial leaders of the next generation who will be globally competitive.