Deep Tech Venture Building: Out The Back Ventures' Blueprint for University Spinout Success

Can early-stage Deep Tech investing be transformed by taking a radically different approach? In this episode of Lab to Market Leadership, Chris explores this question with Keong Chan, Managing Director of Out The Back Ventures, who has spent five years building one of the most unique investment models in Deep Tech.

Operating from Perth, Australia, Keong and his team have built relationships with leading universities and national laboratories across four continents. Rather than waiting for deals to come to them, they proactively identify breakthrough research and help incorporate it into companies from day one. Their approach challenges conventional wisdom about early-stage investing: syndicated deals instead of traditional funds, co-founding rather than just investing, and building talent pipelines alongside technology development.
This conversation reveals the infrastructure behind breakthrough innovation: why most university research isn't as ‘early’ as investors think, how building trust with national laboratories requires genuine commitment over years, and why the future of computing will require fundamental shifts beyond silicon CMOS. Keong shares insights from working with institutions from Oak Ridge National Lab to Oxford University, explaining how patience, naivety, and startup-level energy can unlock opportunities others miss.

Key Topics Covered:
Why conventional early-stage VC models fail university spinouts
Building trust with national laboratories and research institutions globally
The syndication model vs traditional fund structures for Deep Tech
How TRL 3-5 represents the critical inflection point for commercialisation
Nuclear technology's hidden innovation opportunities beyond headline companies
The future of computing: quantum, neuromorphic, and photonics replacing silicon
Why talent development must happen in parallel with technology discovery
The importance of naive questioning in challenging industry assumptions
Building global relationships across continents from Perth, Australia
How startup energy and VC patience can be combined effectively

This episode offers important insights for Deep Tech investors, university technology transfer officers, and anyone interested in how breakthrough research becomes world-changing companies.

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Podcast Production: Beauxhaus