DT Launch Pad Liftoff

Looking for a new investment opportunity in our European Deep Tech ecosystem?

The DT Launch Pad Liftoff event brings together early-stage deep tech ventures, investors, universities, and innovation stakeholders from across Europe for an evening focused on turning research into investable solutions.

The Event

The event features high-potential deep tech ventures that have completed the DT Launch Pad programme, a year-long European initiative supporting research-based teams through training, mentoring, validation, and early commercialisation.

Organised as an unofficial side event of Hello Tomorrow, DT Launch Pad Liftoff is designed as a relaxed, high-quality networking evening where short pitches serve as a starting point for meaningful investor conversations.

Why Attend?

For investors

Get early access to a curated, pre-vetted cohort of emerging deep tech ventures from leading European universities and innovation ecosystems.

For founders, startups, and researchers

Benchmark your work against other fundable deep tech cases, learn what investors are looking for in 2026, and connect with investors and enablers who understand long development cycles and research-driven risk.

For ecosystem builders and stakeholders

Build cross-border connections, new initiatives and see concrete outcomes of European deep tech collaboration.

Agenda

18:00: Doors open

Welcome drinks & informal mingling

18.30: Opening & introduction

Pitch Session I – Deep Tech showcase & discussion

Networking break

Pitch Session II – Deep Tech showcase & discussion

Networking & investor conversations

21:00: Event closes 

Our schedule allows participants to join after the Hello Tomorrow Summit and continue into evening dinners or side meetings.

Organised by the DT Launch Pad project, in collaboration with expert panel members from VC funds and deep tech developers including Quatromine VC, Conception X and Cottonwood Technology Fund.

Register Here

Capacity is limited to 100 attendees, so early registration is recommended.

No Hello Tomorrow ticket is required to attend the DT Launch Pad Liftoff. The event is free of charge.

Our Jury

Ali Alam

Ali is a 4x founder turned investor and venture builder focused on solving big world problems with deep tech and impact innovation. He manages DEEP Pioneers at ESMT, matching top IP and researcher teams with experienced entrepreneurs/operators and coaching teams through early commercialisation, de-risking them from lab to market. He invests in pre-seed impact startups focused on underrepresented founders in his capacity as a venture partner with Earlybird.

Carrie Baptist – Conception X 

Carrie is Chief Strategy Officer of Conception X, the UK & Europe’s top PhD Deeptech Accelerator. Conception X enables the top PhD researchers from Universities across Europe to commercialise their research and build startups, creating 200+ startups valued at more than €1 Billion. 

Patrick Claessen MSc – Deeptech VC

Partner – Cottonwood Technology Fund

Patrick is a venture capital investor with 25+ years of experience across institutional and corporate VC, supporting early-stage deep tech ventures. He supports entrepreneurial teams developing science-based technologies with potential for meaningful, long-term impact across industrial sectors. His focus is on helping teams navigate the early, pivotal stages: from market validation to achieving meaningful value inflection points that unlock real traction and opportunity.

Rok Colarič

Rok Colarič is an entrepreneur, investor and managing partner at RUJ Ventures. He actively aids Deep Tech startups throughout their path to commercialisation. With an extensive background in IP, product and business development, Rok is a mentor and speaker within the international startup community, positioning him to provide valuable guidance and insights to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Dr. Ulrich Sentner – Vossius

With a background in molecular biology and biochemistry, Ulrich been working as a European Patent Attorney at Vossius & Partner since 2011. He is committed to supporting clients, particularly universities and SMEs, in developing effective IP strategies. As a patent attorney, he enjoys learning about inventors’ ideas and helping them protect their innovations by building a strong intellectual property position.

DT Launch Pad Liftoff

Where Deep Tech Meets Its Future

As part of the DT Launch Pad partnership, we are bringing together highpotential deep tech ventures, investors, universities, and innovators from across Europe to turn research into investable, scalable companies.