London based IQ Capital raises $400m to fuel ‘deep tech’ AI and robotics startups

London-based venture investor IQ Capital has bagged £322m ($400m) across two funds today as it looks to ramp up its investment in ‘deep tech’ start-ups across areas including artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.

The fresh funding had been raised across two funds, a $200m growth fund focusing on later stage companies and a fourth $200m venture fund.

Bosses at IQ Capital said the new cash will be pumped into a broad range of deep tech start-ups, defined as firms leveraging scientific research and unique intellectual property to create tech, across both Europe and the UK.

Kerry Baldwin, co-founder of the firm and former chair of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), said in a statement that deep tech firms “will play a pivotal role” as the UK and Europe “continue to lead the way in developing technology that will have a lasting global impact”. 

“IQ Capital backs IP-rich technologies with the potential to dominate massive global markets, at a time when deep tech investment is at the forefront of investor’s minds, topping $17bn in 2022,” she added.

It said the new cash had been raised from a range of global backers including “global institutions”, funds-of-funds, family offices, corporates and tech entrepreneurs, as well as the state-backed British Patient Capital, the largest limited partner investing in UK venture capital.

The new funding comes amid a scramble by venture capital investors to back deep tech firms involved in artificial intelligence in recent months. The launch of high profile new technology and ChatGPT by the US firm OpenAI has fuelled the interest of investors.

IQ Capital’s Max Bautin said deep tech firms could now have a “transformative impact” in the years ahead.

“Breakthroughs in “novel AI” models, new energy & climate, robotics and space-tech, quantum computing, synthetic biology – all demonstrate what a significant opportunity deep tech now presents,” he added.

IQ Capital was founded in 2007 and its team has now backed over 100 deep tech startups which have cumulatively secured over $1.4bn in follow-on capital to its portfolio.