Good morning {{first_name}},
This week’s Deep Tech Now kicks off with a timely Q&A with Jürgen Bilo, Managing Director at co-pace, the Startup Organization of Aumovio. The automotive tech company is doing over €20B in sales and had its Frankfurt Stock Exchange debut — but if that weren’t enough, here are 5 more reasons to pay attention:
New Name, Long History: Aumovio spun out of 154-year-old car parts maker Continental this September
Autonomy, Squared: Now-autonomous Aumovio offers electronics and tech solutions for software-defined and autonomous vehicles
Startups on the Radar: co-pace GmbH, Aumovio's startup organisation engages with entrepreneurs through partnerships, collaborations, and investments
Key numbers: €180M under management; >18 deals
Next Step: Connect with Jürgen Bilo on LinkedIn to explore collaboration possibilities
Also in this issue: 5 European energy soonicorns pushing the envelope for decarbonisation and sustainability — and attracting significant funding.
Last but not least: an ecosystem gift that will boost the confidence of one lucky winner. Let’s get down to business.
VENTURE CLIENTING CHRONICLES
Jürgen Bilo — Managing Director co-pace GmbH - Senior Vice President — Aumovio
In which Deep Tech fields are you actively seeking startup collaborations?
Jürgen Bilo: Currently we are looking deep into sensorics, AI for manufacturing, and services in the cabin.
However, we are not limited to these three areas — we are looking for everything that has to do with automotive electronics, software defined vehicles incl. new business models but also into manufacturing process tech.
Which three startup teams have inspired you most in the last year and why?
aiOla, which “turns any manual process into a voice agentic topic.” — “We did a gemba walk in two of our plants for two hours and identified 20 use cases for that technology.”
4screen, “a driver interaction platform bringing advertisement services into the cabin of a car.” — “What impressed me so much is that the team was capable of onboarding 10 automotive OEMs and 100 retailers on that platform in three years.”
VueReal, “a microLED startup.” — “They developed a cartridge like a printer cartridge so you can print your displays. Fantastic tech and extremely committed team.”
How do you usually identify and select promising startup partners?
We do that via our connections to VCs, partners, thought leaders and other startups in the ecosystems where our worldwide team is active — a major advantage — as well as via search engines. And we also have partners e.g in England, Taiwan and Silicon Valley helping us when we look for solutions from startups in a certain use case or in a certain field.
What do you think helps most in moving from POC to a commercial partnership?
You have to clearly show the business case — what is the USP? — and have a huge differentiator in order to adapt your solution for mass production. Otherwise a big corporate does not move.
You also need to have good contact with the business owners who are going to decide that they want to implement your technology. These decision makers are your customer, not the innovation manager or the venture client person. Here our startup organisation is essential. And then, you have to be ready to scale with the corporate and stick to what you promised, which is also not easy.
What’s your top advice for startups aiming to partner with your company?
Have a prototype and be able to talk with our subject matter experts on an eye-to-eye level. [This means] having at least a basic understanding of the automotive business and our company to a certain extent. You also should have an external advisor or someone on the board who is coming out of the industry you want to get into — for automotive, preferred an automotive person.
DEEP TECH OPEN | ENERGY
5 European Energy Soonicorns to Watch
CORE-POWER | London, UK
Focus: Maritime nuclear energy, with Floating Nuclear Power Plants (FNPPs)
Customers: Industrial port facilities and shipping companies
Latest funding: $500 M Series B in 2024 (source: PitchBook)
➔ Read the summary of this year’s New Nuclear for Maritime European Summit
ITEN | Dardilly (Lyon), France
Focus: Energy micro-storage with Solid State Batteries with high energy density
Customers: Companies manufacturing IoT devices, wearables, healthcare equipment, and power backup systems
Latest funding: €140 M in equity and debt in 2022
Key corporate backer: Groupe SEB through its investment company, SEB Alliance
Marvel Fusion | Munich, Germany
Focus: Laser-driven nuclear fusion
Customers: Energy companies, industrial partners, research institutions
Latest funding: €113 M in Series B funding in 2025
Key corporate backer: Siemens Energy via investment and industrial partnership
➔ Read the F4E Fusion Observatory report on global investment in the fusion private sector
Proxima Fusion | Munich, Germany
Focus: Nuclear fusion through quasi-isodynamic stellarators
Customers: Energy companies, industrial partners, research institutions
Latest funding: €200 M Series A in 2025
➔ Explore Proxima’s visualisation tool
Tokamak Energy | Oxfordshire, UK
Focus: Nuclear fusion with tokamaks and high temperature superconducting magnets
Customers: Energy companies, industrial partners, research institutions
Latest funding: $125 M in 2024
➔ Watch this video for CEO Warrick Matthews’s outlook
ECOSYSTEM GIFT
Amplify Your Communication with a 30-Minute Coaching Session
This week’s ecosystem gift is a 30-minute, one-on-one confident communication coaching session with Stew Bewley, founder of Amplify and your soon-to-be secret weapon in storytelling.
Why Stew?
He’s coached 23,000 people in 92 countries to communicate with more authenticity.
Clients include BASF, Hitachi, Microsoft and startups that have collectively raised billions.
He’s the author of The Storytelling Hero, your go-to guide for powerful presentations.
What you’ll learn: Stew will show you how to craft presentations that stick and deliver them with unapologetic confidence.
Think this could be you? Click here to enter the draw, and claim your session.
Last Week’s Winners: Congratulations to last week’s winners, Ana Koller & Rohit Turambekar who have won a one-on-one 45 minute leadership coaching session with Stefan Gross-Selbeck. We’ll be putting you in touch shortly.
DTM UPDATE
Say Hello to Your Future Self at Deep Tech Momentum 2026
The wait is over. Deep Tech Momentum 2026 tickets are officially live, and early bird prices will never dip this low again. Mark your calendars for 20-21 May 2026 at Wilhelm Studios, Berlin, where Europe's largest Deep Tech festival comes to life with 3,000 participants.
DTM26 is where partnerships get forged between leading corporate decision-makers, top investors, and the world's most innovative builders across six specialised Innovation Markets: Energy, Space, Defence, Robotics, Materials, and Computing.
Ready to secure your spot at Europe's No.1 Deep Tech innovation marketplace? Grab your early bird ticket now. Your future self will thank you.
Or, in case you are interested in exploring extra visibility, let’s discuss sponsorship opportunities. Write us at [email protected].
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