From Research to Commercialisation: the State of Europe's Deep Tech

Photo by JJ Ying on Unsplash

The European Innovation Council’s (EIC) 2026 Tech Report is a comprehensive breakdown of emerging technologies that could shape the future of Europe’s tech sector. Drawing on data from EIC-funded projects and high-quality proposals between 2021 and 2025, the report identifies twenty-five deep-tech signals across digital, clean, and biotech domains. These signals represent early-stage innovations with the potential to transform industries and strengthen Europe’s global standing. 

Background 

ESMT Berlin defines deep tech as “innovations rooted in substantial scientific research or advanced engineering.” The EU’s Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) is meant to enhance the bloc’s ability to create and ramp up strategic technologies and boost its competitiveness. Deep tech is part of this objective. The EIC’s report highlights quantum communication infrastructures, advanced semiconductor materials, distributed and trustworthy AI systems, and next-generation satellite technologies as key innovations. They are critical to reducing reliance on external suppliers, bolstering cybersecurity, and ensuring Europe’s leadership in the digital economy.

Climate technologies are another focus. The EIC emphasises the role that new energy storage solutions, hydrogen systems and carbon capture and utilisation can play. These technologies directly support the EU’s Green Deal objectives to make Europe a hub for sustainable industry and climate neutrality. By investing in these areas, the bloc will accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy while building resilience in its energy and industrial systems. Beyond these specific technologies, the report underscores three overarching goals: resilience and autonomy, competitiveness, and the development of a robust innovation pipeline. By investing in these three areas, Europe seeks to build its capacity to innovate independently in critical areas, remain competitive in the face of global rivals, and ensure that early-stage innovations are nurtured into industrial adoption.

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Beyond the development of specific technologies, the report highlights three overarching goals: resilience and autonomy, competitiveness, and the development of a robust innovation pipeline. By investing in these three areas, Europe seeks to build its capacity to innovate independently in critical areas, remain competitive in the face of global rivals, and ensure that early-stage innovations are nurtured into industrial adoption. 

While the EIC’s report focuses on Europe, its findings have global implications. Beyond competing with other regions to develop technologies, collaboration opportunities lie in digital sovereignty initiatives such as secure AI and quantum communication, clean-tech partnerships around hydrogen and energy storage, and biotech innovation to strengthen local health ecosystems. These areas offer fertile ground for cooperation, knowledge exchange, and shared progress toward sustainable development.

Ultimately, the EIC 2026 Tech Report is more than a catalogue of emerging technologies. It is a strategic roadmap for Europe’s deep-tech future. Europe aims to secure its place as a global leader in sustainable, resilient, and autonomous innovation.