Scotland now sends most of its venture capital into deep tech, but new research from the University of Glasgow suggests that firepower is still not reliably turning into scaled companies. The Scottish Deep Tech 2026 work with Dealroom argues that Scotland needs a development model built for its own context if it is to convert a capital-rich deep tech pipeline into global-scale firms.
The University of Glasgow’s Adam Smith Business School and Dealroom have mapped a 7.9 billion dollar Scottish deep tech ecosystem which now attracts around 60% of all venture capital invested in Scotland. That puts Scotland among the most deep‑tech‑intense venture markets in Europe, with only a small number of countries such as Switzerland sending a higher share of VC into deep tech. Deep tech in the study is defined as innovation rooted in science-based or engineering-led advances, covering fields such as photonics, quantum, AI, life sciences and space.
Lead author Dr Gemma Milne, Lecturer in Innovation and Technology Management at the Adam Smith Business School, argues that the question is no longer whether deep tech funding exists in Scotland, but whether it is structured to deliver scale in a Scottish setting. The report notes that while large portions of capital are landing in deep tech startups, Scotland is not yet generating a commensurate wave of later-stage, globally scaled deep tech companies.
Milne makes the case that Scotland cannot simply import a Silicon Valley or London model for building deep tech ventures. Instead, the report calls for a Scotland-specific approach that recognises the country’s institutional architecture, university base, public-sector role and regional spread of talent and infrastructure. That includes making deliberate choices about how public agencies, universities and investors share risk across longer development cycles and more capital-intensive technologies.
The work is positioned as a practical evidence base for operators, investors and policymakers who want to understand where Scottish deep tech stands going into the second half of the decade. It is also framed as a starting point for conversations about how to blend national policy, regional clusters and specialist programmes such as accelerators into a coherent deep tech growth path.
The Glasgow team and Dealroom set out five recommendations for closing the gap between capital inflows and scaled outcomes. First, they argue for deliberate development of deep tech leaders who are specifically equipped for scale, with the skills and support to run highly technical companies through multiple funding rounds and regulatory hurdles. Second, they call for broader commercial and technical literacy across the full value chain so that investors, boards and partners can make informed decisions about complex technologies rather than defaulting to more familiar software plays.
Third, the report points to infrastructure access as a binding constraint, highlighting the need to fix bottlenecks around labs, specialist equipment and testbeds that deep tech ventures depend on. Fourth, it urges Scotland to act as a “first customer” for its own innovations by using public-sector procurement and anchor institutions to give deep tech companies early reference clients. Finally, the authors call for a distinctively Scottish understanding of deep tech innovation futures, arguing that scenario work and foresight tailored to Scotland will help align investment, policy and skills around realistic growth paths.
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Professor Dominic Chalmers of the Adam Smith Business School says the report is part of the school’s broader effort to support Scotland’s deep tech ecosystem through research, teaching and engagement with founders and investors. The university positions itself as both a source of deep tech ventures and a convenor for the data, analysis and conversations needed to build an investable pipeline. By partnering with Dealroom, the school is also signalling a commitment to using granular ecosystem data rather than anecdote as the basis for policy and investment debates.
For High Growth Scotland readers, the combination of a 60% venture capital share, a multi‑billion‑dollar ecosystem value and a clear five‑point agenda sets up a practical test: whether Scotland’s operators, investors and policymakers are ready to build a deep tech model that fits the country rather than the textbook. The report gives them a baseline to work from; what happens next will show whether Scotland can turn deep tech momentum into globally scaled companies headquartered in Scotland rather than elsewhere.
