Deep Tech

The world of venture capital is undergoing a structural realignment, one that rewards depth over speed, hardware over code, and defensible engineering over flashy repetition. At the center of this shift stands Jamie Gull, founder of Wave Function Ventures, a fund dedicated to pre-seed and seed investments in deep tech sectors like aerospace, energy, and robotics. With an experience that spans building reentry hardware at a renowned aerospace manufacturer, designing aircraft for an American aerospace company, and founding deep tech startups himself, Gull brings an insider's clarity to a rapidly evolving investment landscape.

"Deep tech was long seen as too risky, too expensive, and too slow," Gull explains. "But the data and outcomes over the past decade tell a different story."

Indeed, many early-stage investors have historically favored software startups for their low upfront capital needs and quick time to market. But Gull argues that the advantage is evaporating. "Back in the early 2000s, you could spend a few million, build a team of engineers, and get to market quickly," he says. "Now, IPO timelines for software have stretched to seven to 10 years. Software companies are spending huge amounts on customer acquisition and defending turf from competitors who can replicate products overnight, especially in the AI era."

The old assumption that software scales cheaply and defensibly is proving false. "Your moat in software today is often just capital," he says. "In deep tech, it's the opposite. The upfront costs are higher, sure, but once you have built it, it is extremely hard to replicate."

Gull's own investment track record underscores this conviction. His fund, Wave Function Ventures, has deployed capital into companies building humanoid robots for heavy industry, airships for transoceanic cargo, and advanced nuclear reactors. Many of these deals were oversubscribed, and Gull attributes his access to his founder-engineer background. "Founders want someone on the cap table who understands what it takes to build and scale real technology," he says. "That's where I come in."

But Wave Function is not investing indiscriminately. Gull is openly cautious about sectors like space. He looks for niche, underexplored opportunities in space, not pie-in-the-sky ideas, and not overhyped data plays. His skepticism is not negativity; it's strategy. "You have to thread the needle between too speculative and too saturated," he explains.

This nuanced view is shaped not just by sector analysis but also by career experience. After five years at a renowned aerospace manufacturer, where he worked on the aft thermal shield for the Falcon 9, a key part of the rocket's reusability, Gull co-founded a satellite antenna company and later, a startup focused on electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. He says, "I learned how to raise capital, win defense contracts, and build complex hardware at speed."

It also gave him empathy for the founders. "Early-stage deep tech founders often face challenges that software peers don't understand, technical risk, regulatory hurdles, and long timelines. But they are also building something truly defensible. Something that matters," Gull shares.

Part of what makes now the ideal moment to lean into deep tech is a confluence of positive forces. First, the talent pipeline. "Industry giants created a flywheel. They inspired a generation of engineers to build ambitious hardware," Gull says. "There are now enough experienced founders, and they are pulling in younger talent who want to do more than push pixels."

Second, support from governing bodies has meaningfully improved. "Traditional programs used to be inefficient. Now, early-stage companies can get millions in non-dilutive funding early and scale to tens of millions in contracts without becoming a program of record. That's game-changing," Gull states.

All of this means the traditional arguments against deep tech, capital intensity, long timelines, and uncertain exits are no longer persuasive. In fact, they're outdated. "Some of the most successful deep tech companies are taking lower capital at higher valuations in later rounds. It flips the old narrative on its head," Gull says.

The opportunity is clear. "If you want to be a part of generational companies, not just another SaaS dashboard, deep tech is where you need to be looking," he says. "There's still pricing arbitrage in the early days because not enough people believe in this yet."

Wave Function Ventures is already proving the thesis. With six investments completed that are showing strong momentum, Wave Function is off to a strong start. "But it's not just about the returns," Gull says. "It's about backing people who are building the future, real things with real impact."

In a world flooded with momentary apps and algorithmic churn, backing deep tech means investing in the infrastructure of tomorrow. "Find the founders who treat it like a life mission," Gull says.