My guest is Tarık Dutkuner, Partner at Skybound Capital, a new €40M venture fund investing in deep tech startups across Europe.

Before joining Skybound, Tarık was an investor at e2vc, where he worked with founders across Turkey and Eastern Europe. In this conversation, we discuss his journey into venture capital, why he decided to join Skybound, and why he believes Europe is entering a new era for deep tech investing.

We also explore what makes deep tech companies different from traditional software startups, why hardware is becoming investable again, how Europe compares to the US, and what Turkey needs to do to produce more globally successful frontier technology companies.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

00:30 Tarık's path into venture capital

04:50 Joining e2vc and investing across the region

07:11 Why leave e2vc for Skybound?

09:26 Inside Skybound: strategy, fund size & investment thesis

17:04 Why deep tech is having its moment

20:12 The Turkish startup ecosystem: strengths and blind spots

23:08 University spin-offs, IP and commercialization

27:45 The future of deep tech in Europe and Turkey

31:02 Advice for founders and closing thoughts

About TRVC

TRVC is a podcast featuring long-form conversations with the investors, founders and ecosystem builders shaping venture capital and entrepreneurship in Turkey.

New episodes are published regularly in both English and Turkish.

If you enjoy the conversation, please consider:

Subscribing to the channel

Liking the video

Sharing it with someone interested in startups or venture capital

Leaving a comment with your thoughts

Follow TRVC on LinkedIn for more conversations with leading private capital investors from Turkey and beyond.

#TRVC #VentureCapital #Startups #DeepTech #SkyboundCapital #e2vc #Turkey #EuropeanStartups #Hardware #Innovation #Entrepreneurship