Roughly 90 p.c of arduous tech startups fail attributable to funding constraints, longer R&D timelines for creating {hardware}, and the complexity of producing their merchandise, based on quite a few research.
Typically, these startups require as much as 50 p.c extra investor financing than software program ones, based on a Medium article. Sometimes, they want no less than US $30 million, based on a Lucid article. That’s double the funding wanted by software program corporations on common.
To assist them join with traders, IEEE Entrepreneurship in 2024 launched its Arduous Tech Enterprise Summits. The 2-day occasions join founders with potential traders and different entrepreneurs. Attendees embrace producers, design engineers, and mental property attorneys.
“Despite the fact that there are quite a lot of startup investor conferences, it’s arduous to search out these centered on arduous tech,” says Joanne Wong, who helped provoke this system and is now the chair. She is a basic companion at Redds Capital, a California-based enterprise capital agency that invests in world early-stage IT startups.
The IEEE member can also be an entrepreneur. She based SciosHub in 2020. The corporate’s software-as-a-service and informatics platform automates the data-management course of for biomedical analysis labs.
“Many traders are centered on AI software program—which is sweet,” she says. “However for arduous tech corporations, it’s nonetheless arduous to search out assist.”
The summit additionally features a workshop to assist founders navigate manufacturing processes and regulatory compliance. The occasion is open to IEEE members and others.
IEEE is a pure match for this system, Wong says, as a result of arduous tech is synonymous with electrical engineering.
“A number of the domains we’re overlaying are robotics, semiconductors, and aerospace know-how. IEEE has societies for all these fields,” she says. “Due to that, there are numerous assets throughout the organizations for startups, whether or not it’s mentors or guides on the right way to commercialize merchandise.”
There are a number of enterprise summits deliberate for this yr. Two are scheduled in collaboration with the IEEE Techniques Council: this month in Menlo Park, Calif., and in October in Toronto.
On 10 and 11 June, a 3rd summit is scheduled to happen in Boston on the IEEE Microwave Idea and Know-how Society’s Worldwide Microwave Symposium.
Extra occasions are being deliberate for subsequent yr in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America.
Networking and a pitch competitors
Every summit contains keynote audio system, adopted by networking roundtables. Every desk consists of individuals from three to 5 startups, one or two traders, and a service supplier.
That association helps founders construct relationships, which is the summit organizers’ precedence, Wong says. Buyers at previous occasions have included i3 Ventures, Monozukuri Ventures, and TSV Capital.
“The reference to the neighborhood was improbable, particularly traders and founders in robotics.” —Mark Boysen, founding father of Naware
Startups current their pitch, which quite a few traders consider earlier than rating the marketing strategy and product. The highest 10 startups pitch their enterprise to all of the traders.
On the second day, the startup founders take part in a half-day engineering design–to–manufacturing workshop, at which manufacturing engineers educate them the right way to navigate the method and meet laws.
In an exhibition space, contributors can see demonstrations from the startups and join with service suppliers.
The 2025 occasion’s half-day engineering design–to–manufacturing workshop was led by Liz Taylor, president of DOER Marine. The corporate manufactures marine gear.Larissa Abi Nakhle/IEEE
Constructive suggestions from attendees
In a survey of previous summit attendees, startup founders mentioned the occasion related them not solely with traders but additionally with different entrepreneurs having comparable struggles.
“The reference to the neighborhood was improbable, particularly traders and founders in robotics,” mentioned Mark Boysen, who based Naware. The corporate, based mostly in Edina, Minn., developed a robotic that makes use of AI to detect and take away weeds from golf programs, parks, and lawns.
“I liked getting the traders’ views and understanding what they’re in search of,” Boysen mentioned.
Jeffrey Cook dinner, who attended a summit in 2024, mentioned he met “quite a lot of nice contacts and noticed what the arduous tech enterprise local weather is like.”
Attendees of the Arduous Tech Enterprise Summit spend the primary day networking and presenting their pitch to traders. IEEE Entrepreneurship
“These locally would profit from coming to the summit,” mentioned Cook dinner, who based Gigantor Applied sciences in Melbourne Seashore, Fla. It develops {hardware} techniques for AI-powered units.
Greater than 90 p.c of attendees on the 2025 occasion in San Francisco mentioned they might extremely suggest the summit to others, based on a survey.
Buyers and repair suppliers even have discovered the occasions profitable.
Ji Ke, a companion and the chief know-how officer of deep tech VC agency SOSV, attended the 2025 summit.
“I met quite a lot of younger entrepreneurs tackling some large challenges,” he mentioned. “This is likely one of the greatest occasions to satisfy some very-early-stage corporations.”
Making necessary connections in arduous tech
Startup founders who wish to attend a summit should apply. Functions for this yr’s occasions are open. Members should be founders of preseed, seed, or Collection A startups.
Preseed founders are looking for small investments to get their companies off the bottom. These within the seed stage have already secured funding from their first investor. Collection A startups have obtained funding and are creating their product.
Candidates are reviewed by a committee of traders to make sure the startups can be a superb match. Those that are accepted are matched with traders and repair suppliers based mostly on their specialty.
“The journey for a tough tech startup may be very lengthy and arduous,” Wong says. “Founders want to satisfy as many traders as potential and different individuals who assist arduous tech techniques in order that they’re in a position to attain out to them for recommendation or assist.”
These desirous about studying extra about an upcoming occasion can ship a request to entrepreneurship@ieee.org.
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