Deep Tech Venture Building: Out The Back Ventures’ Blueprint for University Spinout Success
Keong Chan | Managing Director of Out the Back Ventures
Podcast Episode Description:
The Deep Tech investment landscape faces a fundamental question: does the industry need another early-stage investor? For L2ML host, Chris Reichhelm, the answer depends entirely on what kind of investor you're adding to the ecosystem. If it's another slow-moving fund that clogs up the spinout process, then emphatically no. But if it's an investor bringing pace, network, and genuine value to setting companies on the right trajectory, then it's an emphatic yes.
Operating from Perth, Australia - the world's most isolated city - Keong Chan, MD of Out The Back Ventures, and his co-founder John Rock have built one of the most unique investment models in Deep Tech. Over five years, they've developed relationships with leading universities and national laboratories across four continents, from Oak Ridge National Lab to Oxford University, helping incorporate breakthrough research into companies from the earliest stages.
Their approach challenges conventional VC wisdom in multiple ways. Instead of traditional fund structures, they syndicate deals with a growing network of investors who trust their curation. Rather than just providing capital, they co-found companies and help shape them from incorporation onwards. Most importantly, they bring startup-level energy and pace to an industry that often moves too slowly for the opportunities it's meant to serve.
The conversation explores how Out The Back Ventures has gained access to some of the world's most prestigious research institutions by investing genuine time in building trust and understanding. National laboratories, in particular, require years of relationship building because researchers are protecting their life's work that represents the cutting edge of human knowledge. Success requires moving beyond transactional relationships to become genuine partners in the commercialisation process.
Keong's global perspective reveals fascinating insights about where breakthrough innovation is really happening. In nuclear technology, while headline companies focus on reactor development, enormous opportunities exist in the supporting technologies that will be essential for any nuclear future - from fuel systems to fusion reactor blankets. In computing, the current silicon CMOS paradigm faces fundamental energy consumption limits that are driving innovation in quantum, neuromorphic, and photonic alternatives.
Perhaps most importantly, the episode explores how talent development must happen in parallel with technology discovery. Rather than the traditional model of ‘technology first, then find a CEO,’ Out The Back Ventures develops relationships with potential leaders alongside their research partnerships, creating teams rather than just companies. This approach recognises that good people are busy and have options - they need to become part of the journey rather than being sold on a finished proposition.
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