Investing for Deep Purpose with Deep Tech? An Exploratory Study of the Organisational Reality of New Zealand Deep Tech Investors

Abstract

Recent years have seen the rapid growth of the deep tech ecosystem both in New Zealand and abroad. Deep tech is characterised by long development timelines that are resource-intensive and are highly risky, often requiring multidisciplinary teams to commercialise them. Despite these challenges, deep technologies are capable of addressing complex societal and environmental challenges, bringing fundamental technological advancements across diverse sectors such as quantum computing, future materials, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence. The twin goals of deep tech investors, to solve global challenges and make outstanding returns, are highly similar to those of impact investors. Indeed many impact investors operate in this field, and over 97% of deep tech ventures target at least one of the UN Sustainable development goals. Academic literature has yet to agree on a fixed set of terminologies to describe deep tech, and little is known about the organisational environment of deep tech investors. By drawing on neo-institutional theory, this thesis explored the organisational and institutional environment of deep tech investors. Specifically, this thesis investigated the nature and existence of institutional hybridity at the organisational and field level. A qualitative research strategy using abductive reasoning was employed to accomplish these exploratory aims. Among the findings of this research was that the deep tech organisational field displayed similar hybridity levels to impact investing. Looking at the behaviours and practices of deep tech investors, the existence of a group of non-impact deep tech investors that utilised many impact investor practices was highly surprising. The study also discusses the many pressures that deep tech investors experience to incorporate sustainability and impact practices and how these investors responded to these pressures. This thesis generated valuable insights for other deep tech investors and founders of deep tech ventures. By shedding light on this under-researched topic, this research contributes analysis, insights, and hypotheses to assist future research efforts in developing further generalisable and explanatory theory.