Turning Sci-Fi Dreams Into Investment Opportunities
Imagine a world where self-healing materials restore infrastructure before it collapses, AI anticipates epidemics before they strike, and humanity thrives beyond Earth, fueled by limitless clean energy.
These scenarios, once confined to science fiction, are steadily moving into the realm of possibility. Behind this extraordinary shift are visionary entrepreneurs, pioneering scientists, and bold investors who dare to fund the unthinkable. At Alumni Ventures, our Deep Tech Fund (DTF) operates at the intersection where science fiction inspiration meets technological reality — turning tomorrow’s transformative visions into today’s strategic investments.
This story is about the technology AND the people: the inventors, founders, teams, and investors. Deep Tech Fund and AV Syndicate investors share a certain mindset — —a belief in the transformative power of groundbreaking technology and the potential for outsized returns. This is ultimately a community with the goals of profiting, learning, and impacting as sci-fi advances to life.
Science Fiction = A Gateway to Tomorrow + Potential for Outsized Financial Return
For decades, science fiction has captivated audiences and guided our collective imagination, serving as an informal roadmap to what’s possible. Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series compelled innovators to dream of thriving civilizations beyond Earth. Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash introduced metaverse concepts long before they became mainstream. Ideas like space elevators, quantum computing, and synthetic biology took root in fictional worlds, inspiring real-life labs and startups to ask: “Why not?”
These transformative technologies impact not only our daily lives but also our financial ecosystem. Today, seven of the top ten most valuable public companies by market capitalization — Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Tesla —are rooted in deep tech capabilities and represent trillions of dollars in value. Their unparalleled market success underscores the opportunity for investors to achieve significant returns by backing visionary companies that redefine industries through tech breakthroughs.
At Alumni Ventures, our job is to identify the next wave of technology that will generate tomorrow’s Apples, NVIDIAs, and Teslas.
The Sci-Fi Mindset: A Shared Passion
We’ve observed that many of our Deep Tech Fund investors share a forward-looking mentality. These “Sci-Fi Futurists” have the following traits.
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Future Shapers
Sci-fi futurists are motivated by exploration and crave imaginative, visionary concepts that challenge the status quo. They also want to be part of shaping the future. - Home
Moonshot Seekers
These investors appreciate high-risk, high-reward opportunities. They invest to fuel the next technological revolution, where groundbreaking advancements can deliver meaningful impact and lucrative returns. - Home
Preferred Communication Channels
This group of investors embraces engaging updates on cutting-edge tech through demos, in-person events, rich infographics, webinars with visionary founders, and exclusive interviews. They want to experience the tech they’re helping to bring to life.
Turning Sci-Fi Dreams into Investment Opportunities
Alumni Ventures portfolio companies are already transforming industries from healthcare to space technology.
Computing
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Groq
Redefining AI hardware in AI infrastructure with its tensor streaming processor chip, delivering unparalleled efficiency and speed. - Home
Wasabi
Provides hot cloud storage intended to compete directly against Amazon’s S3 cloud storage, while performing at 6x speeds and 1/5th the price. - Home
Ayar Labs
Replacing traditional copper wires with optical interconnects, which use light waves to make data transmission between chips more efficient.
Learn More About the Deep Tech Fund
We are seeing strong interest in our Deep Tech Fund. We have a limited number of spots, so we recommend securing a spot promptly.
Investors in the fund will have exposure to a portfolio of high-tech game-changers and disruptive business models using advanced science and engineering to tackle the toughest and potentially most lucrative tech challenges.
Max Accredited Investor Limit: 249
Healthcare
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Unlearn.AI
Uses machine learning to create biological digital twins. Creates virtual placebo patients for clinical trials. - Home
Q Bio
Revolutionizing preventive care with its clinical digital twin platform, offering whole-body scans at a fraction of traditional costs. - Home
Precision Neuro and Synchron
Brain-computer interface (BCI) pioneers addressing neurological illnesses. Minimally invasive BCIs enable life-enhancing applications, from regaining motor control to engaging in digital communication.
Clean Energy
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Mainspring Energy
Develops linear generators that adapt to biofuels, producing near-zero emissions. - Home
Aalo Atomics and Radiant Nuclear
Focus on nuclear innovation. Compact reactors provide scalable, carbon-free energy solutions for remote and urban areas alike.
Quantum Computing
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Xanadu
Photonics-based platform showing strong promise in making quantum computing more accessible and usable. - Home
Rigetti
Successful application of AI to automate the calibration of a quantum computer partnering with NVIDIA.
Space
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Impulse Space
Develops orbital maneuvering vehicles for precise payload delivery to low Earth orbit and beyond. - Home
Venus Aerospace
Pioneering hypersonic technology to enable global travel in under an hour, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in transportation.
These examples aren’t abstract thought experiments. They’re indicative of a larger trend: deep tech investments can yield not only outsized financial returns but also societal benefits that resonate on a global scale.
Road to the Future: Concrete Timelines
To visualize what lies ahead, let’s project a plausible “Road to the Future.” These projections draw on current research trajectories and emerging opportunities in our portfolio and beyond.
By 2025
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AI-Driven Precision Healthcare
Pilot programs using AI for diagnostics move into widespread clinical use, personalizing treatment plans and boosting healthcare accessibility worldwide. - Home
Advanced Energy Storage
Next-gen battery prototypes with rapid charging and extended lifespans foster the rise of electric aviation and stable off-grid energy solutions.
By 2030
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Quantum Computing Breakthroughs
Quantum processors achieve stable error correction, enabling complex simulations in drug discovery, cryptography, and climate modeling. - Home
Lunar and Martian Infrastructure
Early research stations become semi-permanent habitats. Inspired by sci-fi visions, entrepreneurs build essential off-world infrastructure: space mining drones, 3D-printed habitats, and regenerative life support systems.
By 2040 and Beyond
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Fusion Power at Scale
Commercially viable fusion reactors deliver clean, abundant energy, overturning traditional energy markets and sparking a post-fossil-fuel era. - Home
Longevity & Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs)
Gene-editing therapies extend healthy lifespans, while BCIs blur the line between human cognition and digital systems, enabling seamless communication, learning, and productivity.
These milestones aren’t distant pipe dreams; they’re informed by the progress in R&D labs worldwide. Investors who engage now can help set the stage for — and share in — the potential dividends of these breakthroughs.
Exclusive Events: Deep Tech Webinars
We know that while most deep tech investors prioritize, they also value insight and community. To foster this, we host these experiences.
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Webinars with Visionary Founders
Our Tech Optimist Podcast features discussions with pioneering entrepreneurs at the forefront of deep tech. - Home
Expert Network
Join the 8,000-member Alumni Ventures Expert Network to help portfolio companies scale and deliver their technology. - Home
Panel Events on Emerging Trends
Engage with experts and investors through AV in-person or virtual events, focusing on AI, quantum computing, advanced materials, and more to understand where the next big opportunities lie.
Help Write Humanity’s Next Chapter
Join a network of Sci-Fi Futurists, pioneers, and visionaries who believe the impossible is simply what hasn’t been done yet. By investing in Alumni Ventures’ Deep Tech Fund, you take part in catalyzing the technologies that will define tomorrow’s world. Visit av.vc/deeptech to learn how you can be part of turning today’s science fiction into tomorrow’s reality.
This communication is from Alumni Ventures, a for-profit venture capital company that is not affiliated with or endorsed by any school. It is not personalized advice, and AV only provides advice to its client funds. This communication is neither an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any security. Such offers are made only pursuant to the formal offering documents for the fund(s) concerned, and describe significant risks and other material information that should be carefully considered before investing. For additional information, please see here. Example portfolio companies are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily indicative of any AV fund or the outcomes experienced by any investor. Example portfolio companies shown are not available to future investors, except potentially in the case of follow-on investments. Venture capital investing involves substantial risk, including risk of loss of all capital invested. This communication includes forward-looking statements, generally consisting of any statement pertaining to any issue other than historical fact, including without limitation predictions, financial projections, the anticipated results of the execution of any plan or strategy, the expectation or belief of the speaker, or other events or circumstances to exist in the future. Forward-looking statements are not representations of actual fact, depend on certain assumptions that may not be realized, and are not guaranteed to occur. Any forward-looking statements included in this communication speak only as of the date of the communication. AV and its affiliates disclaim any obligation to update, amend, or alter such forward-looking statements, whether due to subsequent events, new information, or otherwise.