Welcome to the 119th edition of Deep Tech Catalyst, the educational channel from The Scenarionist where science meets venture!
This week, I sat down with Miguel Galvez, Co-Founder and Former CEO of NBD Nano (acquired by Henkel), CEO of Nfinite Nanotechnology, and Venture Partner at Republic Ventures.
Drawing from his successful entrepreneurial journey leading NBD Nano, we explored what it takes to move a specialty chemicals company from an R&D platform to a scalable business, and ultimately from the lab to a strategic acquisition.
Key takeaways from the episode:
🧪 Deep Tech can start with a market search
Not every company begins with a finished technology looking for a market. Sometimes the company begins with a broad scientific capability, a strong entrepreneurial drive, and a disciplined search for the applications customers will actually pay for.
⚖️ Materials carry both technology risk and market risk
Advanced coatings and materials are difficult to underwrite because they sit between two worlds. The science still has to work, but the market also has to be discovered, prioritized, and validated through real customer demand.
💰 Specialty chemicals are priced by value, not by cost
In specialty chemicals, the customer is not simply buying liters or grams. The customer is buying differentiated performance. Pricing has to start from the value created in the final product, then work backward into the material business model.
🏭 The “wow moment” is when R&D becomes scalable manufacturing
Getting a customer to say yes is only the beginning. Once a company moves from samples to real orders, it has to become a manufacturing, logistics, regulatory, and supply-chain operation almost overnight.
🎯 Strategic exits are built around what buyers want to buy
An acquisition is not just the result of a founder deciding to sell. The company has to become an asset a strategic buyer wants to own: through technology, customer qualifications, durable revenue, operational capability, or a position in a market the buyer already cares about.
Turning Early Capital into Strategic Leverage
Two case studies on how deep tech ventures turn early funding into evidence, access, and market leverage.
