Investing in Atoms: Alain le Loux on Building the Deeptech Future
Deeptech demands patience, guts, and hands-on conviction. This article profiles Alain le Loux and the rare venture model behind Europe’s hardware hopes.
Part three of a three-part series on venture capital and deeptech investing
What does it mean to invest in deeptech, in science-based innovation that takes years to mature, demands serious capital, and often has no product yet in sight?
Alain le Loux has been answering that question for over a decade. As a partner at Cottonwood Technology Fund, he backs companies built around hardware and engineering breakthroughs.
Not apps, not SaaS, but physical inventions grounded in science. Cottonwood operates on both sides of the Atlantic, but Alain leads its European arm, where the challenges and the opportunities are distinct.
This is the third article in a short series on deeptech and venture capital. In the first part I talked to Patrick on Venture Capital:
Rob Hoeijmakers
In the second, The Deeptech Dilemma, I explored the structural differences between Europe and the US, based on conversations with Alain.
That piece focused on systems: capital flows, regulation, and cultural attitudes toward risk.
This one turns to the practitioner: who Alain is, what his work entails, and why he chooses to invest in atoms rather than bits.
Why Hardware?
“Software can optimise. Hardware can transform.” That’s not a slogan, it’s a working philosophy. Cottonwood invests in what Alain calls true deeptech: technologies that emerge from fundamental science, not incremental process improvements. These are often physical inventions from novel motors and sensors to breakthroughs in materials, energy systems, or health technologies.
Deeptech, in this sense, is not just about engineering difficulty. It’s about commitment. Hardware takes longer. It requires more capital. It carries more regulatory complexity and less immediate user feedback. There are no quick pivots. But, when it works, it reshapes entire industries.
This orientation puts Cottonwood in a rare category, especially in Europe, where most venture capital still leans toward software, marketplaces, or incremental B2B platforms. Alain's team focuses on technologies that could, in principle, solve big problems: energy consumption, medical diagnostics, thermal control, or even AI-powered sensing.
What the Work Looks Like
On paper, Alain manages a fund. In practice, he plays a dozen roles. He screens over a thousand technologies each year and selects just a handful, typically three or four, for investment. Once in, his team doesn’t just monitor performance; they actively build around it.
“I’m rewriting pitch decks, helping close customer deals, reviewing contracts, sitting in on board meetings, answering founder emails. Every week, every day.” The job, in other words, doesn’t end at signing a cheque. That’s where it begins.
What Cottonwood provides is not just capital, but a kind of scaffolding, a structure of trust, accountability, and hands-on problem-solving that surrounds each company as it moves from lab to market.
Bridging Two Worlds
Cottonwood operates in both the US and Europe, a rare position that gives the firm an unusual vantage point. The US is faster, richer in capital, and more forgiving of failure. Europe is cautious, complex, and undercapitalised, but rich in scientific talent and public research infrastructure.
Alain helped establish Cottonwood’s European presence, transplanting a distinctly American investment mindset into a more reserved and institutional setting. The differences run deep, not just in how money moves, but in how innovation is perceived, how success is treated, and how failure is absorbed.
Still, he believes that Europe's potential is real, if only it could take itself more seriously. “The only way to stay relevant,” he says, “is to build things the world can’t ignore.”
An Investor’s Character
When Alain describes himself, it’s not in financial terms. “I’m an entrepreneur first,” he says. “That’s what I bring into investing.” He talks fast, moves between ideas with intuitive leaps, and clearly prefers doing over deliberating. Meetings exhaust him. Delay frustrates him. But he’s also driven by a kind of engineering optimism: a belief that, with enough energy and conviction, almost anything can be figured out.
His version of venture capital is hands-on, future-facing, and deeply personal. When he invests, it’s not just money at stake. It’s reputation, attention, and belief.
And he’s quick to remind you: this kind of investing is not safe. “Venture,” he says, “comes from ‘adventure.’ And you can’t fake that.”
What Comes Next
When asked about future bets, Alain lights up. He mentions AI-powered sensors, technologies for energy efficiency, photonic chips, and even acoustic cooling systems. These are not speculative trends, they are companies in Cottonwood’s portfolio. Real technologies, built in real labs, solving real problems.
He’s especially excited about what happens when these physical systems intersect with AI. “You start building new senses,” he says, devices that can smell, detect, or predict with machine-like precision. “We’re only beginning to understand what that makes possible.”
For now, the work continues. The fund scouts, selects, shapes. New technologies emerge. Each one carries risk, but Cottonwood has built a track record by backing the ones that endure. And behind those early bets, somewhere between Enschede and Santa Fe, someone has already seen the spark.
This article follows an earlier profile of the European deeptech landscape:
Rob Hoeijmakers
For additional context, see also my conversation with Patrick: Venture Capital and Deeptech Investing.
Rob Hoeijmakers