Nemesis Technologies, a venture capital fund that concentrates on deep technology, or “deeptech,” says it has amassed a “nine-figure backing” from a range of Asian, European and US clients, including institutional investors and family offices.

Nemesis focuses on artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantum computing, robotics, biotechnology and advanced materials.

The VC firm was founded by Japan-based Pierre Mauries, who previously worked at private equity giant Carlyle Group. Mauries has managed more than $2bn in various investment vehicles, cross-border M&A transactions and post-merger integration.

“This is just the most critical time to be championing DeepTech. It really is an age of life and planet-changing advances – but only if the greatest brains working on sustainable frontier technology solutions for the future have the funding to develop and prove the worth of their innovations,” noted Mauries.

Investment in “deeptech” has risen rapidly to $60 billion in 2020 from $15 billion in 2016, according to figures provided by Nemesis.

The firm said the median “deeptech unicorn” (a startup with a market value of $1 billion) takes $115 million of capital and 5.2 years to get there, and with 120 recent deeptech unicorns with a combined value of $463 billion.

The fund operates from its Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, and New York City offices.

Among recent appointments, Nemesis named Katherine Verrier-Frechette as managing partner and global head of “deeptech” solutions.