Sifted - How much do deeptech execs earn?

Good morning there,

For many in Europe (especially the Brits) it’s considered a faux pas to discuss salary — so it’s a realm of working life that remains highly opaque.

Today, French VC XAnge is shining a light on one coveted sector of the jobs market, with its new survey of 300 executives at European deeptech startups revealing exactly how much the sector pays its top dogs. Daphné Leprince-Ringuet digs into the findings below.

Elsewhere today, we meet the French startup competing with US tech giants in the quantum race, find out who’s growing their teams the fastest in the Baltics and discover which startups investors have on their watchlists within AI, spacetech and femtech. 

– Sadia Nowshin, editorial assistant

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Deeptech exec salaries

Few questions arouse as much curiosity — or are shrouded in as much secrecy as: “What’s your salary?”

Bringing much-needed transparency to this still highly taboo topic, Franco-German VC XAnge surveyed 300 executives at European deeptech startups to find out exactly how much money they are bringing home at the end of the month.

The findings make apparent some interesting trends. At seed and Series A, deeptech execs make between €70k-100k a year; but once their company reaches Series B and beyond, it’s six-figure salaries across the board. That’s much higher pay than most non-deeptech startups offer at the same stage of funding. 

“The few [deeptech] startups that manage to get to the later stages can offer a real jump in compensation,” says Guilhem de Vregille, partner at XAnge, who led the study.

Deeptech CEOs see their salaries more than double from seed and Series A to a median €245k after Series B, according to the research. That's about 60% more than the median post-Series B CEO salary across the rest of the ecosystem. CFOs, science and R&D leaders and operations leaders also receive a pay bump to €185k. 

But the most dramatic increase? Sales leaders. At seed and Series A, business-focused executives earn a median salary of just under €80k — which more than triples to a median €275k post-Series B, plus cash bonuses.

It reflects the shift from securing prospective clients for an early-stage company that doesn’t commercialise a product at scale, to closing big deals with deep-pocketed customers. “Deeptech sales are usually fewer but much larger, and to big accounts,” says De Vregille. “It’s different to a digital company, for example, where you make lots of regular sales for a €1k-2k product.”

So, are those figures convincing enough to make sure that European deeptechs keep attracting top-notch talent? If they’re poaching employees from other startups or from established industrial players, definitely, says De Vregille. 

But in the face of US tech companies like Meta and Google, the competition remains fierce. “Especially on technologies like AI, they will be offering perhaps 1.8 times what you are,” he says. The war for talent is firmly on.

— Daphné Leprince-Ringuet, French tech reporter

The Sifted 100 — our latest report

Dive deep into our top-listed founders in the UK and Ireland, as we explore the factors propelling our cohort’s rise. We’ll feature interviews with the companies about their journeys so far — and what’s coming next — so you can follow their success stories.

🇫🇷 The French startup competing with big tech for the quantum crown. In the increasingly competitive world of quantum computing, Paris-based startup Pasqal is starting to make its mark — it’s raised $140m so far, has locked in partnerships with big players ranging from energy company EDF to oil and gas giant Aramco and counts Nobel Prize-winning physicist Alain Aspect among its founding team.  

• Despite this, the company is facing tough competition from US behemoths like IBM and Google, which have near-bottomless pockets, as well as a host of other, better-funded startups. It’s a battle, therefore, still far from won. 
• But Pasqal isn’t discouraged. “It’s a marathon that will be hard to win, but for now we are among the frontrunners,” it tells Sifted. The company is focusing its efforts on increasing its production of quantum processors — a rare resource these days that’s seeing growing demand from governments. 
• And Christophe Jurczak, managing partner at quantum-focused VC Quantonation, which has invested in Pasqal, thinks it’ll have to go big next time it raises. “Pasqal will need to raise again, and clearly in the triple digits,” he says. “But they are capable of finding international investments, not only European.”

💪 The fastest-growing startup teams in the Baltics.

🌟 Meet five startups using AI for good. (Sponsored by Microsoft Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Inside the Scottish tech ecosystem. (Sponsored by EIE)

Investors share the companies they’re keeping an eye on across… 

🤖 AI

🪖 Defence tech

👩 Femtech

🏥 Hospital tech

🛰️ Spacetech

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