📮 Tensor Ventures — Decoded Newsletter September 2025 Edition
A powerhouse month for deep tech and our portfolio, from HeartBeat.bio’s major pharma partnership and Edmund’s AI hiring, to our upcoming AI Infra meetup in SF . Add in quantum breakthroughs, big pharma bets, sharp reads, and standout events across Europe, September was anything but quiet.
🚀 Portfolio in Action
We’re proud to see our portfolio company HeartBeat.bio AG join forces with Boehringer Ingelheim to advance gene therapy treatments for inherited heart muscle disorders.
With its Cardioid Drug Discovery Platform, HeartBeat.bio AG is pioneering how human cardiac organoids can model genetic cardiomyopathies, accelerating the path to transformative therapies for patients facing limited options.
This collaboration marks a significant step toward addressing one of the most pressing unmet needs in cardiovascular health. Congratulations to the HeartBeat.bio team!
Edmund is hiring. Refer a Customer Success Engineer and help Edmund to build the future of industrial AI by building an AI-powered co-pilot for manufacturing teams.
AI Infrastructure & Open-Source Models. In a few weeks, we co-hosting the AI infrastructure & open-source models meetup in San Francisco on 21st Oct with our portfolio startup, dstack.ai. Bringing together AI researchers, GPU experts, and open-source enthusiasts for lightning talks.
👩🏽💻 Deep tech scene
Oxford Quantum Circuits Expands to the U.S. with Hybrid Quantum-AI Data Center:
OQC is deploying its Genesis processor in New York alongside NVIDIA GPU clusters, blending quantum and AI infrastructure for financial and scientific workloads.
Sanofi Injects $625M into Biotech and Neuroimmune Deep Tech Ventures:
Sanofi Ventures received a fresh $625M allocation to fund startups in digital health, neurology, and immunology, signaling renewed big-pharma commitment to deep science.
“AI Is Outpacing Infrastructure” Survey Reveals Growing Gaps:
A study from Keysight shows that while 90% of organizations plan to scale AI infra, 59% cite cost and capacity constraints. The rapid evolution of models is straining compute, memory, networking, and storage systems.
💡 What we read
Agents vs Clouds. This post contrasts autonomous “agent” architectures with centralized “cloud” models, arguing that agents shift control toward edge or client-side systems while clouds centralize orchestration.
SaaS Valuation Multiples: 2015-2025. Aventis Advisors presents a data-driven analysis showing how SaaS valuation multiples expanded pre-2021 and have since contracted, with current public comps trading near ~6× EV/Revenue.
Why the Business Context Layer Is the Key to Making AI Work in Enterprise. The article proposes that to reliably deploy AI in enterprises, we need a “Business Context Layer” that codifies process rules, context, and exceptions so AI agents can act meaningfully within organizations.
📣 Events we loved
AI Tinkerers. Jan Faflík joined Jakub Krikava on stage for an inspiring talk at AI Tinkerers Prague. We also supported VC Drinks by AI Tinkerers, connecting early-stage founders, entrepreneurs, and VCs at Opero. 🎙️
Forbes Next Big Thing. Roman Smola, Martin Drdul, and Petr Ulvr joined discussions confirming that deep tech is moving from the margins to the mainstream of Czech investing.
Founder’s Cookbook Academy. Together with Startup Kitchen and Pražský inovační institut, Ondřej Lipold kicked off this year’s Founder’s Cookbook Academy with the first workshop, sharing tactical insights on crafting investor-ready pitches.
Catch us at SF Open-Source Week, Tech Happy Hours, Slush, and, of course, somewhere on planet Earth at other events 🌎
Cheers,
The Tensor VC team