Investing in Hard Tech: A Conversation with Nicolas Sauvage, President of TDK Ventures

November 18, 2025 | 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM | CreaTV San Jose Studio, 38 S Second St, San Jose, CA

Register at https://www.sparknify.com/event-details/investing-in-hard-tech

In today’s era of AI acceleration and electrified industries, one question defines the next wave of innovation: where is smart money moving in the hardware space?

At the upcoming Silicon Valley Unplugged (SV Up) live-studio event, “Investing in Hard Tech,” founders and researchers will get a front-row look at how leading investors identify and support the technologies shaping the physical world. Hosted by Jillian Sun, former Goldman Sachs Vice President and Stanford GSB alumna, this special session features Nicolas Sauvage, President of TDK Ventures, as the featured guest.

A Global Investor at the Intersection of Science and Execution

Few investors embody the bridge between engineering excellence and entrepreneurial ambition as clearly as Nicolas Sauvage. Trained as an engineer and seasoned as an operator, Nicolas has spent over two decades translating scientific potential into market-shifting products — and now, as President of TDK Ventures, he’s turning that same lens toward investing in the future of hard tech.

At TDK Ventures, Nicolas leads a mission-driven corporate venture fund investing globally in startups advancing AI hardware, sensors, semiconductors, robotics, energy storage, and advanced manufacturing systems. What sets his approach apart is not just the capital deployed, but the engineering empathy he brings to each investment. He understands that building in the physical world takes longer, costs more, and demands a deeper technical foundation — but that’s also where the most durable impact lies.

Under his leadership, TDK Ventures has championed founders transforming motion control, power electronics, industrial automation, and precision sensing — technologies forming the connective tissue of the next industrial era. Nicolas often emphasizes that true deep-tech investing isn’t about chasing trends, but building bridges between research labs, pilot lines, and global markets. His philosophy: fund the founders who dare to tackle the toughest problems and give them the resources to move science from theory to throughput.

Before entering venture capital, Nicolas played pivotal roles at TDK InvenSense, Atmel, and NXP Semiconductors, helping scale complex hardware systems to millions of units shipped worldwide. This hands-on background gives him a rare dual fluency — understanding the challenges of device physics and manufacturing yield while navigating investor milestones, commercialization risks, and ecosystem building.

Insights for Founders

For founders working on breakthrough hardware and scientific ventures, Nicolas’s experience offers a masterclass in what it really takes to earn “smart money” in deep tech. His insights cut through the noise of typical startup advice, focusing instead on how to de-risk execution while amplifying vision.

Key themes include:

• How smart capital assesses hard tech: Investors don’t just fund prototypes — they fund pathways to scale. Learn how seasoned VCs evaluate hardware ventures across technical feasibility, manufacturability, unit economics, and ecosystem timing.

• Why narrative and execution must evolve together: Hard-tech founders often face long development cycles, but communicating steady technical validation — not just ambition — keeps investor confidence high.

• How to leverage corporate VC strategically: Funds like TDK Ventures offer more than capital — they open doors to technical mentorship, manufacturing access, supply-chain partnerships, and domain expertise.

• When deep tech becomes venture-ready:  Unpacking how founders can identify the right inflection point — when product-market fit, pilot data, and timing converge to attract major investment.

• Building resilience in a capital-heavy world: From semiconductor tooling to robotics, hard tech demands patience and grit. Get advice on balancing ambition with operational discipline — scaling what works, not what’s trendy.

Through his conversation with Jillian Sun, they will illuminate how founders can transform technical breakthroughs into investable opportunities — and, just as importantly, how investors can become long-term partners in that transformation.

Engage Directly — Not Just Listen

This isn’t a conference talk — it’s a live-studio experience where the audience becomes part of the conversation. Attendees will join founders, investors, and industry insiders for networking, enjoy a live SV Spotlight performance, and participate in an interactive Q&A with Nicolas Sauvage.

What makes SV Up distinct is its accessibility and intimacy. Instead of rows of distant seats, the studio setting creates a direct line between speakers and audience. Founders can ask candid questions, seek advice on their own ventures, and build genuine connections with investors who understand both the technical and entrepreneurial challenges of deep-tech development.

For early-stage innovators developing next-generation chips, robotics, or intelligent hardware platforms, this is more than an event — it’s a chance to engage with a global thought leader shaping where smart capital is flowing next.

The Broader Context: From Silicon Valley to Taiwan

This November discussion with Nicolas Sauvage also sets the stage for the upcoming “Bridging Silicon Valley and Taiwan: Semiconductor & AI Synergies” event on January 13, 2026, hosted at the Startup Island Taiwan – Silicon Valley Hub in Palo Alto.

While Investing in Hard Tech explores how global venture leaders identify and scale transformative hardware innovations, the January event takes the conversation a step further — showcasing how Taiwan’s world-class semiconductor and manufacturing ecosystem connects with Silicon Valley’s venture and research networks to accelerate real-world impact.

Speakers such as Laura Swan (Sand Hill Angels / Silicon Catalyst), Andy Lombard (Tesoro VC), Janis Skriveris (Plug and Play Ventures), and Sam Fok (CEO, femtoAI) will delve into the practical side of scaling semiconductor and AI startups, from lab to market. Together, these two events form a powerful continuum:

• November 18 — hear from global investors like Nicolas Sauvage on how smart money moves in hard tech.

• January 13 — connect directly with Taiwan’s innovation ecosystem and the IC Taiwan Grand Challenge (ICTGC) program, which offers mentorship, funding, and partnerships to help startups commercialize their semiconductor and AI breakthroughs.

Both gatherings share a common mission: bridging capital, innovation, and manufacturing strength across the Pacific to empower the next generation of deep-tech founders.

Join us on November 18 to discover where the next generation of “smart money” is flowing in hardware — and return on January 13 to see how those ideas come to life through global collaboration between Silicon Valley and Taiwan.

About Silicon Valley Unplugged (SV Up)

Produced by Sparknify, Silicon Valley Unplugged is a monthly live-studio show filmed in the heart of Silicon Valley. Each episode brings together founders, investors, and academics for open conversations about the technologies shaping our future. Designed to capture the authentic energy of the Valley, SV Up is recorded live in a professional studio for broadcast on Comcast’s local network and streamed online worldwide, giving audiences everywhere a front-row seat to Silicon Valley’s most authentic conversations on innovation. Get tickets at https://www.sparknify.com/silicon-valley-unplugged