Around the world, deep tech R&D labs are racing to develop the next generation of hardware, including semiconductors, photonics, and energy storage. Despite investing over €250 billion annually, these labs face a fundamental challenge: their workflows are disjointed, slow, and prone to errors. Teams depend on a patchwork of scripts, spreadsheets, and isolated processes, causing delays in prototyping and increasing the risk of costly mistakes. Industry data shows that over 25% of R&D engineers’ time is wasted searching for data or recreating previous work, and two-thirds of companies struggle to reproduce past successes due to a lack of accessible information. As technological complexity grows, so do the stakes — a single prototype cycle can exceed €1 million.
Balthazar aims to tackle this issue. Based in Amsterdam, Balthazar is developing the first operating system (OS) for deep tech R&D labs—a real-time, AI-powered platform that integrates every phase of the R&D process. With Balthazar, engineers can conduct, monitor, and manage experiments directly from their browsers, connecting to local workstations and lab instruments. The platform consolidates all prototype data into a single collaborative workspace, enabling smooth automation and reproducibility at scale.
The market has responded positively. Balthazar has raised €1.85 million so far, including a recent €1.2 million round led by CapitalT, with participation from Antler and earlier investors such as Innovatiefonds NH, Rabobank, and Rvo. This funding will speed up product development, improve AI features, and support team growth.
As Dejan Davidovikj, Balthazar’s founder and CEO, says, “Deep tech labs are pushing the limits of science and engineering—yet still rely on tools never meant for today’s complexity. Teams run incredibly complex experiments with no shared source of truth and no system to manage the process. Balthazar gives them structure, automation, and visibility—so they can move faster and make better decisions, backed by data.”
How Balthazar powers the future of deep tech R&D
Balthazar’s founding story is rooted in first-hand frustration. Dejan Davidovikj holds a PhD in nanotechnology and has spent years in the trenches of R&D, working on nanosensors, superconducting circuits, and quantum materials. He’s also built and managed SaaS and data management solutions and is passionate about bridging scientific research with robust software engineering. His co-founder, Konstantin Mertsalov, is a PhD in Computer Science with over 20 years of experience developing software and data solutions across industries as diverse as legal, medical, and creative, bringing a broad, cross-vertical perspective to the team.
The motivation to start Balthazar came directly from their own struggles in the lab, a frustration many in the industry can relate to. “The idea was born from our experience in the lab: wrestling with manual workflows, disconnected tools, and inefficient data handling. We saw a clear market need to solve these pain points by creating a unified system that connects every aspect of the R&D process,” says Dejan in a conversation with TFN.
Balthazar’s mission is to transform high-tech R&D by giving labs the tools to move quickly, collaborate seamlessly, and make smarter, data-driven decisions. They aim to turn “research chaos into coordinated progress,” unlocking reproducible and scalable scientific breakthroughs. Today, the team is 11 strong and represents three nationalities, reflecting a commitment to diversity and global ambition.
Building the digital backbone for tomorrow’s hardware labs
At the heart of Balthazar’s platform is a flexible, Python-native, and fully customizable architecture. Users can integrate any process, define workflows as code, and build GUIs on top of a domain-agnostic data model. This flexibility allows labs to adapt the platform to their unique needs, rather than forcing them to conform to rigid software.
Traceability is built in from the start. Balthazar automatically tracks and version-controls prototypes and processes, making it simple to adopt and layer onto existing setups. Every step, result, and insight is captured, creating a comprehensive digital twin of each prototype. Designs, production logs, measurements, and analyses are all linked in a cloud-native platform designed for collaboration and AI-driven decision-making.
As Dejan explains to TFN, “Hardware R&D today depends on disparate scripts, spreadsheets, and siloed processes, which slow down prototyping and increase the risk of costly errors. More than 25% of R&D engineers’ time is wasted searching for data and recreating existing work. Two out of three companies report difficulties reproducing past successes due to a lack of information. As technology scales, mistakes become significantly more expensive — a single prototype cycle can exceed €1 million.”
While many teams still rely on in-house tools, OneNote, PowerPoint, or spreadsheets, or attempt to adapt CRM or ERP systems—often hiring software engineers for custom solutions—Balthazar offers a unified, intelligent workspace purpose-built for deep tech R&D. Similar tools exist in other verticals (such as Insilico for pharma, Atinary for chemistry, or Benchling for biotech). Still, Balthazar stands out as a domain-agnostic solution designed specifically for the demands of hardware innovation.
“Balthazar solves a foundational challenge for deep tech teams: turning research chaos into coordinated progress,” says Eva de Mol, Founding Partner at CapitalT. “The team deeply understands the day-to-day problems of modern R&D labs and builds the infrastructure needed to enable faster and more reproducible technological breakthroughs. We’re thrilled to support them from the beginning.”
Looking ahead: accelerating deep tech innovation
With its recent funding and growing industry validation, Balthazar is poised for rapid growth. The company’s immediate objectives include scaling commercial adoption among users in semiconductors, photonics, quantum technologies, and energy storage—the main drivers of innovation in logic, sensing, memory, and AI. Balthazar also plans to deepen integrations with lab instruments, build advanced AI modules to augment R&D workflows further, and grow its team across engineering, sales, and customer success. In the long term, Balthazar aims to establish itself as the go-to platform for AI-powered R&D in deep tech labs worldwide.
The long-term ambition is clear: to establish Balthazar as the go-to platform for AI-powered R&D in deep tech labs worldwide. As Dejan summarises, “Balthazar solves a foundational challenge for deep tech teams: turning research chaos into coordinated progress.” By bringing structure, speed, and reproducibility to modern research, Balthazar lays the foundation for the next era of scientific and technological breakthroughs, a vision the company is determined to achieve.
