Category: news

Commercial opportunities are being trumpeted by FirstStage Capital, a venture capital firm in the United Kingdom. The firm recently issued a brief overview (Nanotechnology Today-Reality or Hype?) of these opportunities as a prelude to an investment-oriented seminar the company hosted on 5 December 2001. According at a press release (5 December 2001), over 130 venture capitalists and academics attended. According to the release, "The panel of leading academics and venture capitalists agreed that while the quality of technology in Europe and the US is similar, the opportunities in Europe tend to be much closer to commercialisation than in the US, and hence more attractive in todayís environment from a venture capital investment perspective. Europe is particularly strong in materials, tooling and precision engineering, all pre-requisites for successful exploitation of nanotechnology."

Additional coverage of the seminar, as well as a more extensive presentation of the views of investors and researchers in the U.K., is available in an article on the Small Times website ("U.K. tries to strick balance between the science and business of nanotech", by Guy Paisner, 7 December 2001). The article sounds a more cautions note: "As nanotechnology prepares to leave the laboratory and enter the marketplace, investors are circling around Great Britain's academic centers. But unlike the United States, the United Kingdom is not renowned for its ability to mix academia with business, and a degree of confusion exists over how nanotechnology research should be funded. . . . In the United Kingdom, government funding allows for long-term research that is largely untainted by a commercial agenda. But venture capital is desperately needed to unlock the commercial potential from the ivory towers of academia."

According to a company press release (11 December 2001), Stanford University researcher Dr. Hongjie Dai, along with a number of partners, has formed a new company called Molecular Nanosystems to commercialize applications of carbon nanotube technology. According to the release, the firm has received initial funding and produced its first batch of nanotubes in its fully functional lab. The initial funding will be used for research and development, laboratory expansion and initial start-up costs. More information can be found on the Molecular Nanosystems website.

dshafer writes "I've been contracted by Wiley to write a book called "Nanotech, Megaquake" which will focus on the business and commercial side of the technology. Specific current, near-term and mid-range applications. How business managers in medium-sized and large corporations should be viewing this technology today, what they need to be doing to be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities and challenges, etc.

I'm soliciting input. If you have any of the following, please email me with details or contact info. The book manuscript is due mid-February and the book will be published in the late summer time frame.

• company or product doing specific new development work in this area that is likely to see fruition in 2002 to mid-2003.
• thoughts, views, opinions to share (perhaps they'd be better shared here?)
• referrals, pointers, references, etc., to other sources

Thanks very much.

Dan Shafer
Sr.Associate"

from the jostling-for-nano-position dept.
An article in the San Francisco Chronicle (Dec. 7) reports that Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, a nonpartisan public policy group, is advising Silicon Valley to prepare for the next boom, described as being based on biotech, infotech, and of course nanotech. "Nanotechnology, the development of ultra-small mechanical components is another research area poised to take off. But Silicon Valley is competing with such places as Boston and San Diego to establish itself as the commercial center for these emerging technologies." The "mechanical" slant here reflects Foresight's main interest area of molecular manufacturing, as opposed to the mainstream which currently focuses more on nanoelectronics.