Nano Showcase winner earns $10,000 prize

Benedict Bahner
ASME News Online

A startup lithography company from Santa Clara, Calif., was the winner of the $10,000 top prize at the First NanoIgnite Company Competition during the ASME Integrated Nanosystems Conference last month in Berkeley, Calif.

Eight companies took part in the competition, which was held during the conference’s Nanotechnology Commercialization Showcase. In addition to the NanoIgnite Competition, the Nano Showcase included plenary and panel sessions that concentrated on the research and development of, and venture capitalist investments in, nanotechnology-based products. The Showcase was co-produced by the ASME Nanotechnology Institute and the MIT/Stanford/UC Berkeley Nanotechnology Forum.

The NanoIgnite Competition was devised as a way to give new companies a chance to present their nanodevices and nanotechnology research to a group of venture capitalists, who would provide feedback regarding the economic feasibility of the products presented.

The judges named nanolithography company Transfer Devices Inc. the winner of the contest, based on a presentation of its new-generation, molecular transfer lithography technology. MxL, as the company calls it, is a new printing method that offers a low-cost, high-performance alternative to photolithography, according to Charles D. Schaper, president and chief executive officer of Transfer Devices. The company, which was established last year, will use the $10,000 award to commercialize the product.

However, the competition wasn’t just about winning the $10,000 prize. “Even the companies that didn’t win got something from the experience,” said Raj Manchanda, director of advanced technologies for ASME. “They got to give their presentations and gain critique. Gaining critique is quite valuable for these startups because the people who are judging them have had experience starting up companies themselves, and they were able to provide some very useful advice.”

Another primary goal of the NanoIgnite Competition was to attract the venture capitalist community of the Sand Hill Road-Menlo Park, Calif., area, to the conference. Manchanda added that the showcase succeeded in this objective, as the contest’s panel of judges was a first-rate representation of the area’s VC community. The competition’s judges included Eric Straser of Mohr Davidow Ventures, Tom Baruch of CMEA Ventures, Himanshu Choksi of Pacifica Fund, Mohanjit Jolly of Garage Technology Ventures, and Wasiq Bakhari of Quantum Insight.

Besides Transfer Devices, the other companies that took part in the NanoIgnite Competition were Wostec Inc., a company that uses nanowires for displays, membranes and semiconductors; Gemio Technologies, a company involved in accelerating the development of nanobio products; Lithium Electochromic Systems, an energy efficiency startup; CoTherm, an alternative energy company; Nanopoint Inc, a nanobio tools and solutions company; Crystal Clear Technologies, a nanotechnology-based water purification company; and Nanovative Technologies Inc., a startup company in virtual simulation tools for nanotechnology.

Companies that are interested in participating in a future Nanotechnology Commercialization Showcase competition should contact Raj Manchanda at (212) 591-7789, or e-mail manchandar@asme.org.

 

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