Royal DSM, a Netherlands-based material and life sciences company, has invested an undisclosed amount from its corporate venturing unit in NanoHoldings, a US-based energy technology development conglomerate.
NanoHoldings’ network of universities and scientists, most of them with physics backgrounds, means other innovations that show promise could be further developed outside of the company and eventually co-financed through DSM Venturing or possibly acquired by DSM.
Marcel Wubbolts, chief technology officer at DSM, said: "DSM has a strong interest in nanotechnology as an important enabler in materials sciences and is already working on new developments that make use of this technology.
"NanoHoldings’ unique business provides us with additional open innovation potential in nanotechnology enabling DSM to develop new business opportunities."
Nanoholdings’ portfolio includes:
- Ebox for residential power management.
- Military Tech’s NeutronWand, which is a wide area neutron detector of fissile materials in minute quantities in trucks.
- NanoComposites’ materials.
- NFishgill’s water treatment technology.
- NIRVision’s infrared-sensing, enhanced night-vision technology.
- NRadiance Composite Systems Foundational that uses new polymers and materials designed to function in conjunction with nanomaterials to enhance device properties.
- NRadiance Energy Systems’ materials for energy generation and storage devices utilizing Versafilm.
- NRadiance NanoSystems which makes Versafilm.
- NSolgel’s ZeroCrete – an environmentally friendly replacement for cement.
- NVerPix carbon nanotube-enabled, light emitting, thin film transistor technology.
- Paramata for the remote monitoring of the structural integrity of high value engineered materials, such as composite aircraft.
Separately, Russia-based financial services provider VTB Group’s investment unit said it would co-manage a $50m venturing fund for small-scale, or nanotechnologies focused on Russia and Kazakhstan.
VTB Capital and venture capital firm I2BF Global Ventures will manage an initial $50m split equally from commitments by the Russian state nanotechnology fund, RusNano, and Kazyna Capital Management, the sovereign wealth fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
VTB Capital and I2BF said they would try and raise a further $50m from external investors. Aidar Kaliev, head of venture at VTB Capital, said: "This is the first time in the history of the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States that border Russia after the break up of the Soviet Union] that a venture fund will invest in frontier technology in both Russia and Kazakhstan. The initiative is very important taking into account the active collaboration between the two governments to launch the Common Economic Space."