Tag Archives: Arkansas

NanoMech get $10M investment from Saudi company

This news comes from the US state of Arkansas (not often featured here). The company, NanoMech, seems to be focused on lubricants and coatings according to an April 13, 2013 news release on Business Wire,

NanoMech announced today that it has secured $10 million in capital for leading its Series C Financing round from Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures (SAEV), the corporate venturing subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s national oil company. This capital infusion and relationship will significantly accelerate NanoMech’s manufacturing, sales and product development. NanoMech uses nanotechnology to develop advanced products for industrial and mechanical applications – such as lubricants, coatings and specialty chemicals. These products have enabled a step change in performance, efficiency and reliability in multiple industries such as energy, transportation, aerospace, manufacturing, automotive, agricultural equipment and military.

An April 11, 2013 NanoMech news release, which originated the item on Business Wire, provides a few more details and some quotes,

“NanoMech is honored to achieve this recognition and investment by the world’s largest energy company,” said NanoMech Chairman and CEO Jim Phillips. “Building on current momentum, NanoMech will use this financing and relationship to expand our global reach, invest in additional sales and marketing resources. We will also increase investment in our market-leading nanotechnology platforms, nGlide, GuardX, TuffTek, and nGuard.”

This capital infusion and relationship will significantly improve NanoMech’s manufacturing, sales and product development. Today’s announcement represents NanoMech’s most significant milestone in the continued validation and authentication of its unique technology.

“Response to NanoMech’s technology at Saudi Aramco and several of our major suppliers has been very positive,” said Cory Steffek, Managing Director, North America for SAEV. “A platform technology like NanoMech’s has significant potential to bring innovation, not only to the energy sector, but also to many other critical industries.”

NanoMech has validated and commercialized its innovations to iconic world-leading businesses and has completed an upgrade of its smart factory and labs. Several Fortune 100 and emerging companies have incorporated NanoMech’s nano-engineered solutions to create high-performance products.

“After more than a decade of extensive research and development, and recent large-scale commercialization successes,” said Dr. Ajay P. Malshe, CTO and Founder of NanoMech. “Our industry is leading disruptive nanoscience and is light years ahead of the competition. We are transforming entire industries.

The big talk is rooted not just in hype but also in a major US government push to commercialize nanotechnology research, which has received billions of dollars in government funding (from the NanoMech news release),

“Aramco’s strategic investment in NanoMech will transform the productivity paradigm for sustainable global energy production,” said Deborah Wince-Smith, CEO of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness and NanoMech board member. “It will accelerate NanoMech’s position as the global leader in advanced nanotechnology.”

Nanotechnology and biocompatibility; carbon nanotubes in agriculture; venture capital for nanotechnology

One of the big nanotechnology toxicity issues centers around the question of its biocompatibility i.e. what effect do the particles have on cells in human bodies, plants, and other biological organisms? Right now, the results are mixed. Two studies have recently been published which suggest that there are neutral or even positive responses to nanoparticles.

Researchers at Lund University (Sweden) have conducted tests of nanowires, which they are hoping could be used as electrodes in the future, showing that microglial cells break down the nanowires and almost completely clean them away over a period of weeks. You can read more about the work here on Nanowerk. I would expect they’ll need to do more studies confirming these results as well more tests establishing what happens to the nanowire debris over longer periods of time and what problems, if any, emerge when electrodes are introduced in succession (i.e. how many times can you implant nanowires and have them ‘mostly’ cleaned away?).

The other biocompatibility story centers on food stuffs. Apparently carbon nanotubes can have a positive effect on crops. According to researchers in Arkansas*, Mariya Khodakovskaya, Alexandru Biris, and their colleagues, the treated seeds (tomato) sprouted twice as fast and grew more than twice as much as their untreated neighbours. The news item is here on Nanowerk and there is a more in-depth article about agriculture and nanotechnology here in Nanowerk Spotlight. (Note: I have checked and both of the papers have been published although I believe they’re both behind paywalls.)

It seems be to a Nanowerk day as I’m featuring the site again for this item. They have made a guide to finding venture capital for startup nanotechnology companies available on their site. From the item,

To help potential nanotechnology start-up founders with shaping their plans, Nanowerk, the leading nanotechnology information service, and Nanostart, the world’s leading nanotechnology venture capital company, have teamed up to provide this useful guide which particularly addresses the funding aspects of nanotechnology start-ups, along with answers to some of the most commonly asked questions.

You can read more here.

*’Arkansaa’ corrected to ‘Arkansas’ on Dec. 7, 2017.