End of a long wait for Nanotechnology Startups?
Dr Swati Subodh
Twitter: @swatisubodh
The field of nanotechnology has been in existence since the turn of this century and its impact has seen many advances in fields ranging from electronics, medicine, communications, food, energy etc. The government support to nanotechnology in the 11th and 12th five year plans in the form of ‘Nano Mission’ created an atmosphere of excitement towards this as a cumulative funding of almost 1650 crores was made available for research and development during this period. A decade later, this buzz has translated into many developments in the form of application oriented products; and rich knowledge capital foraying India among the top five nations in terms of nanotechnology publications. On the other end of the pipeline however, this has resulted in only a trickle of startups. While many speculations have done rounds on the low number of nanotech startups, it remains to be seen what has worked and where the bottlenecks are that need to be overcome.
The Nano Opportunity
The nanotechnology industry is expected to be worth a $ 75.8 billion market by 2020. While nanotechnology has huge potential to impact everyday life, it has yet to attract Indian talent and entrepreneurs in a big way.
The country has just about 50 active nanotech startups and out of them only five have been funded so far, according to startup data platform Tracxn. The total funding Indian nanotech startups have raised is estimated at around $ 0.3 million, or about Rs 1.93 crore (Source: The Economic Times).
Barriers
- Lack of receptiveness: Nanotechnology is still not a much talked about topic in the industrial circles and many feel that this knowledge gap has manifested as reluctance in adoption; be it of new products or in change of present portfolios to more efficient nanotech alternatives. Many in the nanotech industry feel that policies and schemes by the government should be put in place to hand-hold this sector.
- Need for High end infrastructure: The most basic tool required for any nanotech startup is an Electron Microscope which costs anywhere between $500,000 — $10 million. The EMs is manufactured outside India thereby adding to the costs due to extensive logistic considerations. Also, these high-end machines require extensive after-sale support and the training of operators to use the highly sensitive equipment. For a startup to invest directly into such machines could be a challenge so they are forced to use services from private labs which take time for results and thus reduce the scope for rapid development. Access to low cost instrumentation and fab labs or access to adequate incubation facilities is essential for rapid development of the field all over the world.
- Lack of adequate funding and Investment: Although the sector is brimming with promise and opportunities the confidence of investors and funders has not matched up. The reasons being the slow trajectory of market ready products and the uncertainty surrounding ROI.
Making nanomaterials a big deal!
The nanotech startups have dealt with their share of challenges and continue to do so as the lull beyond the frenzy continues. Despite this quagmire a few startups have propelled themselves forward in the market.
Log 9 Materials
Recently this 3 year old startup won an award for the Most Innovative Company of the Year 2018 in the ‘technology’ category by the Department of Science & Technology. With three product launches in succession Log 9 raised 3cr pre-series A funding recently adding to its last year’s corpus that they raised from GEMS Advisory. The amount will go into expansion and development of new products. The Bengaluru-based startup will collaborate with the defence to help it build various products and applications in energy conservation.
Log 9 focuses on Graphene Nanotechnology and develops end-user commercial applications of Graphene, mainly focusing on energy and filtration. For developing energy solutions, they state that the two-dimensional layered structure of graphene with its extra-ordinary and customizable electronic properties is ideal for improving existing energy platforms. They have already built lead acid batteries with high efficiency by incorporating graphene which enhances the productivity as it renders higher capacity without draining the battery. The startup claims that the addition of graphene also increases the life of the battery by 1.3x times. Another domain that Log 9 is focusing on is filtration of air and water. Due to the high surface area and unique electronic properties of grapheme it is a promising alternative for filtration needs. Log 9 is developing the catalysis, absorption and micro-channeling properties of graphene based materials for new age filtration and purification technologies. They are adopting a diversified approach by developing particulate, foam as well as membrane based graphene technologies (Source Log 9 Materials)
Adnano
The company deals in graphene and carbon nanotubes. The unique tubular structure and high impact strength of carbon nanotubes enables this new generation of composites by reinforcing the traditional fiber fillers. This is especially suited to aerospace applications that include aircraft braking systems, thermal management, electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio frequency interference (RFI), electrostatic discharge (ESD), lightning strike. The unique properties of carbon nanotubes demonstrate great promise in enabling the next generation of energy sources today in applications ranging from batteries and fuel cells to wind turbines and solar cells. (Source: Adnano).
Nilima Nanotechnologies
With a roster of clients like Pidilite, Eureka Forbes, Hindustan Unilever, BMW-Rolls Royce (Navnit Motors) and Mercedes Benz (Auto Hangar), this startup had made early entry in the world of surface protectants with sol gels and nano-zeolites for substances like textile, wood, glass, stone, ceramic and metal. Their product Nanoman, biomimicks the Lotus effect and repels water and dust particles on the surface, thereby making it easy to clean. It is used extensively as windscreen protectant by the automotive industry in Maharashtra. It ensures a long-term effect, protects all metallic, electric and electronic devices, machines, motors, computer plates against moisture, humidity, water, fog, rust, oxidation, corrosion.
Their product, Nanoman Universal, is a mixture of highly refined oils with special corrosion-protection agents. The product has an extreme penetration and capillary ability. As a result of its extreme hydrophobic capability, Nanoman Universal pushes water and humidity away in all electrical connections and electrical devices by building up a three-dimensional nanostructured hydrophobic network. This water repelling film ensures the functionality of the electrical devices even when they are exposed to water. With this NN aims to reduce the annual economic damages, which have been reported to be nearly 4% of Gross National Product (GNP) in EU and USA, due to corrosion!
Another B2B solution developed by NN is a material based on activated and special compounded nanosilver, which actively blocks the growth of biofilms and highly reduces the adhesion of microorganisms to the coated surface. Besides surface application as disinfectants, the powder or liquid based silver nanoparticles can be incorporated into virtually most of everyday goods like toys, clothes, toothpaste, toothbrushes, paint, lacquer, sanitary equipment, soap and detergent, and personal care products. They highlight a study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that estimates that roughly 1.7 million hospital-associated infections, from all types of bacteria combined, cause or contribute to 99,000 deaths each year. Other estimates indicate that 10%, or 2 million, patients a year become infected, with the annual cost ranging from $4.5 billion to $11 billion. NN’s antibacterial nanomaterial will have immense application in this sphere.
Launchpad
The government has realized the loose-end of the lab-to-market pipeline in context to Nanotechs. In early 2017 country’s first business incubator for nanotechnology was inaugurated at the PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore. Set up with an investment of 15 crores, 50% of it is provided by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The incubation centres aims to incubate upto 33 startups in next 5 years and launch upto 13 prototypes in next 4 years. Realizing the technology transfer takes time in nanotechnology, two schemes are going to run in the incubator. The first scheme will be a entrepreneurial residential program; and the second where the startup will be given a seed fund of Rs. 10 lakh to develop a prototype. Additional fund of Rs. 20 lakh by DST will focus on raw material procurement.
Nanotech startups will hopefully get the much needed push forward with these initiatives which will enable them to overcome the initial stumbling blocks. How this will translate into greater investor confidence for future scale-up and expansion into a burgeoning nanotech market space remains to be seen.
(The column appeared in the magazine Nano Digest in 2018)
