Nanotechnology Investment

“Long-term, nanotech has the potential to be as significant as the steam engine, the transistor and the Internet.” (Tom Kalil, former Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for Technology and Economic Policy)

Since its conceptual debut in 1959, nanotechnology has promised an amazing wealth of potential. The possibilities it suggests for uses as noble as space travel, to as mundane as car manufacturing, make it a front-running candidate for public and private investment.

The practical similarities of nanotechnology to biotechnology mirror their commercial paths, as nanotechnology allows similar strategies toward commercialization and investment opportunities.

In only the last ten years, initiatives such as the National Nanotechnology Initiative and the European Union Framework for Nanotechnology set the precedent in the western world for government funding in nanotechnology research. According to a study completed by Lux Research in 2004, the United States is putting more money into nanotechnology than any other country.

However, Asian companies are close behind, with such countries as Taiwan and South Korea bending their efforts toward the development of actual products improved by nanotechnology, such as magnetoresistive RAM, and display consoles for computer and television lighted by carbon nanotubes. Indeed, nanotechnology has launched a new friendly competition among nations, similar to the international space race of the middle 20th century.