Today saw the launch of our new report looking at how VCs around the world are funding nanotech, and it turns out that they aren’t! Despite the hype, we see around 0.14% of US VC money going into nanotech, and an even less significant fraction in the rest of the world.
Should we be worried? Not really. Most of the action in nanotechnologies is related materials, and that is a game for BASF and Dow rather than start ups. Any company producing additives for polymers, or bulk chemicals would find it tough to raise VC funding, whether or not it has a nano in the name.
More encouragingly, we do see an increasing number of businesses taking advantage of these new materials, in ways that they can easily leverage into existing major markets such as health care and energy. While historically VCs have been taking a punt on science projects or ignoring nanotech altogether, we are finally seeing some businesses that will appeal to VCs along their traditional sector specific lines (e.g. biotech, healthcare, energy) which will allow them to make informed judgements about market potential rather than blind guesses.