Padua , November 12 th , 2005 – “A great example of how to bring nanotechnology to the market”, remarked Mr. Renzo Tomellini, Head of the Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies Unit of the European Commission. Nanochallenge 2005 received flattering comments from everyone involved in the competition: participants, judges, partners and authorities invited to the final event.

The business plan competition, organized by Veneto Nanotech, received more than 70 entries from about 30 countries worldwide. These was short-listed to 20 finalists who traveled to Italy to compete in front of a prestigious panel of judges, including:

•  André Kempe , Founder, SciencePR Germany

•  Chris Anzalone , Founder, Benet Group

•  Emile Knystautas , Scientific Director of NanoFab , the Nanofabrication Facility of Veneto Nanotech

•  Lino Dainese , Founder, Dainese S.p.a.

•  Nicola Anzivino, Director, The Strategy Group, Pricewaterhouse Coopers Italy

•  Pierre Naudin , Advisor, Intel Capital

•  Rinaldo Panzarini , Director, Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo

•  Robert Jelski , Sector Advisor, 3i Investments

•  Tim Harper , CEO, Cientifica

All judges were greatly impressed by the overall quality of the ideas presented, and had to use all their expertise and instinct in order to pick the winner. On the other hand, all teams were glad of being part of the event. They worked hard to not loose the opportunity of presenting their projects to a panel of experts and potential investors, and to receive valuable feedback in order to plan their future steps as nanopreneurs.

The projects of the contestants covered many different fields of nanotechnology, ranging from bionanotech, to energy-saving solutions, diagnostic tools, and new materials.

In alphabetical order, the teams presenting were the following:

Aropor

A Fluorescence Activated Molecular Identifier for use by the Clinical Point of Care and by the OTC Self Testing segments.

Project leader: Prof. Dave Deamer, University of California Santa Cruz , USA

BioImprint

A technology that facilitates the analysis of biological material by replication transfer of complete topographic information into a dedicated device designed for nano-imagery and detection.

Project leader: Dr. James Muys, University of Canterbury , New Zealand

Biochip Electroporator

A device able to operate on a single cell and which renders possible the delivery of many kinds of substances, through electroporation, to a single cell cultured on the chip.

Project leader: Manfredi Manfrin, BioSibLab S.r.l. , Italy

ElectroSmart

ElectroSmart conducts development and large-scale manufacturing of smart batteries, CNT aligned electrodes and carbon nanotubes in order to satisfy the growth of power requirements of portable electronic devices.

Project Leader: Abhishek Peshkar, MBA, SP Jain Institute of Management& Research , India

GiLuPi

GiLuPi operates in the molecular diagnostics and therapeutics market, developing innovative tools for prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal aberration (e.g. detection of Down syndrome) from maternal blood, as well as detection and monitoring of cancer.

Project Leader: Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Ulrich Pison, University of Berlin , Germany

Innestopore

Innestopore aims at commercializing hybrid analytical and industrial tools for laboratory and industrial protein separation by increasing the throughput and decreasing the time-to-market of protein drugs.

Project leader: Dr. William Lee, University of Tokyo , Japan

ISTN

ISTN has developed a liquid antireflection (AR) coating which can be applied to optical substrates using a dip coating process. The technology is aimed at the ophthalmic lens industry.

Project leader: Brendan Dillon, Princeton University , USA

Nano Advanced Technology

NAT is a Singapore based start-up developing functional and innovative manufacturing technologies to deliver quality nanopowder in ready usable forms for applications in many different fields from ballistic armor, to brake systems, and from paints to luxury goods.

Project leader: Dr. Shim Wei Khang, Nanyang Technological University , Singapore

NanoCore

NanoCore commercializes triangular gold and silver particles, called NanoPrisms, to be used as a coloring ingredient in cosmetics, and printing inks and toners, replacing conventional dyes and pigments.

Project Leader: Prof. Chad A. Mirkin, Northwestern University , USA

Nanolux

Nanolux sells in-house developed stand alone chips, modules with a specific function (e.g. for mixing or separation) and custom made microfluidic solutions for pharma and academic research.

Project leader: Kristof Van Tomme, Ghent University , Belgium .

Nanomask

Nanomask fabricates state-of-the-art stamps for nanoimprint lithography (NIL), a key process in the production of semiconductor devices.

Project leader: Brian Bilemberg, PhD, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

NanoSense

NanoSense, commercializes a metrology instrument that allows non-destructive, nano-scale imaging of sub-surface materials' properties, features, and defects in both inorganic and organic materials.

Project Leader: Praneet Gupta, MBA, Northwestern University , USA .

NiviBio Nano Systems

NiviBio is pioneering a state-of-the-art diagnostic and testing system using innovative biochip technology, which will raise healthcare standards and reduce significantly medical costs.

Project leader: Souvik Bera, MBA, Nanyang Technological University , Singapore .

nPore Technologies

nPore introduces a high-quality customizable sensor containing a nanometer sized aperture used to detect, characterize, and modify molecules and materials at the nanoscale. nPore can be used for high speed DNA sequencing ultra-pure filtration and biomolecule detection.

Project leader: Dr. Brian Lilly, University of Illinois , USA

O-Tek Photonics, Inc.

OTP designs organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) fully inkjet-printable, full-colour integrated, and ultra low cost offering significant benefits over the current market vendors.

Project leader: Dr. Frank Shi, University of Illinois at Urbana , USA .

Parvus

Parvus proposes the development, the production and the sale of nanostructured coating materials able to penetrate many different markets ranging from building to automotive with a single core technology.

Project leader: Prof. Silvia Gross, University of Padua , Italy .

SafetySniff

SafetySniff develops and commercializes low cost screening devices that can identify the presence of explosive or toxic material in luggage, in the workplace and in food packages. Main target industries are airline industries, packaging and hazardous chemicals.

Project leader: Prof. Aulis Tuominen, university of Turku , Finland .

Sensia

Sensia aims at commercializing portable multibiosensor systems, which are integrated by means of microsystems and microelectronic technologies. Fields of application include environmental control, functional genomics, biomedicine and safety.

Project Leader: Dr. Pedro Banda, Genetrix , Spain .

Sindre

Sindre is currently developing a significantly improved probe for Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), the leading method for imaging extremely small features on diverse surfaces. Sindre's customers include research groups and companies in the micro, nano and semiconductor industries.

Project leader: Mohammad Shafiqul Kabir, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

Singular ID

Singular ID is a brand protection solution provider commercializing magnetic tagging technology aimed at protecting people, brands, corporate images and market share.

Project leader: Dr. Adrian Burden, IMRE, Singapore .

Contacts:

Marco Signorelli

Project Manager, Nanochallenge

marco.signorelli@venetonanotech.it

Tel. +39 049 7705514