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Start-UP Companies Based on Berkeley Lab
Technology
What determines which technologies become the foundation for a
new company? In essence, a technology must attract the necessary
financing from venture capital or other sources. In order to do
this, the technology must be a fundamental improvement or the basis
for a new product or service. It generally will be a significant
improvement in the state-of-the-art, as opposed to an incremental
one, with great potential for significant market impact.
It is also important that the technology enjoy a strong proprietary
position. It must have, for example, an issued patent or a patent
pending, with strong claims that separate it from competing technologies.
The cutting-edge nature of research here at Berkeley Lab often results
in technologies that fit this bill.
Since 1990, Berkeley Lab technology has formed the basis for over 20
start-ups, creating over 1,000 new jobs in these companies alone.
These technologies include genomics-related software, nanotechnology,
drug development, x-ray imaging, materials sciences processing,
biomolecular tagging, and energy-efficiency home improvements.
|
Company |
Business |
Year* |
FTE** |
| Seeo, Inc. |
Lithium metal batteries for portable electronics and hybrid and electric vehicles. |
2007 |
N/A |
| company in stealth model |
Therapeutics for cardiovascular disease |
2006 |
N/A |
RSL Energy, Inc.
|
Full spectrum solar cells for the global renewable energy market.
|
2006 |
N/A |
SeeqPod, Inc.
|
Exploratory search engine and relationship network technology. |
2005 |
18 |
 |
Star-P, a software platform for automatic parallelization and interactive execution of desktop-developed technical applications on high-performance computer ("HPC") servers (Star-P was developed jointly with MIT and UCSB and licensed through MIT). |
2004 |
>7 |
|
VSOM,
Inc.
|
Visual
Servoing Optical Microscopy for biological applications. |
2002 |
2 |
|
Nanosys,
Inc.
|
Development
of products such as nanowires,
nanotubes, nanodots (quantum dots), flexible electronics, lightweight and conformal solar cells, memory and novel nanostructured surface coatings based on high performance inorganic structures. more
info |
2002 |
60 |
|
Momenta
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
|
Application
of glycomics (study of the information content of sugars)
to drug discover and development. |
2002 |
125 |
|
Nanomix,
Inc.
|
New
products made from nanoscale materials and components, including
sensors and hydrogen storage systems to power fuel cells.
more
info |
 |
2001 |
23 |
|
Cargo
Technology, Inc. (Acquired by Cold Pack System S.A.S., 2006)
|
Gas-filled
panel insulated shipping containers. more
info |
2000 |
22 |
|
Xradia,
Inc.
|
Nanofabrication
of X-ray imaging technologies |
2000 |
20 |
|
Syrrx,
Inc. (Acquired by Takeda San Diego, 2005)
|
Strutural
proteomics (the process of generating protein structures
from genetic information) for drug discovery. |
1999 |
>100 |
|
Ariel
Technologies, Inc. (Acquired by Intematix, Inc., 2003)
|
Scanning
tip microwave near field microscopes |
1998 |
5 |
|
Quantum
Dot Corporation (Acquired by Invitrogen Corp.10/06/05)
|
|
1998 |
50 |
|
Carrier
Aeroseal, LLC (Acquired by Carrier Corp., 2001)
|
A
quick, inexpensive, aerosol-based duct-sealing system, which
reduces heating and cooling energy up to 30%. more
info |
1997 |
20 |
|
Neomorphic
Software, Inc. (Acquired by Affymetrix
10/30/00)
|
Genomic
data analysis. Neural network software to predict DNA regulatory
sites. |
1997 |
22 |
|
Berkeley
HeartLab, Inc. |
Advanced
blood lipoprotein testing for diagnosis and treatment of heart
disease. more info |
1997 |
175 |
|
Data Logic Division of
Gene Logic Corp.
|
Genomic
data management. Object-Protocol Model, a tool to facilitate
management of complex scientific databases. |
1997 |
40 |
|
WaterHealth
International
|
Portable
low-power water disinfection units. more
info |
1996 |
8 |
|
Symyx
Technologies, Inc.
|
High-throughput
materials discovery for the Life Sciences, Electronics, and
Chemical industries through combinatorial chemistry, miniaturization,
and parallel processing. more
info |
1995 |
350 |
|
Cutting Edge Products,
Inc. (Ceased Operations 2003) |
Ion
deposition for tool hardening. |
1991 |
NA |
|
Morris Research, Inc. |
High
Tc superconductivity instrumentation. |
1990 |
N/A |
|
PolyPlus
Battery Company
|
Polymeric
organosulfur compound as the cathode in an environmentally
friendly, high power-density, lithium polymer battery. |
1990 |
30 |
*Year of license; company may have entered into an earlier option agreement with Berkeley Lab.
**Full-time employee.
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