Nanotech Lures Bankers, VCs With Promise of $1 Trillion Market

After decades of hype and false starts, the National Science Foundation forecasts that $1 trillion worth of nanotechnology- enabled products will be on the market by 2015. This year, corporations and governments will spend more than $11 billion on nanotechnology research, according to Cientifica, a London-based consulting firm.

In May, Harris spearheaded a $7.5 million investment in Santa Clara, California-based Innovalight Inc. The company, started at the University of Texas in Austin, is manipulating silicon particles that measure 2 to 10 nanometers. At that size, the particles become soluble, enabling them to absorb and store solar energy with the goal of producing electricity.

bloomberg