Forage Into The Future #12: Open Source is Accelerating, Gene Therapies and Consolidation Wave
On "AI Scientist" $100M Raise, Uptick in Open Source AI Models, U.S.INT $700M Space Investment, EMA's Asteroid Belt Mission, 100x Vision Improvement with Gene Therapy AND MORE.
Welcome back, fellow futurists, to "Forage Into The Future," your weekly dispatch from the bleeding edge of science, technology, and venture capital.1
I'm Abhinav, your guide through this exhilarating landscape, driven by an insatiable curiosity and a passion for uncovering the hidden forces shaping our collective future.
This week, we're embarking on a particularly thrilling adventure. We'll start by investigating the intriguing dynamics in the world of 🦄 Venture Capital & Private Equity, where consolidation and cautious optimism seem to be the new mantras. In 💻 Artificial Intelligence, the top-line is Sakana AI's innovative approach that is causing quite a stir and the sudden surge of open-source models. Finally, no exploration of the future would be complete without a journey into the cosmic realm of 🚀 Space Exploration, where groundbreaking missions and ambitious projects are pushing the boundaries of human ingenuity. So, tighten your intellectual seatbelts and let's embark on this exhilarating journey into the future! And! BioTech where we are seeing 100x to 10,000x improvements in vision owing to gene therapy!
Okay, on to it then!
🦄 Venture Capital & Private Equity
👩💻🌐SaaS Roundup for Q2, 2024: SaaS Funding Remains Strong in Q2 2024 with $9.3B Invested. A total of $9.3B was invested across 67 SaaS companies in Q2 2024, demonstrating continued momentum in the sector. Series F rounds led the pack ($2.0B), followed closely by Series B ($1.7B).
For Early Stage Investors:
Seed & Series A Dominate Deals: While Series F rounds raised the most capital, the number of deals suggests strong early stage activity. Series B saw 14 deals, followed by Series A with 12. This indicates a healthy pipeline for future growth.
France & Canada are Hotspots: France and Canada are emerging as hubs for early stage SaaS companies, with 5 and 4 funded companies respectively.
For Growth Stage Investors:
Series F & E Rounds are King: Late-stage funding is still strong, with Series F and Series E rounds attracting $2B and $1.3B respectively. This suggests continued investor confidence in mature SaaS companies.
US Remains Dominant: The US continues to lead the pack with 36 funded companies, representing the majority of funding activity.
For Active Investors:
Index Ventures & Lightspeed Lead the Pack: These firms are showing a strong appetite for SaaS, each closing 6 deals in Q2.
Global Focus: While the US holds the largest share of investors, European and Asian investors are also active, with notable participation from France, Canada, Sweden, Singapore, and China.
Series B emerges as a pivotal stage with the highest funding volume ($1.7B) and deal count (14). This highlights the importance of product-market fit and scalability for attracting significant growth capital.
💻 Investing in the Future of AI: Three key developments:
Mayfield launches a $100 million AI incubator:
Modeled after Mayfield's successful Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) program: Instead of traditional accelerator or pre-seed programs, AI Garage will provide a more hands-on approach, similar to its EIR program.
Focus on "AI teammates": Mayfield is specifically looking for startups building AI applications that go beyond simple assistants (copilots or agents) and act as true collaborators with humans on complex tasks.
Early-stage ideation: AI Garage will accept up to five aspiring founders every six months who are still in the ideation stage. Mayfield will help them develop their business plan and build their company from the ground up.
Significant funding: Participants won't receive funding on day one, but Mayfield will allocate $1 million to $5 million once a business plan is finalized.
Mayfield has already invested in companies aligned with this theme, such as DevRev (customer service support AI), Docket (an AI sales engineer), and NeuBird (site reliability AI engineer).
Spark Labs dedicates $50 million to a new AI fund that will invest in AI startups globally, both through its AIM-X accelerator in Saudi Arabia and through direct investments. While specific LPs were not disclosed, SparkLabs revealed that the fund includes a government fund of funds among its investors.
Two-pronged investment strategy:
Accelerator investments: ~35% of the fund will support participants in its AIM-X accelerator program, with an average check size of $200,000 (up to $500,000 in exceptional cases).
Series A & B investments: ~65% will be allocated for Series A and Series B investments in AI startups globally, with a focus on the US. Check sizes will range from $1 million to $5 million.
Target portfolio size: The fund aims to invest in a total of 50 to 70 companies.
First batch of investments: SparkLabs has already invested in 14 startups from its AI Fund, representing a diverse range of AI applications across various geographies.
You.com, an AI-powered search and productivity platform, has secured $50 million in Series B funding, led by Georgian, with participation from Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures, and Day One Ventures.
You.com is pioneering a new category of AI tools designed to significantly enhance how knowledge workers access information, solve problems, and create content.
The company has witnessed remarkable growth, serving over 1 billion queries and achieving a 500% revenue increase since January.
💲Funds That Raised + Startups
London-based VC Atomico raised $1.24 billion across two funds: $485 million for early-stage financing and $754 million for growth deals. It falls just short of being the biggest VC fund focused solely on Europe, with fellow London-based firm Balderton raising $1.3bn across two new funds last month. This is even more evidence of strong consolidation occuring within the VC industry. [We have a piece coming on this up next!]
Ardabelle Capital, led by Eurazeo's former CEO Virginie Morgon, plans to raise $555 million for its debut climate-focused private equity fund.
Santander [who I have the pleasure of calling my former clients from my time modeling bulge-bracket derivatives portfolios!😉] (along with Atitlan) just announced Atgro, a €500 million agricultural investment platform, aims to drive sustainable and scalable food production. Atgro focuses on "superfoods" and geographically diverse projects.
Seeking to align PE with sustainable finance regulations, Atgro presents an opportunity for investors seeking alternative assets with social and economic impact.
Initial contributions of EUR 200 million by the bank and EUR 50 million by Atitlan, with the aim of doubling these resources to boost the sector across the globe.
Five Point Energy closed its fourth energy infrastructure fund at $1.4 billion. This indicates continued investor interest in the energy transition and infrastructure sector.
Gryphon Investors secured a continuation fund for Vessco Water, a wastewater services company. This allows Gryphon to hold onto the asset longer and potentially generate greater returns. Notable backers of the continuation fund include Apollo S3 Investment Management, Lexington Partners, and Glendower Capital. This highlights the attractiveness of stable, essential services like wastewater management for investors.
Castik Capital, a German PE firm, successfully closed its third fund at €2 billion - called the EPIC III Fund. Further consolidation in the PE space? We all know of the firm's strong track record and investor confidence in their European buyout strategy.
Schroders raised €400 million for its third European buyouts fund. This signifies continued appetite for European mid-market investments.
Drip Capital, a fintech providing working capital to SMBs, raised $113M including $23M in equity from SMBC and GMO Payment Gateway.
Carbon capture startup Mantel raised a $30M Series A led by Shell Ventures and Eni Next.
Battery manufacturing startup 24M raised an $87M Series H at a $1.3B valuation led by Nuovo+.
🤑 M&A, Dealmaking & Investment Updates
🏪❌$39 billion bid for 7-Eleven rejected: Seven & i Holdings rejected a $39 billion cash offer from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard for 7-Eleven. Couche-Tard is expected to make another bid.
🎯Investment firm MNC Capital increased its cash buyout offer for Vista Outdoor to $2.51 billion.
⛽️ Methanex Corp agreed to acquire OCI's methanol business in a deal worth over $2 billion.
🏁🏎️ VC & PE eyeing F1: VC Accel and private credit giant HPS Investment Partners are nearing a deal to acquire up to 25% of Aston Martin F1 at a valuation between $2 billion and $2.6 billion.
🇨🇳🏦 Chinese merger creates $230B AUM behemoth: Chinese state-backed brokerages Guotai Junan and Haitong will merge via a share swap, creating a combined entity with $230 billion in assets under management.
🤝 Qualcomm is exploring acquiring parts of Intel's chip-design business.
📊💰 EQT is considering a sale of revenue cycle SaaS firm AGS Health.
📡 Australia's Vocus Group is in advanced talks to buy TPG Telecom's fiber assets for $4 billion.
💼☁️ A consortium of Vista Equity Partners and Blackstone is in talks to take private $6.8B-listed workplace collaboration software Smartsheet.
🚗 Intel is considering options for its 88% stake in $10.2B-listed self-driving systems provider Mobileye Global.
📞 Verizon will acquire Frontier Communications for $9.6B cash.
📈 IPO and Debt Markets
🇮🇳💰Hexaware Technologies IPO: Carlyle plans to raise $1.2 billion in an India IPO of IT services firm Hexaware Technologies.
🧪 Bicara Therapeutics is aiming to raise $212 million at an $828 million valuation in a US IPO.
🧬💰 Immunology biotech Zenas BioPharma. which is backed by BMS, is seeking to raise up to $212 million at a $690 million valuation in a US IPO.
👶 Early childhood education firm KinderCare is reviving plans for a US IPO.
🥪 Subway raised $2.34 billion in its second asset-backed securities (ABS) deal this year, led by Barclays Plc and Morgan Stanley,.
💻 Artificial Intelligence
The Headliner: Sakana AI - Small Models, Big Ambitions in the Land of the Rising Sun
So, everyone went ga-ga over the idea of the “AI Scientist” that was recently launched a month or two ago.
How did it function? As Pascal Blaise mentioned (and to paraphrase him): “It starts by generating novel research ideas, then writes the code, runs the experiments, analyzes the results, and finally writes up a full scientific paper detailing its findings. To put its capabilities to the test, the researchers applied it to three distinct subfields of machine learning: diffusion modeling, transformer-based language modeling, and learning dynamics.
Side Note: What do I think of this approach? I encapsulated this in a note I shared earlier.
“The real question isn't whether AI can mimic research, but what it means for those of us who dedicate our lives to “genuine inquiry” (in our own subjective assessment of it). If authorship fragments, authority becomes distributed, leaving us awash in a sea of AI-generated content, how do we discern the signal from the noise?
The value shift is upon us – it's no longer about access to information, that's abundant, cheap, and increasingly suspect. It's about cultivating those deeper skills of judgment, of contextualization, of critical thinking, that separate the charlatans from the true seekers.
And where does that leave business? I can already see the venture capitalists salivating at the thought of automated research, pumping out papers like widgets on an assembly line, seeking profits in a landscape where knowledge itself is the commodity. But they're missing the point.
Science isn't just about churning out results; it's about asking the right questions, about pushing the boundaries of what we know, about the human struggle to understand our place in the universe.
Maybe this "AI Scientist" is a wake-up call? A reminder that our systems of trust, of knowledge creation, of scientific legitimacy are fragile, ill-equipped for a world where the lines between human ingenuity and algorithmic mimicry blur ever further. What questions are truly worthy of our pursuit? What values guide our quest for understanding? And how do we cultivate those essential human skills of judgment and discernment that no algorithm, however sophisticated, can replicate? The future of knowledge, and of humanity itself, hinges on our ability to answer these questions.”
While giants like OpenAI and Cohere are busy building behemoth language models, Sakana AI is taking a page from nature, focusing on smaller, more collaborative AI agents.
Here's why they're turning heads:
Strategic Embrace of "Small" AI: Sakana AI argues that smaller, specialized AI models, inspired by schools of fish or swarms of birds, can be more efficient and adaptable than massive monolithic models.
Japanese markets as a Strategic Moat: Sakana AI recognizes the immense potential of the Japanese market, which craves tailored AI solutions and offers a compelling alternative to China in the Asian AI landscape.
Neurosymbolic AI - The Best of Both Worlds: Sakana AI is pioneering a hybrid approach that combines the strengths of symbolic AI (knowledge representation and reasoning) with the learning capabilities of deep learning. Their "AI Scientist," which utilizes a unique neurosymbolic architecture, is a testament to this vision.
Challenging the Status Quo: Sakana AI's success story challenges the prevailing "bigger is better" mentality in AI, demonstrating that innovation can emerge from unexpected corners.
🧪 ML Research: Open Source MoE, Protein Design Breakthroughs & More
‘OLMoE’ is a step towards democratizing Mixture-of-Experts: Allen AI's open-sourcing of OLMoE-1B-7B and OLMoE-1B-7B-Instruct, a massive Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) model trained on 5 trillion tokens, is a game-changer. This move makes advanced MoE architectures accessible to a wider audience, fostering innovation in the field.
DeepMind’s AlphaProteo is revolutionizing Protein Design: Google DeepMind's AlphaProteo, a suite of ML models for protein design, pushes the boundaries of protein engineering, generating molecules with 3 to 300 times better binding affinity.
Agent Q: AI That Surfs the Web: Agent Q, a joint project from Stanford and Multion, introduces a new breed of AI agents capable of navigating and interacting with websites autonomously. This research leverages techniques like Monte Carlo Tree Search, reinforcement learning, and self-critique, opening doors to a future where AI can handle complex online tasks.
Fine-Tuning Diffusion Policies for Robotics: Researchers unveil Diffusion Policy Policy Optimization (DPPO), a novel framework for fine-tuning diffusion-based policies, particularly using reinforcement learning policy gradient methods. This advancement holds tremendous promise for robotics and other continuous control applications.
Stress-Testing LLM Jailbreaks: Berkeley AI Research introduces StrongREJECT, a robust benchmark for evaluating the effectiveness of LLM jailbreaking techniques. This research is crucial for ensuring the safety and security of increasingly powerful language models.
Supercharging Long-Context Inference: Together AI presents MagicDec and Adaptive Sequoia Trees, two novel algorithms that significantly accelerate long-context inference in large language models, allowing for more efficient and scalable natural language processing.
🚀 AI Tech Releases: Open Source LLMs, Enhanced Enterprise Capabilities & More
Salesforce Embraces Open Source with xLAM: Salesforce open sources xLAM, a suite of LLMs optimized for function calling and complex reasoning tasks. This move underscores the growing importance of open-source collaboration in the AI community.
Anthropic releases Claude Enterprise, an enterprise-grade version of its powerful Claude language model, catering to businesses seeking secure and customizable AI solutions.
Reflection 70B: Self-Correcting Open-Source Model: HyperWrite AI unveils Reflection 70B, a Llama-based model that's rapidly climbing leaderboard rankings.
📡 AI Radar: Funding Frenzy, Strategic Acquisitions & The Rise of AI Assistants
Safe Superintelligence (SSI) Secures $1 Billion War Chest: Ilya Sutskever's Superintelligence raises a staggering $1 billion at a valuation estimated to be ~$5 billion, signaling their ambition to drive progress in safeguards for artificial general intelligence.
Salesforce Strengthens Data Security with Own Acquisition: Salesforce acquires data security company Own for $1.9 billion, bolstering its capabilities for secure and trustworthy AI solutions.
Gaming platform Roblox hints at an upcoming generative AI project, promising new avenues for user-generated content and immersive experiences.
All Hands AI secures $5 million to develop open-source AI agents for developers, highlighting the growing interest in building intelligent, autonomous software.
Paradigm AI raises $2 million to automate spreadsheet tasks using AI agents, promising to free up human workers from tedious data entry.
xAI Unleashes Colossus: Elon Musk's xAI brings online its massive Colossus cluster, equipped with over 100,000 GPUs, signaling its ambition to compete with leading AI labs.
Stability AI <> Amazon: Stability AI's models become available on Amazon Bedrock, expanding access to its powerful generative AI capabilities for a wider audience.
🚀SpaceTech & Exploration
📸 Some awe-inspiring photos for what lies ‘beyond’ our feeble planet:
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has provided a stunning view into the heart of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), revealing a bustling star-forming region. This region, known as NGC 604, is one of the largest and brightest star-forming areas in the Local Group of galaxies. It spans nearly 1,500 light-years and contains over 200 hot, young, massive stars. The intricate details captured by Hubble highlight the complex interplay of gas and dust, shedding light on the processes that drive star formation and the evolution of galaxies.
The galaxy cluster MACS-J0417.5-1154 is so massive it is warping the fabric of space-time and distorting the appearance of galaxies behind it, an effect known as gravitational lensing. This natural phenomenon magnifies distant galaxies and can also make them appear in an image multiple times. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured this phenomenon, revealing two distant, interacting galaxies—a face-on spiral and a dusty red galaxy—appearing multiple times and forming a question mark shape. This rare alignment, involving a hyperbolic umbilic gravitational lens, offers a glimpse into the universe’s past, highlighting star formation and galactic interactions. The dot of the question mark is an unrelated galaxy that happens to be in the right place and space-time from our perspective.
The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is investing $700 million over five years to enhance its AI capabilities for analyzing satellite imagery and geospatial data. This initiative, NGA's largest data labeling contract, underscores its commitment to utilizing AI for national security and intelligence purposes.
In collaboration with the U.S.S.F., the NGA is working to improve satellite imagery delivery and explore cost-effective satellites for GPS. A joint mission management center has been established at the NGA in Virginia to address imaging and tracking challenges, aiming to provide military commanders with faster access to critical satellite data.
Furthermore, the NGA is launching a pilot program to evaluate the trustworthiness of AI models, particularly for tasks like identifying potential targets using satellite imagery. This initiative seeks to establish guidelines and standards for AI use in critical areas, ensuring that AI models meet the ethical and operational standards required for military and intelligence applications.
U.S. Army and Air Force Award Major Contracts to Viasat, Canopy, and Benchmark to advance military and aerospace technologies:
Viasat: Awarded a $153 million contract by the U.S. Army to modernize the Blue Force Tracker (BFT) network, enhancing real-time positioning of friendly forces and situational awareness for military commanders.
Canopy Aerospace: Won two U.S. Air Force contracts worth a combined $2.8 million to develop advanced thermal protection systems (TPS) for hypersonic and reentry vehicles.
Benchmark Space Systems: Secured a $4.9 million award from the Air Force Research Laboratory to develop propulsion systems for the ASCENT monopropellant, offering higher performance compared to traditional hydrazine.
SpaceX Launches Dominate the Headlines: SpaceX launched its 7,001st (!) Starlink satellite and deployed a new batch of spy satellites for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), highlighting the company's dominance.
SpaceX launched its 7,001st Starlink satellite from Florida, marking the third Starlink launch in less than a week. The used Falcon 9 rocket successfully deployed 21 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities, and landed flawlessly on a drone ship.
On the same day, SpaceX launched a batch of next-generation spy satellites for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The NROL-113 mission is part of the NRO's proliferated constellation strategy, aiming to enhance resilience and capability through numerous smaller satellites.
SpaceX also achieved a milestone in military communications by demonstrating the first laser data exchange between satellites using Tesat-Spacecom terminals. This test, part of the Space Development Agency's Tranche 0 experimental spacecraft, marks the first military-standard laser communications in space, representing a crucial step in establishing a resilient optical network in low Earth orbit.
SDA Market Heats Up: Space startups Atomos Space and Katalyst Space are capitalizing on the surging demand for space domain awareness (SDA) by repurposing geostationary satellites for advanced surveillance tasks.
Aerospacelab Sets Sights on the U.S. Market: European small satellite manufacturer Aerospacelab opens its first U.S. facility in California, aiming to secure lucrative contracts with U.S. government and commercial clients.
KBR Bolsters Space Portfolio with LinQuest Acquisition: KBR acquires LinQuest, a defense and space support services company, for $737 million, strengthening its position in the national security space sector.
Predicting Satellite Downlink Success: Collimate Space introduces a new tool that uses machine learning to predict satellite downlink success, enhancing the reliability of space-based communications.
Telesat Streamlines for LEO Dominance: Telesat sells its Infosat Communications division to focus on its Lightspeed low Earth orbit constellation, aiming to compete in the rapidly growing LEO satellite market.
ULVZs: Seismic Mysteries Point to Mantle Convection Insights: The discovery of widespread Ultra-Low Velocity Zones (ULVZs) near the core-mantle boundary is more than just a geological curiosity. These zones, capable of slowing down seismic waves by up to 50%, are providing crucial clues about the dynamics of Earth's mantle. Scientists believe that ULVZs might be formed by partially molten rock, possibly remnants of ancient tectonic plates or plumes of hot material rising from the Earth's core. Understanding their composition and distribution could revolutionize our models of plate tectonics, volcano formation, and even the Earth's magnetic field.
BepiColombo's Delayed Gratification: New Images, New Challenges: While the stunning images from BepiColombo's fourth Mercury flyby are a testament to the mission's success, the thruster issues and subsequent delay pose a significant challenge. Engineers are working to refine the spacecraft's trajectory, utilizing gravity assists to ensure a successful orbit insertion in 2026. This delay, though unfortunate, highlights the immense complexity of interplanetary travel and the dedication required to unravel the secrets of our solar system.
Antihyperhydrogen-4: A Particle Physics Puzzle: Scientists studied the tracks of particles streaming from six billion collisions of atomic nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and discovered a new kind of antimatter nucleus. Composed of four antimatter particles — an antiproton, two antineutrons, and one antihyperon — these exotic antinuclei are known as antihyperhydrogen-4.
The discovery of antihyperhydrogen-4 isn't just about breaking records; it's about delving into one of the most fundamental questions in cosmology: why is there more matter than antimatter in the universe?
This asymmetry violates the Standard Model of particle physics, which predicts equal amounts of both.
By studying the properties and decay patterns of antihyperhydrogen-4, physicists hope to uncover subtle differences between matter and antimatter that could explain this cosmic imbalance.
EMA: UAE's Ambitious Leap into the Asteroid Belt: The Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA) is a bold statement of the UAE's growing spacefaring ambitions. Studying carbonaceous asteroids, believed to be remnants from the early solar system, could provide invaluable insights into the formation of planets and the origins of life itself. Furthermore, the mission's ambitious trajectory, utilizing multiple gravity assists, showcases the UAE's commitment to pushing the boundaries of space exploration.
Lunar Bricks: A Small Step for Construction, a Giant Leap for Lunar Habitation: While making bricks on Earth might seem mundane, doing so on the Moon represents a paradigm shift in space exploration. By utilizing in-situ resources, like lunar regolith, future lunar outposts could significantly reduce their reliance on expensive and logistically challenging launches from Earth. China's experiment on the Tiangong space station is a crucial step toward realizing this vision of a sustainable lunar presence.
NASA Confirms Long-Sought Global Electric Field Shaping Earth’s Ionosphere
NASA has confirmed the existence of a planet-wide electric field, known as the ambipolar electric field, which is fundamental to Earth's atmospheric dynamics. This field, first hypothesized over 60 years ago, plays a crucial role in shaping the ionosphere and influencing space weather. Data from a NASA suborbital rocket revealed that the ambipolar field drives atmospheric escape above Earth's poles. This bidirectional field causes ions to pull electrons down while electrons lift ions upward, extending the atmosphere's height and allowing some ions to escape with the polar wind. This discovery, published in Nature, significantly advances our understanding of Earth's atmospheric processes.
ESA and Airbus Successfully Print Metal Part on ISS: The European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus have successfully 3D printed the first metal part in space on the International Space Station (ISS). Installed by ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, the technology demonstrator produced a stainless steel component in microgravity. The part, along with three others, will return to Earth for quality analysis at ESA's technical wing in the Netherlands, the astronaut training center in Cologne, and the Technical University of Denmark. The experiment aims to test the feasibility of producing metal parts in space, which could significantly reduce the need for resupply missions and provide autonomy for future space missions by enabling on-demand production of essential components and tools.
Senegal Newest Member to Join China’s ILRS Moon Base Project: Senegal has joined China's International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project, signing an agreement with the China National Space Administration (CNSA) during the Second International Conference on Deep Space Exploration in Tunxi, Anhui, China. This partnership, following Senegal's launch of its first satellite, Gaindesat-1A, in August 2024, highlights China's growing collaboration with African nations in space exploration and reflects a broader trend of engaging the Global South in its lunar initiatives. The ILRS project, aiming for a robotic lunar research station by 2035 and a human habitation station by 2045, has attracted over ten countries and 40 international organizations.
⚡Energy, CleanTech & Sustainability
Enhanced Carbon Capture Material: New porous polymeric electrodes (PPEs) significantly improve the efficiency of CO2 removal from low-concentration sources, offering a promising avenue for mitigating climate change.
Solar Power & Farming Coexistence: A new tool developed by researchers at Swansea University helps identify optimal photovoltaic (PV) materials that maximize crop growth while generating solar power, facilitating the sustainable integration of solar energy and agriculture.
Eco-Friendly Glove Coating: Scientists have developed a sustainable glove coating using lignin and 3D printing, replacing traditional oil-based polymers with a bio-based alternative for protective gear.
Cutting Construction's Carbon Footprint: Research suggests that utilizing waste clay and brick in concrete production could significantly reduce the environmental impact of the UK construction industry.
Wireless EV Charging Track System: Researchers have developed a wireless charging track system that delivers continuous power to electric vehicles while in motion, potentially eliminating the need for dedicated charging stations.
Neutron Imaging for Battery Analysis: Neutron imaging allows researchers to visualize the internal workings of redox flow batteries, providing valuable insights for improving their design and performance.
Research Vessel Resilience for Marine Studies: The Department of Energy's first hybrid-electric research vessel, RV Resilience, has been launched, marking a significant advancement in sustainable marine research capabilities.
🧬 BioTech & Genomics
🏦📊 Citibank’s report on the “Future of Healthcare” is out, and there are a ton of interesting insights in the report on the MedTech/Biotech space in general. The one that I found the most interesting - by far - was their mapping of the likelihood of compounds making it through the different phases and the regulatory review of the overall clinical trial process. Their calculations estimated that the overall likelihood of the drug moving from Phase I to FDA Approval is 7.9% with a 10-year duration.
🔬👀 ‘See-Through Animal Tissue’: Researchers at UT of Austin have successfully made the skin on the skulls and abdomens of live mice transparent using a mixture of water and tartrazine, a common food coloring. This technique could revolutionize non-invasive imaging for research and diagnostics.
🦠 Advancements in understanding the impact of skin fungus on breast cancer: A study by the Institute of Life Sciences and Green Development, Hebei University, China reveals that colonization of the skin fungus Malassezia globosa accelerates breast cancer tumor growth, suggesting a potential link between the skin microbiome and cancer progression.
🐟 Fish Guts for Skincare?: Molecules produced by fish gut bacteria have shown skin-brightening and anti-wrinkle properties in cultured cells, hinting at their potential as novel ingredients in future skincare products.
🧪 Fluorescent Biosensor Revolution: A new synthetic biology platform streamlines the discovery, evolution, and manufacturing of fluorescent biosensors, opening doors for rapid and high-contrast biomarker detection in various applications.
🏥 Pancreatic Cancer Staging Inaccuracies: A study by the Cedars-Sinai Cancer team reveals that early staging of pancreatic cancer is inaccurate up to 80% of the time, highlighting the need for improved diagnostic and staging technologies to guide treatment and research effectively.
🦷 Periodontitis Biomarkers: Individuals with periodontitis exhibit altered blood protein concentrations, potentially offering new biomarkers for early diagnosis and research into the disease's underlying mechanisms. This finding could lead to improved prevention and treatment strategies for this prevalent oral health issue linked to systemic diseases.
👴 Aging Immune System Fuels Cancer: A study reveals how the aging immune system promotes tumor growth, offering new insights into cancer prevention and treatment, especially for older adults. This seems kind of obvious. What is intriguing is that the findings suggest that repurposing existing anti-inflammatory drugs could be a promising strategy to slow cancer development in aging populations.
🧬 100x Vision Improvement with Gene Therapy: A gene therapy trial - undertaken by UPenn Medicine - for a rare inherited vision loss condition has shown remarkable results, with some patients experiencing a 100-fold improvement in vision. This breakthrough demonstrates the transformative potential of gene therapy for treating debilitating genetic disorders.
🔬 Researchers at National University of Singapore have come up with a novel mathematical technique that enhances the accuracy and speed of single-cell RNA sequencing data analysis. The method, referred to as Single-cell Analysis via Manifold Fitting (or ‘scAMF’ addresses challenges of traditional scRNA-seq2 methods by improving cell type classification and data visualization, providing clearer separation between different cell types and more accurate clustering. It outperforms existing methods in noise reduction, clustering accuracy, and computational efficiency.
💡Brief Snapshot: Semiconductors & Materials Sciences
The CHIPS Act has led to over $52 billion allocated for manufacturing and research. and resulted in ~$450 billion in private investments garnered. Intel, TSMC, Samsung, and Micron are major recipients. Chip designers (e.g., Nvidia, Qualcomm) stand to gain from lower production costs, access to advanced technologies, increased flexibility, and the ability to focus on innovation.
How should different stakeholders in the Semiconductor industry play this?
For Fabless companies, it makes sense to (i) leverage the increased capacity to negotiate better manufacturing contracts and access advanced technologies, (ii) investing in R&D to capitalize on new opportunities and differentiating themselves from competitors, and (iii) exploring strategic partnerships with fabs to secure capacity and to gain early access to cutting-edge processes.
For Manufacturers, it makes sense to (i) optimize operations and efficiency to remain competitive in a potentially oversupplied market, (ii) whilst investing in R&D to develop advanced technologies and attract customers, and (iii) exploring diversification into new markets or specialized applications.
For Investors, the focus should be to (i) identify companies that are well-positioned to benefit from the CHIPS Act (NOT INTEL!), including both fabless companies and manufacturers with strong technology and operational capabilities, and (ii) monitoring the supply-demand dynamics panning out.
And there you have it! Until next time.
P.S. If you have any suggestions for what you would like to read about within the contours of DeepTech, please feel free to drop a comment or drop me a DM.
Read “private” capital just because.
Single-cell RNA sequencing