Small Tech Is Cool, But How Do You Make Money?

摘要

The venture capital community has invested over $1 billion in "small tech", whichrnincludes micro and nanosystems; the United States has earmarked $3.7 billion forrnnanotechnology research over the next four years; and the press is talking about a trillionrndollar market for nanotechnology. However, the jury's still out on what the ultimaternreturn on investment will be for small tech startups and the venture capitalists that fundrnthem. In this talk, we'll start by examining the state of the venture capital market forrnemerging technologies. We'll discover the reasons why entrepreneurs and venturerncapitalists are attracted to small tech and some of the hotspots for investment. We'llrndiscuss some of the filters that we use at Apax Partners for small tech deals and walkrnthrough a nanotechnology investment case-study. Finally we'll draw some conclusionsrnon what it takes to make money in this exciting but complex space.