Josh Kern

Autonomous Systems 2.0 More...

January 22, 2020

Honeybee Robotics

Advanced robotic systems for tough environments

The company was acquired in 2017 by Ensign-Bickford Industries, a privately owned conglomerate with a group that focuses on aerospace and defense. The company has three lines of business; its Exploration group develops technology for planetary sampling and space mining; its Motion Control group ... read more.
Company Snapshot

Jerrold Wang

Consumer IoT More...

January 22, 2020

CES 2020 highlight: The smart mirror, a potential channel directly connecting consumers and personal care product developers

At CES 2020, Lux saw a rising trend of integration and customization of consumer products and services. One of the specific examples of this trend is in the emerging field of the smart mirror, which is a mirror empowered by computer vision and augmented reality technologies to monitor skin health, ... read more.

Case Study

Michael Holman

Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

January 22, 2020

The social responsibility of the chemicals and materials business is....?

Here’s some recent critical quotes about the social role and impact of the chemicals business: “The old-fashioned belief that the raison d’être of a commercial enterprise is to maximize shareholder value belongs to another century, as businesses that do not embrace holistic approaches to engage ... read more.

Analyst Insight

Tiffany Hua

Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

January 22, 2020

Tesla NanoCoatings

CNT-containing anti-corrosion coatings

Develops solvent-based zinc and carbon nanotube epoxy and urethane coatings that provide rust and corrosion protection for steel and aluminum surfaces; products include primers and topcoats with or without zinc or CNTs Offers a two-layer coating system with an epoxy or polyurethane top coat, both of... read more.
Company Profile

Gihan Hewage

Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

January 22, 2020

Spider Silk

Protein-based fiber with exceptional tensile strength, ductility, and toughness. Spider silk fiber's exceptional mechanical properties give it potential as a premium material in apparel, composites, and bioabsorbable medical implants; however, high spinning costs have caused some manufacturers to ... read more.

Technology

Sara Olson

Emerging Ecosystems in Agrifood and Health

January 22, 2020

Lessons from 2019 and Projections for 2020 in Agrifood and Health

Throughout the year, urgent daily challenges frequently crowd out important, longer term thinking, but only by taking a step back do the individual events coalesce into broader trends and themes. This report examines the significant, relevant trends that embodied the year 2019 in agrifood and health... read more.

State of the Market Report

Benjamin Torda

Energy Storage More...

January 22, 2020

Thermal Power Generation 2019 Year in Review

This insight is part of the Lux Energy Team’s Year in Review series examining the highlights and key developments of the energy industry in 2019. For an overview of the entire energy ecosystem, see the hottest energy topics and highlights across four key storylines. For deep dives into particular ... read more.

Analyst Insight

Christopher Robinson

Owning the Energy Transition More...

January 22, 2020

ZeroAvia

Aircraft powered by hydrogen fuel cells

ZeroAvia develops fuel cell powertrains for small aircraft, first targeting 10- to 20-person aircraft. The company was founded by Val Miftakhov, founder and former CEO of eMotorWerks, and has raised approximately $4 million to date. The company is currently testing key systems using a Piper M-Class ... read more.
Company Snapshot

Harini Venkataraman

Emerging Ecosystems in Agrifood and Health More...

January 21, 2020

Microphyt

Microalgae-based ingredients for food and cosmetic applications

The company was founded by Arnaud Muller-Feuga (CSO), a former researcher at the French oceanographic institution IFREMER; Vincent Usache is the current CEO of the company. So far, the company has raised about $36.7 million, including a recent funding round of $32 million in July 2019. Among its ... read more.
Company Snapshot

Harini Venkataraman

Emerging Ecosystems in Agrifood and Health More...

January 21, 2020

Planted Foods

Plant-based meat analog products

The company was founded by Christoph Jenny, Eric Stirnemann, Lukas Böni, and Pascal Bieried as a spinoff from ETH Zurich. So far, the company has raised about $7 million from a seed round in 2019. Among its investors, we highlight Blue Horizon Corporation, Hiltl AG, Good Seed Ventures, Mica Ventures... read more.
Company Snapshot

Download a PDF

Water Quality Monitoring: Why, How, and The Future

Coverage Areas: Owning the Energy Transition More...

Planned Publication Date: January 2020

Due to the size and complexity of water and wastewater systems and the premium instrument costs, the water industry has struggled to automate water quality monitoring. Meanwhile, increasing concerns over public health and irregularly but inexorably tightening regulations put utilities under pressure to ensure safe drinking water and wastewater discharge. Potential to improve plant performance and uptime also encourage more active adoption of advanced sensors among industrial operators. This report shows the interesting use cases for different water quality sensors across the water space.

Industrial Power Symbiosis: Finding Cost-Effective Cases for On-Site Power Generation

Coverage Areas: Future Grid More...

Planned Publication Date: January 2020

When and how will industrial customers of electricity find it most cost-effective to source their own electricity from on-site generators? This report will match power generation technologies with the industries that can benefit from their use and secondary benefits, such as heat and hydrogen production.

Metal 3D printing Segmentation for Emerging Applications

Coverage Areas: Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

Planned Publication Date: January 2020

This report will analyze the technical capabilities of existing metal 3D printers to: 1) define common use cases; 2) highlight further development areas; and 3) emphasize the caveats of metal 3D printing applications.

2020 Vision: Top Materials Developments in 2019 and What to Look for in 2020

Coverage Areas: Accelerating Materials Innovation

Planned Publication Date: January 2020

2019 was an eventful year in materials as issues of sustainability and plastic waste issues became a massive concern, digital challenges like materials informatics and data-driven business models continued to grow in popularity, new material platforms like metamaterials and applications like 5G rose -- all while corporate M&A and strategic venturing continued apace. This report reviews some of the biggest developments while looking forward to trends to watch in 2020.

Decarbonizing the global energy trade

Coverage Areas: Owning the Energy Transition

Planned Publication Date: January 2020

As renewable energy generation grows to meet decarbonization goals, so do concerns about overgeneration and curtailment. Hydrogen is increasingly seen as means to reduce curtailment by shuttling energy that would otherwise be wasted on the grid to other sectors like industry and transportation – a practice called sector coupling. While sector coupling may help curtailment, it doesn’t address the myriad regions that lack the land area or resource potential like Japan or the Netherlands to overbuild solar and wind generation. These regions instead must find a means to import renewable energy cheaply to realize decarbonization goals. In this report, we will highlight the challenges of sector coupling and provide a framework to identify the best energy vectors to import and export renewable energy.

Applications and impacts of bioinformatics across the agrifood and health ecosystem

Coverage Areas: Digital Transformation More...

Planned Publication Date: January 2020

Building on the first phase of Lux's thematic coverage of bioinformatics, the second phase explores the applications and impacts of this technology on the agrifood and health ecosystem through the lens of subjective and objective analyses. Applications and impacts are broken down for agriculture, food, and health and future recommendations of engagement in the space outlined.

The Digital Transformation of Warehousing and Logistics

Coverage Areas: Digital Transformation

Planned Publication Date: February 2020

Supply chain's across industries struggle with the fundamental issues of visibility, reliability, and agility. These challenges get further compounded due to the global spread of complex supply chains, slowdown in global economic growth, and broader sustainability goals. On top of that- customers across the board are now more demanding with regards to lead times, reverse logistics, and product customization in the era of e-commerce. Starting off with the downstream end of the supply chain, this report discusses the novel solutions digital technologies bring to warehouses and logistics that could solve the perennial issues of supply chains while also highlighting emerging players, and case studies for a deeper insight.

Emerging Materials Opportunities for the Apparel Industry

Coverage Areas: Accelerating Materials Innovation

Planned Publication Date: February 2020

The apparel industry is a huge market for polymers, coatings, dyes, and more, but the low cost tolerance and fast development cycles make materials innovation a challenge. However, there are increasing demands for sustainable products, differentiation, more functional clothing, and cleaner manufacturing. All this creates new opportunities for materials innovation; this report will highlight the most promising areas.

The Digital Transformation of Chemicals

Coverage Areas: Digital Transformation

Planned Publication Date: February 2020

As digital innovations penetrate the physical industries, they threaten to upend the products, processes, value chains, and customer relationships of incumbents. In this report, we'll examine the impact of digital transformation on the chemicals industry, highlighting digital use cases in R&D, manufacturing, logistics, sales, and beyond.

Innovative manufacturing methods to shift production costs and customize products on demand

Coverage Areas: Digital Transformation More...

Planned Publication Date: February 2020

This report will delve into the many ways manufacturers are shifting away from the traditional high-volume, centralized production model in order to lower per unit costs and respond to product diversity and customization. Methods examined will include adaptive manufacturing, distributed manufacturing, and flexible manufacturing, as well as lessons learned from emerging generative design and product simulation methods and their implications for production. The different methods will be defined and analyzed for value, fit to industry sector and business model innovation and readiness.