Novamont
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Anthony Schiavo

Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

March 20, 2019

Biodegradation, biocomposites, and the future of bioplastics: Key takeaways from the 13th Bioplastics Market Summit in Bangkok

Lux had the opportunity to give the opening speech at this year's Bioplastics Market Summit in Bangkok, which also featured leading bioplastics players like Genomatica, Total Corbion, Synvina, and Novamont; major brands like Marks & Spencer and Ikea; and major chemical players like PTT and DSM. The ... read more.

Analyst Insight
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Jerrold Wang

Digital Transformation More...

March 19, 2019

Skelter Labs

Machine learning technologies for applications in image recognition, machine-human conversation, and context recognition

The company was started by Ted Cho (CEO), Doug Ahn (COO), Seongjin Cho (CTO), and Jungyeol Lee (Staff Engineer) in November 2015 to develop machine learning technologies for applications in image recognition, machine-human conversation, and context recognition; the founding team members have ... read more.
Company Snapshot
Chmondis
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Anthony Schiavo

Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

March 19, 2019

CheMondis

Digital sales platform for the chemicals industry

Wholly owned but independent subsidiary of Lanxess, operating a digital marketplace for the chemicals industry The main features of its marketplace include searching, data availability on technical specs and pricing, support for direct transactions on its platform, and order tracking Platform is ... read more.
Company Profile
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Xiao Zhong and Tugce Uslu

Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

March 19, 2019

3D printing materials innovation is falling behind; materials informatics can help

The past few years have witnessed tremendous momentum for 3D printing. However, novel 3D printable materials development has been much less emphasized compared to innovations in other parts of the 3D printing value chain, such as hardware and software technologies. Although top 3D printing companies... read more.

Analyst Insight
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Xiao Zhong

Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

March 19, 2019

Alchemy

Workflow mapping software for specialty chemical companies

The company was started by Sasha Novakovich, Dusko Vesin, Marko Gacesa, and Nikola Milinkovic in January 2017. To date, the company has raised approximately $4.4 million in seed funding, led by Uncork Capital. The company is a developer of of a workflow mapping software for raw material suppliers ... read more.
Company Snapshot
Filabot.squareicon 1024x1024
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Xiao Zhong

Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

March 19, 2019

Filabot

Recycled plastic filaments for 3D printing

The company was founded by Tyler McNaney in 2012 to commercialize plastic filament extruders and spoolers for 3D printing. The company has been bootstrapping with no disclosed investors so far. The technology works by shredding or grinding waste plastic parts into small pieces, followed by heating ... read more.
Company Snapshot
Data gumbo
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Cole McCollum

Digital Transformation More...

March 19, 2019

Data Gumbo

Provides blockchain as a service for oil and gas industry

Offers a permissioned (private) blockchain platform for the oil and gas industry with built-in smart contract functionality Compared to other permissioned blockchains, such as Hyperledger or a permissioned version of the Ethereum network, the company claims its blockchain can store much larger files... read more.
Company Profile
Figure eight
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Miraj Mainali

Digital Transformation More...

March 19, 2019

Figure Eight

Human-assisted machine learning algorithms for data labeling

The company was founded by Chris Van Pelt and Lukas Biewald in 2008; the company has been acquired by Appen but will operate independently until 2019; Figure Eight currently has more than 250 employees. So far, the company has raised about $58 million via six funding rounds, the latest of which was ... read more.
Company Snapshot
Datacloud
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Miraj Mainali

Digital Transformation More...

March 19, 2019

DataCloud

Analytics platform for surface mining

The company was started by Thor Kallestad (CEO), Daniel Palmer (COO), and Matt Larkin (VP, Sales); Thor and Daniel have previously worked at various oil and gas and mining firms, including Schlumberger, and have significant technical expertise but lack prior entrepreneurship experience; DataCloud ... read more.
Company Snapshot
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Tugce Uslu

Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

March 19, 2019

Spectroplast

Silicone 3D printing technology with service provider business model

Founded in 2018 as a spinoff from ETH Zurich Has developed 3D-printable silicone materials for vat photopolymerization-based 3D printers Core technology relies on photocurable additives to make standard silicones 3D-printable using commercial SLA or DLP 3D printers; claims to have partnership with ... read more.
Company Profile

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The Cost-Effective Distributed Grid: Energy Trading Within Microgrids

Coverage Areas: Owning the Energy Transition

Planned Publication Date: March 2019

While the energy transition promises a decentralized electrical grid composed of a network of actors with distributed energy resources, microgrids are not cost-effective for many electricity customers around the world. However, recent years have seen a rise of energy trading software platforms, which promise to provide better compensation for distributed generation and energy assets. We examine the combination of energy trading and microgrid technology to determine if we have finally crossed that critical financial turning point - whether it is more cost-effective to source electricity from distributed resources than from the electrical grid.

Monitoring and Control for Water Quality

Coverage Areas: Owning the Energy Transition More...

Planned Publication Date: March 2019

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.

Digital Twins

Coverage Areas: Digital Transformation More...

Planned Publication Date: March 2019

This report will provide a brief overview of digital twins, including what they are, key use cases, example developers, and recommendations for clients interested in implementing digital twins in their processes.

Digital Sales Platforms

Coverage Areas: Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

Planned Publication Date: March 2019

This report will use the digital business model framework to understand the impact of digital tools and technologies on the sales process in the materials and chemicals space. It will cover a landscape of current activities, parse the benefits of digital transformation in chemical sales, and highlight future directions for development and integration.

Corporate Tech Innovation is a Solved Problem: What You Need to Know to Be a Leader

Coverage Areas: Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

Planned Publication Date: March 2019

This report will discuss the most important corporate innovation tools, highlighting some neglected tools, and the keys to successful implementation.

State of Innovation in Asia-Pacific

Coverage Areas: Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

Planned Publication Date: March 2019

As the dynamics of the global innovation ecosystem continues to shift with the rise of China, interest in Asia-Pacific has never been greater. While historical powerhouses, such as Japan and Korea, continue to innovate at their reputable rates, China's nationa initiatives as well as the flow of their capital into the surrounding areas - Southeast Asia and India - will likely spur the rise of new innovation ecosystems. In this report we take a look at the key hotspots for innovation, identifying the major players in the powerhouses, as well as finding hidden gems in the less thought about countries.

Digitizing the fight against diabetes: From therapy to prevention

Coverage Areas: Consumer Choices in Food, Health, and Wellness More...

Planned Publication Date: March 2019

In this report we approach the digital management of diabetes by looking at the complete health spectrum from healthy to severely diseased individuals and highlight unmet needs and opportunities that digital health developers should take advantage of. We also highlight how these strategies should consider underlying differences, from molecular to cultural, when addressing different markets and regions.

The Market Size for Smart Home

Coverage Areas: Consumer Choices in Food, Health, and Wellness More...

Planned Publication Date: March 2019

The growth of connected smart home appliances have expanded from lighting controls to thermostats, door locks, and even coffee makers. With the large influx of new products, how is the smart home market segmented, and where do opportunities lie?

How to Form a Materials Informatics Strategy

Coverage Areas: Accelerating Materials Innovation More...

Planned Publication Date: March 2019

Materials informatics applies data science and AI methods to better understand the use, selection, development, and discovery of materials. As an emerging technology with strong momentum during the past year, it is used across the value chain, from upstream materials and chemicals developers to downstream product manufacturers. In this report, we provide a comprehensive understanding of the key players and their activities in this space. Specifically, we will review different application areas, data challenges, and recent developments from both startups and large corporations. We also provide our vision on the near future of how materials informatics will expand from materials to parts and products, from working with a few R&D units to establishing a whole platform for each part of the value chain. Finally, we discuss why clients across the value chain should overcome the data-sharing fear to work on materials informatics. We also propose three strategies to engage with materials informatics and advise on how to form a strategy that works the best.

Top Materials Developments in 2018 and What to Look for in 2019

Coverage Areas: Accelerating Materials Innovation

Planned Publication Date: March 2019

To guide clients for the year ahead, in this annual Lux report we review key tech activity from 2018 and identify key tech trends for 2019. We do this by combining analyst input with data from the Lux Intelligence Engine. Themes include a focus on using new digital technologies to enhance customer experience, the difficulty of turning materials inventions into products, and transforming consumer needs (including the desire for sustainability).

Join Us For Les 2019 - Explore Agenda And More

Les global 2019

Upcoming Client Only Webinars

April 3, 2019 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM EDT

How and Why You Should Form a Materials Informatics Strategy

May 7, 2019 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM EDT

Highlights from Lux Executive Summit Global 2019

June 4, 2019 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM EDT

The Evolving Cannabusiness Industry: Why You Need to Act Now Rather Than Wait it Out

July 11, 2019 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM EDT

Avoiding Extinction in an Era of Shared Mobility

August 7, 2019 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM EDT

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: The Strategies, Lessons, and Challenges of Industrial Digital Transformation

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