In January of this year,
Yonge Street's Piali Roy
wrote about Discovery District-based startup Vive Nano, a nanotechnology firm specializing in clean technology, especially crop protection and water and soil sanitation. At the time, company executives said they expected India to be an important market for them.
Since then, things have been rolling along smoothly for the company. Last month, it was recognized in the
Canada's Top 10 Competition as among the best companies to invest in in the country. The recognition might well lead to significant capital, as previous companies on the list have secured over $600 million in financing, according to contest organizers. All winners participate in a series of investment forums in the U.S., where they are connected with American venture capitalists.
About a month earlier, Vive Nano
announced that its pilot plant had started producing nanoparticles for sale in large volume.
And Vive Nano advisor Hari Venkatacharya
noted recently in the Globe and Mail that the company's India strategy is beginning to pay off, as it has now signed two Indian partners to help develop two of its technologies -- a coating to make solar panels more efficient and a next-generation water treatment technology. Vankatacharya writes that for the company, "tremendous growth is anticipated in the next two to three years."
Founded in 2005 as a U of T spinoff, Vive Nano currently operates two labs in Toronto and employs a staff of 18. Fittingly for a company with global ambitions, two-thirds of the staff are immigrants to Canada.
Writer: Edward Keean
Sources: Hari Venkatacharya (via Globe and Mail); Vanessa Caldwell, MaRS blog; Flavio Campagnaro, Vive Nano