July 1, 2003 — A nanotech investor tracking the emerging industry has seen rapid yet responsible growth in venture funding and research findings.

“What’s really remarkable is just how much the industry has changed in the past two years,” said Peter Hebert, managing partner and co-founder of New York-based Lux Capital Group LLC. “When we first saw it, it was largely just the realm of science. … Now anywhere you go, whether it’s a conference or hearing it in the media, you hear the perspective of the investor. It’s really moved from a science to a business.”

That’s the main theme of “The Nanotech Report 2003,” a 500-page followup to Lux’s inaugural report from 2001. The $4,750 report includes new and updated sections on investment strategies, company and academic profiles, patent trends and a technical primer.

Hebert said the publication highlights several changes since Lux’s founding in 2000 and its first report. Among them:

• More than $2 billion in U.S. government funding has been set for nanotech since 2000, making it the largest federally funded science initiative since the space race.
• More than 1,700 jobs have been created from venture capital funding for nano during the past four years.
• Mentions of nanotech in the media have doubled in two years, from 1,800 in 2000 to 4,000 in 2002. In 1995, it was 200.

In that time, the early stage venture firm has even moved from the sidelines to the field. Within the past year, it has publicly disclosed two nano-related investments: Nanosys Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., and Nanomateria, a Northwestern University spinout based on the work of Samuel Stupp.