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Nov. 9, 2005 – Nanosys Inc., a privately held company focused on developing nanotechnology-enabled products, announced that it has raised approximately $40 million in a private equity financing.
The round was led by El Dorado Ventures and includes new investors Masters Capital, Medtronic Inc., Wasatch Advisors and others. In addition, previous investors who participated include Alexandria Equities, ARCH Venture Partners, CDIB BioScience Ventures, CW Group, Harris & Harris Group Inc., In-Q-Tel, Intel Capital, H.B. Fuller Company, Lux Capital, Polaris Venture Partners, Prospect Venture Partners, UOB Hermes Asia Technology Fund, and Venrock Associates.
The company said it would use the funding for the ongoing development and manufacturing scale-up of products that incorporate its proprietary, inorganic nanostructures with integrated functionality for multiple industries. Current product development programs include chemical analysis chips for pharmaceutical drug research, fuel cells for portable electronics, nanostructures for displays and phased array antennas, non-volatile memory for electronic devices and solid-state lighting products.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company previously raised a $38 million round in 2003, a $15 million round in 2002, and a $1.7 million round in 2001. In addition, the company has secured tens of millions of dollars in non-equity grants and contracts and has a variety of ongoing joint development projects. Most recently, Nanosys began working with Sharp Corp. of Osaka, Japan, on nanotech-enabled displays. In 2004, the company registered to conduct an initial public offering of stock on the Nasdaq market but pulled the IPO in August when the market experienced a downturn.