April 15, 2009: RUSNANO, a Russian state-owned nanotech business group, wants to pump millions of dollars into Canadian nanotechnology companies, according to a report by Canwest News Service.
Representatives of RUSNANO traveled to Canada last week and, according to one official, liked what they saw so much that they said they would invest a minimum of $10 million in any single firm by the end of the year.
The investments, if they happen, could inject some life into Canada’s nanotech industry, which has suffered from lack of government investment and incentives. Neil Gordon, former head of the now-defunct Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance, has told Small Times that the “Canadian government had ignored the massive economic development opportunity from nanotechnology.”