Estimates show that the world’s internet traffic volume will increase threefold between 2015 and 2020. The bulk of the increase will be from video transmissions, including video sharing, video on demand, 3D video broadcast and live streaming services. This will push technology not just in terms of storage and transmission, but also in terms of the electricity required to power the internet. Addressing this issue requires a bold move: either power has to be generated along with more cables and servers installed to keep with demand, or to use a technology which uses less energy at the same time transmits more data. This is where the quantum dot technology comes in.
Quantum Dot Laser Technology to Address Data Center Network Speed Issues
One bold idea is to use a little-known fiber optic technology that has the potential to replace 100 fiber optic cables in the data center, at one-fourth the cost and requiring only one-fifth the energy.
…in the past five years the company has raised $40 million of investment funds from venture capital firms including Azure Capital Partners, T-Venture, BDS Venture Capital, OMERS Ventures, and MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF).
Data centers have a different requirement from home and office connectivity. A data center has multiple racks of servers, with each server connected to multiple hard disks. These servers also interact with one another. A single search inquiry might require a call to thousands of servers, accessing even more hard disks. In the data center, the network speeds required to process this data is a thousand times faster than that required to bring the information to the user.
Quantum dot laser (QDL) technology can address the required data center network speeds. Conventional fiber optic lasers can generate only one wavelength, while QDL uses multiple wavelengths from one laser source. This multiplies the amount of data being transmitted through each fiber optic cable.
Ranovus Inc. recently announced the first commercial multi-wavelength QDL and silicon photonics ring resonator modulator technologies. The technology is aimed at data center network interconnect and other high-speed applications and can have up to 96 wavelengths with 50 gigabits per second (Gpbs) per wavelength. Using this technology, a Ranovus transceiver can support up to 4.8 terabytes per second (Tbps) throughput. With the proper electronics the product can reach up to 120 kilometers (km) [74.56 miles]. The multiple wavelength technology allows the Ranovus QDL and ring resonator modular tech to support WDM signal modulation without any multiplexing or de-multiplexing required.
The Ranovus design helps to achieve scalable multi-terabit bandwidth with less power requirements making it less expensive to own and operate compared to other solutions in the market. Its technology development includes pluggable modules and optical engines designed for 200 Gbps applications. Their next step is to have 400 Gbps products in the near future.
QDL technology started in the Bell Northern Research labs. The company later evolved to Nortel Networks. The company was based in Mississauga, Canada and closed shop in 2013, but the technology was kept by Canada’s National Research Council. Hamid Arabzadeh worked at Nortel and later negotiated with the Network Reliability Council (NRC) to commercialize QDL. In 2012, Arabzadeh founded Ranovus; in the past five years the company has raised $40 million of investment funds from venture capital firms including Azure Capital Partners, T-Venture, BDS Venture Capital, OMERS Ventures, and MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF).
They first demonstrated their technology in European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) held in 2016 in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Porsche announced its entry to the electric car race, and this bold idea is already winning before it even hits the tarmac.
Critics are calling Porsche’s Mission E the “best looking electric car design ever seen” and is set to beat out even its gas rivals when it hits the showroom. The Mission E officially graces the roads in 2019, but the manufacturer has already received a stack of pre-orders for the futuristic looking sports car.
Car manufacturers have made leaps and bounds in increasing production and bringing prices of electric vehicles down to appeal to the masses.
The car maker has added suicide doors to the rear which give it easy access to the four-doored cabin, and the design is so sleek that experts are haling it as the car which will make everyone want to go electric.
With a price tag of around $80,000 to $90,000, it doesn’t come cheap. However, the car saves thousands on gas, is full of the latest tech and gadgets, and has big check marks for its many green credentials.
The Mission E can shoot from 0 to 62 miles per hour (mi/h) in just 3.5 seconds, 0 to 124 mi/h in 12 seconds, and has a top speed of 155 mi/h. It can travel up to 300 miles on a single charge.
Its most impressive feature is that it has a rapid-charge enabled system that allows battery regeneration of up to 80% in just 15 minutes. Porsche says that you can get as much as 60 miles worth in just four minutes of charging. There is also a wireless charging option in the car.
Porsche’s main rival will be the Tesla Model S which costs around $70,000 to $135,000 and is more expensive than the Mission E for the high-end models.
We recently revealed how electric car sales were dominating the market and remains the popular choice among young adults. This trend has a bold impact on society and the environment, because it means that drivers and car buyers of the future will be choosing all-electric versions over their hybrid and diesel counterparts.
Supercar maker Aston Martin also announced that it will produce an “electrified lineup” and use hybrid tech over the next ten years. This follows hot on the heals of Volvo who announced that they will have an electrified lineup by 2019. All signs are pointing toward an environmentally-friendly future.
Rivals Nissan, Chevy, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Ford have also spoken of plans to launch electric cars over the next few years, and governments around the world have outlined plans to phase out gas and diesel vehicles by the year 2040.
Electric cars have been hailed as the bold idea behind reducing the smog producing internal combustion engine that heavily pollutes the atmosphere today. Car manufacturers have made leaps and bounds in increasing production and bringing prices of electric vehicles down to appeal to the masses. It is clear that within the next ten years, most of us will be driving electric cars.
Gone are the days when people questioned digital technology and its usefulness in the field of medicine. Digital healthcare is now evolving and different startups are on the role of proving its effectiveness.
Digital Healthcare is the first of three healthcare trends. From protecting healthcare data and records to using artificial intelligence (AI), these companies are a living testimony that nothing is impossible when it comes to science.
Companies Using Blockchain System
Hospitals have a responsibility to keep patients’ files safe. The following startups make it a point to develop blockchain systems that would protect the information of their clients.
The advantages of blockchain in healthcare are:
There will be a clear billing management.
The process of exchanging health data and records will be done smoothly.
The quality of supply chain is authenticated.
Chronicled
The California-based company, established in 2014, develops and uses a platform in social commerce. It supports the tracking of consumer products and source of luxury.
Led by CEO Ryan Orr, the startup company created The MediLedger Project, a special purpose blockchain-based application, that focuses on internet of things (IoT) and supply chain. Chronicled has an estimated total funding of $4.83M. Some of its investors include Colbeck, Pantera Capital, and Mandra Capital.
Gem
Gem creates a platform for application program interference. It caters to both supply chain and healthcare management. Micah Winkelspecht is the CEO of the company which was founded in 2013.
Located in Venice, California, this startup developed Gem Healthcare Network. The application can deliver high-quality security through blockchains. Users have the capability to control shared ledger system and access, recording every new change.
Gem has a projected total funding of $10.4M. Some of its investors include KEC Ventures, Blockchain Capital, and Pelion Venture Partners.
Patientory
Cherissa McFarlane is the CEO of Patientory, a startup located in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 2015, the company continuously builds a blockchain-based electronic medical record storage network. One of its latest creations is the PTOY, a digital currency, that allows users to store and secure health records to the platform.
Patientory has an estimated total funding of $7.22M. One of its most notable investors is Boomtown Accelerator.
Companies Using Human Skin as a Platform
The rise of Internet of things doesn’t just appeal to the entertainment industry as it can also be incorporated to the field of medicine. The following startup companies introduce wearable devices or patches that sit on the skin to help monitor a patient’s condition.
The advantages of having an electronic health record are:
Complete and up-to-date information about the patients.
Got the ability to secure shared information with other clinicians.
Deliver safer care and lessen medical mistakes.
Sano
Sano Intelligence is a well-known startup company from San Francisco, California, that produces a small wearable patch that monitors glucose. Users can check their records using a smartphone app. At the moment, the company is seeking approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Sano was established in 2011 with Ashwin Pushpala as the CEO of the company. It has a projected total funding of $10.3M. Some of its investors include Intel Capital, True Ventures, and First Round Capital.
VitalConnect
The California-based startup crafts FDA-approved wearable biosensor technology that remotely observes patients. The device, called VitalConnect, can also give diagnostic solutions for healthcare workers such as caregivers.
Dr. Nersi Nazari, Ph.D. is the CEO of the company which has an estimated total funding of $84.4M. It was reported that they presented their devices with Brigham Women’s Hospital and other Veterans Administration hospitals.
Chrono Therapeutics
Founded in 2004, the California-based company was said to be manufacturing digital drug products that enables transdermal medication delivery. The patch that sits on the skin got the ability to manage timing and dosing. It doesn’t just end there, because Chrono Therapeutics is also creating a technological solution for opioid cessation, Parkinson’s medications, and acute/chronic pain.
Alan Levy is the CEO of the startup company that has a total funding of $84.7M. Some of its investors include Xeraya Capital, Endeavor Vision, and Kaiser Permanente Ventures.
Companies Using Artificial Intelligence
There is no doubt that artificial intelligence could penetrate the industry of medicine. With its vast popularity, AI promises to be a great contribution to everything. The following companies use the power of AI to help patients deal with their problems, such as speeding up drug discovery.
The advantages of allowing artificial intelligence in the medical field are:
Clinicians will give accurate and fast diagnostics to patients.
Human mistakes will lessen.
twoXAR
Just in 2014, twoXAR started to engage in biomedical informatics, computational biology, preclinical validation, predictive analytics, and discovering drugs. The Palo Alto-based company uses artificial intelligence in its system.
They use a computational platform that can check different drug candidates in order to recognize unexpected relations between sickness and drugs.
Andrew A. Radin is the CEO of the startup company that has a projected total funding of $3.4M. twoXAR’s investors include CLI Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.
Atomwise
Abraham Heifets is the CEO of Atomwise, a platform for discovering drugs. The startup company delivers solutions for medical predictions using the abilities of an artificial intelligence. It recently created AtomNet, a deep learning platform.
The San Francisco-based startup was established in 2012. It has a total funding of $6.12M and some of its investors include Data Collective, AME Cloud Ventures, and Khosla Ventures.
BenevolentAI
The British company is channeling the abilities of an AI in order to increase and speed up the global scientific discovery. BenevolentAI is aiming to find a cure for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer’s. It detects molecules that did not succeed in clinical trials but could potentially pass in other disease states.
Ken Mulvany is the CEO of BenevolentAI, which has an estimated total funding of $140.6M. The investors of the startup company include Lansdowne Partners, Upsher-Smith Laboratories, and Woodford Investment Management.
Conclusion
The advancements in the field of medicine are representations that the healthcare system is on a better track. Digital technology is changing the phase of the industry and it is providing a bold impact not just to patients but to the society as well.
Partnership Hopes to Bring Breakthrough Epidural Stimulator Technologies to Millions
Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) have left people paralyzed and traumatized for a long time. The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (“Reeve Foundation”) spent over $130,000,000 searching for answers to this debilitating condition. It built large awareness for its cause. And now, after 25 years of research and trials, the Foundation has made a giant step forward towards implementing a plan that may finally make large impacts on those with this serious condition.
The answer: Develop, with partners, commercially an epidural stimulator that creates breakthrough improvements in walking, limb mobility, and organ functions. Eventually the Reeve Foundation hopes to bring this breakthrough to millions through a unique partnership with the Presidio Venture Partners and NeuroRecovery Technologies, Inc.
Idea Phase: Looking for Answers and Research
Henry G. Stifel III, Vice Chairman of the Reeve Foundation Board
Bold Business CEO Ed Kopko, in exclusive interviews, sat down with key leaders of the Reeve Foundation to discuss the Foundation’s exciting next steps. Henry Stifel III, Vice Chairman of the Board and Peter Wilderotter, CEO and President of the Reeve Foundation were both genuinely excited about the new era for the Reeve Foundation.
Stifel, who was the first namesake of the Foundation, and whose story is told in Ed Kopko’s book “Project Bold Life: The Proven Formula for Taking on Challenges and Achieving Happiness and Success”, explained, “The Reeve Foundation funded research at many fine Universities over the years. The work done at Cal Tech, UCLA and University of Louisville led to the creation of tests and research on epidural stimulation.” It was out of this research that the breakthrough would come.
Peter Wilderotter, President and CEO of the Reeve Foundation.
The role of the Foundation, for the past 20 years, according to Wilderotter, was research. “If you think about the not-for-profit sector, it really exists to do what the governments can’t do and the market is not interested in,” said Wilderotter. With its fund-raising capabilities, the Reeve Foundation funded research in spinal cord injury (SCI), a condition that impacts over 5 million people worldwide. It was risky research that did not have a clear path to results. Tirelessly raising funds and seeking answers for over 20 years, the Foundation’s quest eventually led to a research breakthrough.
Action Phase: An Unprecedented Breakthrough: Epidural Stimulation Yields Exciting Results
The Reeve Foundation found cause for hope with epidural stimulation. The first four participants in a study, conducted by Dr. Reggie Edgerton (UCLA) and Dr. Susan Harkema (University of Louisville), showed surprisingly strong results. Epidural stimulation is the application of a continuous electrical current, at varying frequencies and intensities, to specific locations on the lower part of the spinal cord. It involves an implanted microarray over the dura of the lumbar cord. It is believed that epidural stimulation reawakens the nerve networks in the spinal cord.
Epidural Stimulator Representation.
The first four participants in the experiment have not yet achieved the stepping goal, as originally hoped. They did achieve the ability to bear weight and recover voluntary movements in the legs, hips, knees, ankles and toes in the early stages of the trial. According to Stifel, “the first trial was limited by our use of an off-the-shelf stimulator. It was a stimulator used for pain management, not for varied spinal cord stimulations. We are very encouraged that such a basic device yielded such results.”
The first trial using the Epidural Implant stimulator was conducted between 2011-2014, inspired all involved. According to Harkema, who is also director of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s NeuroRecovery Network, “We’ve opened up a whole new knowledge base of understanding that is going to lead us to even more discovery.” Because of the success of the Epidural implant, the Edgerton team also raised the idea of a second, more commercially feasible, form of neuromodulation. The Transcutaneous Modulator is an over the skin stimulator that eliminates the need for an epidural implant.
More Action: The Foundation Turns to Private Business to Create a Specialized Stimulator
The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation joined with Presidio Partners and NeuroRecovery Technologies to end spinal cord paralysis.
Inspired by the results of the first trial and the possibility of two very significant neuromodulation methods, the Foundation was motivated to accelerate its work. The prize of completing its mission and finding cures for spinal cord injury now seemed even more possible. The Foundation creatively turned to private business for help in bringing a commercially viable cure to the millions impacted by SCI. According to Wilderotter, The Foundation turned to Presidio Partners and jointly created a new entity, which formed NeuroRecovery Technologies (NRT) in November of 2016.
According to the Presidio Partners website, “NeuroRecovery Technologies is a new, cutting-edge medical technology company focused on the design and development of devices and applications to help restore function & movement in patients with paralysis. Our current technology evolved from collaborative research between The University of California Los Angeles, The California Institute of Technology, and The University of Louisville.
NeuroRecovery Technologies is dedicated to developing disease and injury specific devices to help restore optimal physiological function to damaged neural circuits and their target end points. Our goal is to commercialize and make readily available new technological advancements in medical devices, complemented by good clinical practices, which bring about the recovery of neuromotor and sensory function of the brain and spinal cord.”[1] SEC filings[2] show NRT was funded as the Reeve Foundation – Presidio Partners NRT, L.P. and formed in 2016. It is owned by the Foundation through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that enables the Foundation to maintain its not-for-profit status. Initial funding was for $2.460 million yet Wilderotter said Reeve funding has increased to over $ 4million with a goal of $8 million by mid 2018.
Why Private Business is Important to The Reeve’s Foundation Goals
In addition to limitations of the initial stimulator, the Reeve Foundation knew that successfully bringing this technology to market and worldwide adoption requires much-specialized expertise. Manufacturing, research, marketing, cost management, distribution and regulatory clearances are just some of the disciplines needed. Wilderotter said, “The Bold Idea we had was that we were going to lean forward, put money on the table and direct it. We know we could not do this ourselves. The complexities of developing a specialized stimulator and getting it FDA approved, built for SCI and successfully marketed is beyond our scope of talent. Our goal is to cure spinal cord injury and working with NRT is our best hope to do so. This is one of the most exciting things out there.”
Why NRT?
People with know-how and expertise to manage a medical devices company startup were needed. Lots of capital will be needed. To make an impact, the foundation could not do it alone.
Established in 2011, NRT is led by CEO and Co-Founder, Nicholas Terrafranca, Jr., a serial entrepreneur with 27 years of experience in the various disciplines of the Life Science Industry touching upon every facet in the healthcare delivery system from clinical practice, and product development to healthcare provider programs. Founder & CEO Freedom Health, LLC; Co-founder and CEO Spectrum Mobile Diagnostics; Medical Director Medisens Wireless.
NRT’s COO, John Fischer also has significant industry experience. Prior to joining NRT, Mr.Fischer was Director, Program Management of Cameron Health (acquired by Boston Scientific), where he led multiple product development efforts that delivered Class II and Class III medical devices to domestic and international markets. Prior to Cameron Health, Mr. Fischer held various management positions in Operations, R&D, and Program Management at St. Jude Medical’s Cardiac Rhythm Management division.
One of the Board members of NRT is Jay Shepard, who also serves on the Board of The Reeve Foundation. Mr. Shepard’s experience and background will further enable collaboration with the Reeve Foundation and NRT. Shephard stated, “We are excited to see 2 very significant products in the area of Neuromodulation being developed to help people with paralysis.
Moving to Impact: More Work Ahead
With the NRT/ Presidio partnership, the Foundation is actively raising funds and funding more trials to accelerate the epidural stimulators’ adoption. A new trial has been started and NRT is starting on its journey of commercially developing these exciting medical devices. The path to commercially develop specialized stimulators will be challenging and risky. There have been other stimulators that have now been tried by others outside of the U.S. FDA approvals can take a long time and add to costs. Part of the reason for partnering with Presidio was to add the talent needed with the knowledge and experience to maneuver through these challenges and possibly open new applications for others. Stifel stated, “This technology has potential beyond SCI. It may have applications to victims of stroke, cerebral palsy and even Parkinson’s disease. Our work could lead to many more breakthroughs!”
Bold Business applauds the work and foresight of the Reeve Foundation. Its partnering approach gives it the best chance for making the large societal impact of curing SCI. The Bold Business Societal Impact Curve™ shows the journey of how ideas and actions ultimately impact the world. After 30 years, the Reeve Foundation is on the verge of breaking into the high impact phase of its mission. From the chart below you can see there are still some important steps to take in order to meets its goals.
We look forward to reporting about further successes in its journey. The journey from Bold Idea to Bold Action leading to Bold Impact can be a long and challenging one. The Reeve Foundation has shown for over 30 years an amazing tenacity. The Reeve Foundation, Presidio and NRT are entering a very exciting chapter in pursuit of the noble goal of curing SCI.
Mr. Kopko is the CEO and Publisher of Bold Business and formerly served as CEO and publisher of Chief Executive Magazine. Ed has been a prolific writer and commentator on business matters with articles appearing in numerous outlets including The Wall Street Journal and Forbes and with regular TV and radio appearances on CNBC, Fox News, MSNBC and other media outlets. Ed holds an M.A. in Economics from Columbia University.
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