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The impact of innovationTechnology Pioneers 2003www.apax.com

Technology Pioneers are aconstituency of the World Economic Forum.

Apax Partners and Deloitte ToucheTohmatsu are strategic partners ofthe Technology Pioneers programme.

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The impact of innovation

Contents

AcknowledgementsPage 2

Preface

The impact of innovationPage 4

Technology Pioneer profilesPage 10

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This report was prepared by Apax Partners with thehelp of the Economist Intelligence Unit. We wouldlike to thank Tom Standage, Daniel Franklin, AndrewPalmer, Mike Johnson and Mike Kenny. Thanks alsogo to Sohini Chowdhury at the World EconomicForum.

Apax Partners’ international telecoms, informationtechnology and healthcare investment teamscontributed significantly to the report. Specialcontributions were made by Adrian Beecroft, AmosGoren, Peter Englander, Gal Hayut, Regina Hodits,John McMonigall, Anat Naschitz, Cathrin Petty,Jeremy Reffin, Michael Risman, Evangelos Simoudis,Stephen Thompson, Paul Vais and Alexander Wong.

© 2003 Apax Partners Ltd/Economist Intelligence Unit. All rights reserved.

Neither this publication nor any part of itmay be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or byany means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording or otherwise,without the prior permission of ApaxPartners Ltd (“Apax”) and the EconomistIntelligence Unit.

Nothing in this publication is intended toconstitute an offer or solicitation to buyor sell investments of any description inany jurisdiction. Apax makes norepresentation that the information ormaterials in this publication areappropriate for use in all locations, orthat any investments or services that arereferred to in this publication areavailable in all jurisdictions, to everyone,or at all. You are responsible forcompliance with local laws or regulationsand for obtaining your own legal, tax andfinancial advice before entering into anytransaction.

All the information in this publication isverified to the best of the authors’ andpublisher’s ability, but we make norepresentation that it is accurate, reliableor complete. All such information andopinions are subject to change withoutnotice. You must in any event conductyour own due diligence andinvestigations rather than relying on anyof the information in this publication. Wecannot accept responsibility for lossarising from decisions based on thispublication. The investments or servicesreferred to in this publication may not besuitable for everyone. If you have anydoubts as to suitability, you should seekadvice from an investment adviser.

Apax Partners Ltd is regulated in the UKby the FSA.

Acknowledgements

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Computing once conjured up images of the main-frame and now makes us think of the PC and theInternet. What image will best represent computingin the future? Take your pick. As we argue in theessay at the front of this report, computing is fastbecoming an enabling technology that powersadvances in many other areas. From mobile phonesto industrial production, drug discovery to supplychain management, the impact of computing isincreasingly pervasive.

The rippling of computing into other fields isexemplified by many of today’s most innovative tech-nology companies. A majority of the 40 companiesthat have been selected as World Economic ForumTechnology Pioneers in 2003 sit at the intersectionof computing and other industries. Brief profiles of allthe Technology Pioneers can be found at the back ofthis report—they are derived from material submit-ted by the companies themselves.

It is in the nature of pioneers that not all of themsucceed. But as a group, the Technology Pioneersilluminate the breakthroughs that will eventuallyaffect us all. For that they deserve warmest congrat-ulations.

About the Technology Pioneers programmeThe Technology Pioneers programme honours theleaders of companies that develop and apply themost innovative and transformational technologies.The programme was co-founded by the World Eco-nomic Forum and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in2000. The programme is currently run by the WorldEconomic Forum with guidance from Apax Partnersand Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

For further information on the programme and onhow companies become Technology Pioneers,please visit the World Economic Forum’s website athttp://www.weforum.org.

Preface

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Innovation in one field often has an unexpectedimpact elsewhere. The Technology Pioneersprofiled later in this report might appear to beworking in separate, well-defined industries

such as biotechnology, information technology,energy and manufacturing. But look closely, and it isapparent that they can be grouped in another, moreinformative way. Most of these firms are operatingwhere computing has started to overlap with otherpreviously separate fields, such as biology, wirelesscommunications, cognitive science and businesspractices. Each new area of overlap provides fertileground for innovation. And each one is a differentmanifestation of the same technological trend, as theimpact of computing ripples outwards and is felt inother fields.

Computing’s circle of influence continues to growas technological progress drives down costs andmakes its application possible in new areas. Thisprogress is most visible in the exponential growth ofprocessing power, storage capacity and networkingbandwidth. The best known of these is the first,encapsulated in Moore’s law, a rule of thumb thatsays the number of transistors that can be squeezedon to a chip, and hence the processing power avail-able at a given price, doubles every 18 months or so.But this is actually the least impressive of the three.Storage capacity per unit area is doubling every year;and the amount of data that can be squeezed downa fibre-optic cable is doubling every nine months(see charts on following pages).

The impact of this technological progress has onlyjust begun to be felt, but it will be extremely far-reaching. A helpful historical analogy is with electric-ity. The world’s first power station, which came tolife on Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan on Septem-ber 4th 1882, was called an “electric light-powerstation”, because the electricity it generated was ini-


Progress in computing is providing the foundationfor innovation in other fields

The ripple effectInnovation occurs in overlap areas as computing ripples outwards.The examples below are not exhaustive.

Computing

Businesspractices Biology

Computationalbiology

e-business

Smartdevices

Ubiquitouscomputing WirelessCognitive

science

Source: Apax Partners/Economist Intelligence Unit

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Moore's lawGrowth in computer capacityNumber of transistors in a single microprocessor

Source: Intel

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tially used solely for lighting the offices of nearbyWall Street firms. But the notion of an electrical gridsoon took hold and the provision of electricity as autility—cheap, reliable, always on—caused a surgeof innovation. Once it could be relied upon, electric-ity was soon being put to use not just for lighting, butin other ways: to power industrial machinery, labour-saving devices, elevators and household appliancesfrom fans to toasters. The ripple effect of thesedevelopments, in turn, enabled further unanticipatedinnovations: electrical elevators made skyscraperspossible, for example. The whole process tookdecades, but electricity is now so much a part of thefabric of everyday life that, in the developed world atleast, our dependence on it is only apparent whenthe supply fails.

More than a century later, computing is now goingthrough the same transformation. Systems arebecoming increasingly interconnected and computingpower is slowly becoming a utility: a pervasive, reli-able, always-on service that can be applied in newfields, new devices and new ways. This is a long-term, multi-decade process, just as the spread ofelectricity was. But already a surge of innovation isunder way, as the fruits of decades of progress in thecomputer industry are applied in other areas. Likeelectricity over a century ago, computing is now trans-forming entire industries and spawning new ones, byproviding the foundations for further innovation.

Moore’s law meets medicinePerhaps the most striking example of the fruitfuloverlapping of two formerly separate fields is theimpact of computing on biology. At a molecular andgenetic level, biology is an information science: itsbases and genes mirror the bits and bytes of comput-ing. The mapping of the human genome, a vastundertaking that was completed in 2001, would nothave been possible without computers. The nextstep is to apply computers in analysis, predictionand drug design: to move them from biotech’s backoffice to its front line.

Before the human genome was mapped, it was

assumed that using computers for “in silico” drugdiscovery would involve whizzing down a “gene-to-drug superhighway”. Having identified the geneassociated with a particular disorder, went the the-ory, computers would first be used to determine thestructure of the gene’s corresponding protein. Theywould then scan through a virtual library of othermolecules, comparing their shapes with that of thetarget protein, to see if they fit together. Any mole-cules that did fit would then be pursued as drug can-didates.

But there turned out to be a number of bumps inthe road. To everyone’s surprise, the human genomecontained far fewer genes than expected—a mere35,000 or so, rather than the anticipated 150,000.That means complex interactions between multiplegenes and proteins must play a more important rolein disease than was previously thought. The earlyoptimism that drug candidates could be discoveredsimply by number-crunching the genome has givenway to an acknowledgment that a hybrid approach isrequired, combining both wet and dry experiments,in both laboratory and computer.

Rather than being a database of new drugs wait-ing to be decoded, in other words, the genome turnsout to be more like a film script that governs theaction inside a cell, and the interaction of the char-acters (the cell’s proteins) can only be understood byseeing them in action. One firm trying to model suchinteractions is Cellzome, a spin-off from the Euro-pean Molecular Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany.It is building virtual models, known as protein-interaction maps, of the processes inside cells, bytagging and isolating groups of proteins, identifyingthem using mass spectrometry and incorporating theresults into a constantly improving computer model.A better understanding of how a cell’s proteins inter-act should both improve the understanding of how

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existing drugs work and facilitate the discovery ofnew ones.

Other firms are trying to find gene-to-drug short-cuts by focusing on specific areas of particular prom-ise. Arena Pharmaceuticals of San Diego isconcentrating on identifying cellular receptors knownas G-Protein Coupled Receptors, which are akin tobuttons on the outside of cells that trigger particularresponses when pressed. Many modern drugs rely oninteraction with GPCRs, of which 40 or so areknown. But analysis of the human genome suggeststhat there could be as many as 800 GPCRs in total,providing much potential for new treatments. Arena’sapproach combines computer analysis of the genomewith automated chemistry to identify GPCRs anddetermine their responses to various compounds.These results are collated in a database and can beused as the basis for drug discovery.

Another form of shortcut is being pursued byRiboTargets, based in Cambridge in the United King-dom, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge,Massachusetts. Both firms are using computers toscreen drug candidates to see how likely they are tointeract with a target whose structure is alreadyknown in detail. The target’s shape is determinedexperimentally, using crystallography, mass-spec-troscopy or nuclear-magnetic resonance; it is thenmodelled in the computer and compared against avirtual library of small molecules to see which onesshow a good fit. Only the compounds that make itthrough this computational sieve are screened in thelaboratory, dramatically reducing the amount of test-ing required when searching for new drugs.

Even though computational biology is still a youngscience, many of these firms have established part-nerships with large pharmaceutical companies andsome already have drugs under trial or on the mar-ket. The accuracy with which molecular and cellularstructures can be modelled, compared and fittogether by computers will only increase as the costof computing power continues to fall. And as the useof computational models starts to gain traction, biol-ogy will be able to hitch a ride on computing’s coat-tails, as performance improves and prices fall.

Computing everywhereAnother new and productive area of overlap isbetween computing and wireless telecommunica-tions, two industries that have arrived at the samepoint from opposite sides. The computer industryhas developed pocket-sized computers that can betaken everywhere; the latest models have built-inwireless connectivity and some double as mobile

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Storage capacityHard-disk areal densityMegabits per sq inch

Source: IBM

Transmission capacityCapacity of a single fibreGigabits per second

Source: Lucent

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telephones. Meanwhile, the mobile-phone industry isdelivering handsets of growing complexity andpower, so that they increasingly resemble comput-ers. Both camps are trying to take computing to itsnext stage: to make devices small enough to betaken everywhere or built into everything and con-nected up using wireless network links. From main-frames to PCs to pocket-sized devices, the movetowards ubiquitous computing is already apparent.But there are still many problems to be solved alongthe way.

A fundamental problem is combining the expertisefrom the computer industry, which understands datanetworking, with that of the mobile-phone industry,which has a much firmer grasp of consumer psychol-ogy and the importance of design and branding.There is much catching up to do on both sides of thedivide; meanwhile, the door is open for a new breedof start-ups, including Danger, a firm based in PaloAlto. It has devised an innovative new device, theHiptopTM, that is a true computer/phone hybrid, sup-porting voice calls, messaging and web browsing,with two neat twists. First, offloading as much com-putational work as possible on to servers built intothe wireless operator’s network improves the device’sperformance and extends its battery life. Second,Danger does not build the devices itself, but relies oncontract manufacturers to make the devices to orderfor particular wireless operators, customising thehardware and software as appropriate to allow oper-ators to differentiate themselves from their rivals.

The wide range of different wireless standardsalso presents an opportunity for innovation. No sin-gle standard can be used for everything and eachhas its own niche: Bluetooth for short-range usebetween nearby devices, Wi-Fi for high-speed Inter-net connections within buildings and cellular net-works for wide-area connectivity the rest of the time,but at lower speeds. Stitching this patchwork of dif-ferent types of network together in a seamless man-ner is the focus of much activity. One companyworking in this area is Red-M, a British firm that

makes software to automate the switching betweendifferent types of wireless network while taking careof authentication, security and data synchronisation.

An additional challenge as portable devicesbecome more powerful is keeping them running:colour screens, powerful processing chips andalways-on wireless links can drain batteries in a mat-ter of hours. TIAX, a company based in Cambridge,Massachusetts, is working to make the lithium-ionbatteries used in most portable devices smaller,lighter and longer-lasting. One potential alternativeto batteries is to use fuel cells, which combine oxy-gen from the air with stored hydrogen to produceelectricity. Working in conjunction with an Israelisubsidiary, Medis, a company based in New York,has developed a tiny fuel cell suitable for poweringportable devices that uses liquid methanol as thehydrogen source. When the fuel cell runs out ofjuice, it is not recharged, but refilled with a pocket-sized canister of methanol.

Computing will become pervasive and ubiquitousonce it becomes possible to add wireless connectivityfor very little additional cost in components, volumeand energy consumption. CSR (Cambridge SiliconRadio), based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom,is working in this area by combining everythingneeded to provide a Bluetooth wireless connectioninto a single chip, thus minimising the cost and diffi-culty of integrating Bluetooth into new devices. Aneven more radical approach to reducing the cost ofadding wireless to everything is being taken by AlienTechnologies of Morgan Hill, California. Its “fluidicself assembly” process is a novel, high-volume wayof placing millions of tiny components on a surfaceand wiring them up. Initially, the firm hopes to usethis technology to produce radio-ID tags at far lowercost than is currently possible, enabling radio tags tobe added to mass-produced items. The same tech-nology could also be used to manufacture flat-screendisplays that are cheaper, lighter and more resilientthan existing displays made using glass. Flat, flexi-ble, low-cost displays would be ideal for portable

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devices and could be incorporated into all sorts ofother things, such as credit cards or packaging.

Smart stuffMore speculative than ubiquitous computing, butpotentially just as significant, is the notion of apply-ing computer power to make devices smarter. Admit-tedly, the omens do not look good: after decades ofover-optimism and numerous broken promises,research into “artificial intelligence” (AI) would seemto have achieved very little. Intelligent computers ofthe kind epitomised by HAL, the fictional supercom-puter in “2001: A Space Odyssey” are nowhere to beseen, even in 2003.

Appearances are deceptive, however. Much of theresearch initiated in the 1950s under the umbrellaof AI has produced technologies that are surprisinglyuseful and widespread and have crept into many cor-ners of everyday life. Even though there has been lit-tle progress towards a general theory of machineintelligence, smart devices are all around us: mobilephones that recognise spoken names, handheldcomputers that recognise handwriting, mail-sortingmachines that read handwritten zip codes, andfuzzy-logic control systems in washing machines,coffee makers and auto-focus cameras. A little intel-ligence can go a long way, so a number of firms arenow working to reduce the cost of making devicessmarter.

In particular, while there has been a great deal ofeffort expended in improving the visual and audiooutput of computers (in the form of dedicated graph-ics-accelerator chips and surround-sound systems),there has been far less work done on the input side.One company trying to redress this imbalance isCanesta of San Jose, which aims to “sight-enable” arange of devices with its tiny 3-D sensor chip andembedded perception software. Giving devices theability to see and perceive depth could have a rangeof applications: in-car sensors could take passengers’sizes and positions into account when triggeringairbags, for example. Another possibility is a hand-held device that is pointed at a box and accuratelycalculates its volume, just by looking at it. Shippingcompanies could, it is thought, improve efficiency byup to 15% through improved estimates of packagesizes.

Also working in this area is Seeing Machines, aspin-off from the Australian National University. Ithas developed technology to analyse stereo imagesof people, detect and track faces, and then deter-mine their blink rate and direction of gaze. The tech-nology was originally developed to detect fatigue or

lack of concentration in truck drivers, and to deter-mine whether new cabin layouts were likely to dis-tract the driver, but it could also be applied inconsumer products. Imagen, a spin-off from the MITArtificial Intelligence Laboratory, has developedimage-analysis technology that is used to inspectitems on a production line, detect faults and diag-nose the cause. The underlying challenge in this areais to move from enabling a computer to “see”—a rel-atively simple matter of plugging in a cheap sensorof the kind found in digital cameras—to getting it toperceive and comprehend features and ultimately tolearn about them.

Similar work is being done with speech input.SpeechWorks, a Boston-based firm that makes sys-tems to provide speech-activated services over thetelephone, is now expanding into new areas. Itsspeech-recognition, speaker-verification and text-to-speech technology software could also find its wayinto in-car navigation systems, handheld computersand mobile phones. Akustica, a firm based in Pitts-burgh, is taking a novel approach to incorporatingsound input and output into microchips. It can placemicrophones or speakers made with micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology on a singlechip alongside the processing circuitry required forvoice recognition and noise cancellation. This makespossible smaller, cheaper, smarter audio devices,from mobile phones to hearing aids. It also pointsthe way towards another long-awaited but oft-delayed revolution, as fabrication techniques fromthe computer industry are applied to make newmaterials and devices at the nanometre level.

Strengthening the foundationsAll of these innovations build on the foundations ofprogress in computing. Less glamorous, but just asimportant, is the work being done to strengthenthose foundations. For whenever computing isapplied in new areas, new bottlenecks emerge. Theuse of computers in biotechnology, for example, gen-erates enormous amounts of data: some biotechfirms produce a terabyte of data (roughly 1mmegabytes) a week. Similarly, the powerful back-endsystems required to support tens of millions of wire-less devices must be reliable and “scalable”—inother words, it must be possible to add more pro-cessing, storage and network capacity smoothly toenhance performance. Security and privacy are alsogrowing concerns as computing permeates ever fur-ther into the fabric of everyday life. But each newbottleneck is also an opportunity for further innova-tion: improvements in storage, scalability and secu-

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rity are necessary steps in transforming computinginto a utility.

Much of the work in this area is being done underthe banner of “utility computing”, also known as“grid computing”, in a conscious acknowledgementof the parallel with the construction of the electricitygrid a century ago. Indeed, hardware and servicesfirms refer to warehouses full of computing power,providing number-crunching to distant users viahigh-speed network links, as “computing powerplants”. Grid computing involves connecting up com-puting resources scattered over a wide area—evenaround the world—to create the illusion of a singlesystem that combines the processing power, storageand network connectivity of its component parts.This allows companies or universities to pool com-puting resources when working on large calculations(such as mining customer data or simulating thefolding of a protein); in the long run, it could allowcomputer power to be supplied on demand, just aselectricity is today.

In the meantime, systems administrators face asmaller version of the same challenge within theirorganisations as they attempt to simplify the man-agement of multiple incompatible platforms. Corpo-rate budgets for information technology are beingsqueezed, so the emphasis has switched to wringingmore out of existing systems and reducing costs,through consolidation of hardware and greater use ofclever software for management.

Many firms are working to improve the perform-ance of computer systems and to make them morereliable and secure. BlueArc, based in San Jose, pro-duces high-performance storage systems, acceler-ated using dedicated hardware that can deliver dataas fast as an optical network can transport them.Digital Envoy of Atlanta specialises in mapping Inter-net addresses to locations in the real world. Web-sites can then customise their content in response toeach visitor’s location; the company has also devel-oped intelligent routing technology that takes geogra-phy into account when delivering content across theInternet. Special-purpose hardware developed byDigital Fountain of Fremont, California, can sendmulti-terabyte files over long distances (between tworegional offices of a large firm, for example) morequickly and securely than other file-transfer systems;it is the Internet equivalent of long-haul freight.

On the security front, Cryptomathic, a Danishcompany, has devised an innovative scheme to facil-itate electronic transactions over the Internet. Usersstore their keys in a central database, rather than ontheir own machines, which makes secure transac-

tions possible from any Internet-connected device.And Network 365, based near Dublin, has created asecure digital wallet to facilitate transactions frommobile devices.

Computers and developmentSo far, the benefits of advances in computing havechiefly been felt in the developed world. The “digitaldivide” between rich and poor countries is, however,an effect, not a cause. It is largely a reflection ofdeeper, more fundamental divides: the literacydivide, the healthcare divide and the sanitationdivide, all of which are of far more pressing concern.But as computing overlaps with other fields, it hasthe potential to help parts of the world that have sofar missed out on its benefits. The application ofcomputers to biotechnology could, for example, helpwith the development of vaccines and treatments fordiseases that particularly afflict people in the devel-oping world, such as malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitisand HIV/AIDS.

Similarly, mobile telephony is already taking off inparts of the world that fixed-line telephones havepreviously failed to reach. Almost all new networkconstruction in sub-Saharan Africa is of wireless,rather than fixed, telephone networks. During 2001,the world’s least-developed countries reached thesignificant milestone of one telephone per 100 peo-ple, largely because of the rapid growth of mobiletelephony; mobile networks are growing faster inthese countries than anywhere else. Mobile has twoadvantages over fixed-line access: it allows largeareas to be blanketed with coverage far more quicklythan running wires all over the place, and the use ofpre-paid cards makes phones available to anybody,whatever their financial circumstances. As comput-ers and mobile devices converge, it seems likely thatin many parts of the developing world, people’s firstglimpse of the Internet will be on the screen of amobile phone rather than a PC.

Computing comes of ageOne definition of a mature technology is that itbecomes invisible and is only apparent when it stopsworking. Electricity has clearly reached that stage inthe developed world; computing is now movingalong the same trajectory. Like electricity before it,computing has matured to become an enabling tech-nology. New innovations are now emerging as it pro-vides the foundation for progress in other areas. Theinitial impact of computing, as exciting as it wasunexpected, has now passed. But the ripples of inno-vation will continue to spread for decades to come.

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Technology Pioneer profiles

Forty companies have been chosen as pioneers in2003. They come from four categories—biotechnol-ogy, energy, information technology and new busi-ness models. Candidates are nominated bymembers, constituents and collaborators of theWorld Economic Forum. Candidates are reviewed byan external Selection Advisory Committee comprisingtechnology experts in a variety of fields; the WorldEconomic Forum takes the final decision.

The pioneers are chosen on the basis of six selec-tion criteria:● Innovation. The company must be truly innova-

tive. A new version or repackaging of an alreadywell-accepted technological solution does notqualify as an innovation. The innovation andcommercialisation should be recent. The com-pany should invest significantly in R&D.

● Potential impact. The company must have thepotential to have a substantial long-term impacton business and society.

● Growth and sustainability. The company shouldhave all the signs of a long-term market leaderand should have well-formulated plans for futuredevelopment and growth.

● Proof of concept. The company must have aproduct on the market or have proven practicalapplications of the technology. Companies in“stealth” mode and those with untested ideas ormodels do not qualify.

● Leadership. The company must have visionaryleadership that plays a critical role in driving ittowards its goals.

● Status. The company must not currently be aMember of the World Economic Forum.

Dr Stavro E Prodromou, chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: California, USYEAR FOUNDED: 1998ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founder

Alien Technology has developed a manufacturingtechnology called fluidic self assembly (FSA) thatallows the placement of large numbers of smallcomponents across a surface in a single operation.The company plans to launch the technology in themanufacture of low-cost radio frequency identification(RFID) tags—tiny radio-powered microchips thatbroadcast a unique serial number, like a talking barcode.The Alien chips are a few times the width of a humanhair and shaped like minuscule tablets. They fitprecisely into holes stamped into sheets of plastic inany pattern. The plastic is fed on rolls through a bathcontaining the chips and the chips fall into place. Theplastic rolls pass through further processes that sealthe chips and connect them to tiny wire leads. Thesheet can then be cut into whatever is being made—large, flexible computer screens, or tiny displays onATM cards to indicate account balances. Alien is working with partners Rafsec and AveryDennison to manufacture inlays and finished tags.The first product is a 64-bit read-only tag, expectedin 2003. RFID products with greater capability willfollow shortly thereafter.

Why is the company a pioneer?Alien’s fluidic self assembly technology is a departurefrom current methods of embedding products withsemiconductor chips. The process allows thepackaging of tiny integrated circuits for assembly intoelectronic product code tags at rates upwards of 2mper hour versus the approximately 10,000 per hourpossible with conventional methods. This is essentialboth for reducing the cost of tags, whoseincorporation into products promises a leap in theefficiency of supply chains, and for producing tags inquantities of billions or even trillions.http://www.alientechnology.com

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Alien Technology

Dr Kaigham J Gabriel, co-founder, chairman and chief technology officer

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: Pennsylvania, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 10YEAR FOUNDED: 2001ORIGINS: Technology developed at Carnegie Mellon

Akustica is changing the way sound is captured,processed and reproduced by combiningmicroelectronic chips with acoustic components. The company has developed a new class of acousticsolutions that provides such advanced capabilities asdirectionality, noise cancellation, voice-recognitioninput and direct digital sound capture andreproduction.Akustica uses patented micro-electro-mechanicalsystems (MEMS), computer chips that contain bothmechanical and electrical components. Thiseliminates the need for costly and bulky discreteacoustic components. The MEMS structures anddevices are designed either with a single integratedmembrane or multiple membrane arrays to be usedas sensing elements (microphones to measure sound)or as actuating elements (microspeakers to producesound).Akustica leverages standard semiconductorfabrication processes to ensure that its products areproduced with the best available technologies,consistent quality and scalable capacity. Thecompany is focused particularly on acoustic MEMSfor next-generation audio and acoustic products.

Why is the company a pioneer?Akustica’s AkuSoundTM platform represents a newparadigm in acoustic technology and productdevelopment by employing application-specificintegrated MEMS design. Applications have the potential to revolutionise anydevice with a speaker or a microphone, includingmobile phones, hearing aids, earphones and otherconsumer devices. MEMS uses the proven materialsand processes of microelectronics fabrication to offerthe advantages of miniaturisation of multiplecomponents—reduced component space, simplifiedmanufacturing processes, lower system costs andincreased reliability. http://www.akustica.com

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Akustica Inc

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Christer Fahraeus, chief executive officer

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: Lund, SwedenNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 300YEAR FOUNDED: 1999ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founder

Anoto AB brings together digital communications andhandwriting, enabling users to send whatever theywrite and draw to their own PC or as an e-mail, a textmessage or a fax.The BluetoothTM-equipped Anoto pen writes anddraws on “communications-friendly” digital paper. Asthe pen moves, it creates a digital trace that is storedin the pen and can be forwarded to a personalcomputer, or via any device with a Bluetoothconnection to any computer, mobile phone or datarecipient in the world. The Anoto digital paper is covered with a proprietarypattern of microscopic dots. The pattern of dots,which are spaced only 0.3mm apart, is perceived bythe eye as slightly off-white in colour. The dotspinpoint the pen’s exact location relative to the fullpattern. Unique patterns within boxes on the papercan be assigned different functions such as e-mail,text message and fax. The pen and paper are already marketed by Logitechas “Logitech® io” and by Sony Ericsson as theChatpen CH-30.

Why is the company a pioneer?Anoto bases its technology platform on humanintelligence and advanced image processing, with theaim of uniting paper and pen with the digital worldand creating a bridge between traditional and digitalcommunications. The technology has become theglobal de facto standard for paper-based digitalcommunications. Anoto believes that the market willfavour input tools based on the oldest and mostwidely used medium—paper and pen—adapted tosuit natural human behaviour. http://www.anoto.com

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Anoto AB

Uri Raz, chairman and chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: California, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 55YEAR FOUNDED: 1999ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founder

AppStream is a leading provider of infrastructuresoftware that allows enterprises to web-enable anddistribute their applications to millions of users moreefficiently, with strong benefits in scalability andmanageability.AppStream’s objective is to allow users to leveragetheir current IT equipment to distribute anyapplication over any network to any device, makingthe extended enterprise a reality. Maintenance tasksof licensing, upgrading, version control and supportare simplified while costs are dramatically reduced.The company’s technology combines theperformance benefits of locally installed applicationswith the management benefits of centralised control.An application can be deployed as is, without re-coding or re-engineering. The costly and resource-intensive process of distributing and configuring eachapplication is eliminated, and manual installationbegins to look prehistoric.Gartner Group predicts that up to 40% of allapplications will be delivered over the Internet withinthe next two to three years. AppStream clients suchas Credit Suisse First Boston and Sabre Corporationalready use the application for efficient softwaredeployment.

Why is the company a pioneer?By making its applications easily available to theextended enterprise regardless of desktop operatingsystem or network connection, AppStream hasachieved a delivery breakthrough. A leader in“software as a service” (SaaS), the company has alsocreated a viable new business model, allowingindependent software vendors (ISVs) and enterprisesto enjoy the benefits associated with rentingapplications. AppStream is the only solution thatenables ISVs and enterprises to integrate SaaS intotheir business model today.http://www.appstream.com

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AppStream Inc

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Jack Lief, president and chief executive

CATEGORY: BiotechnologyLOCATION: California, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 160YEAR FOUNDED: 1997ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founders

Arena Pharmaceuticals is widely acknowledged to bethe leader in the effort to identify novel G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) as drug targets and todiscover and develop new drugs that address them. Scientists estimate that there are approximately40,000 genes within the human genome, and ofthese, approximately 800 are GPCRs with potentialtherapeutic applications. At present, the functions offewer than 40 of these are known and addressed byestablished drugs, leaving open opportunities toanalyse and understand the functions of theremaining 760, many of which could providesolutions for poorly treated or untreatable diseases. The company’s technology can discover drugswithout first having to identify native ligands—molecules that naturally bind to a receptor andactivate or inhibit a biological response. Thetechnology mimics the behaviour of ligands toidentify chemical compounds that alter biologicalresponses, facilitating faster drug discovery. Arena Pharmaceuticals has discovered drugcandidates that have demonstrated pharmacologicalactivity in pre-clinical and animal studies. Arena haspartnerships with such companies as Eli Lilly, Merck& Co and Fujisawa Pharmaceuticals. SubsidiaryAressa Pharmaceuticals is developing a possibletreatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

Why is the company a pioneer?Arena has a unique and proprietary platform calledConstitutively Activated Receptor Technology, orCART, that can be applied to GPCRs and otherclasses of receptors to identify drug leads. Traditionaldrug discovery techniques to find new drugcandidates cannot be applied to GPCRs until theirnative ligands are identified, a process that typicallyrequires four to five years and costs millions of dollarsper GPCR. CART Technology avoids this majorbottleneck in drug discovery efforts, an approach thathas been proven to cut years off traditional methods. http://www.arenapharm.com

5

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc

Gianluca Rattazzi, chairman and chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: California, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 165YEAR FOUNDED: 1998ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founders

BlueArc Corp has developed a high-performance datanetwork storage system based on new architecturethat greatly eases traditional server bottlenecks. Increased Internet traffic has meant a significant costin both equipment and management. Because of thelimitations of traditional computational architecture,today’s file transport protocol (FTP) systems mustdeploy an ever-increasing number of servers tosupport demand. BlueArc saw that problem coming.The BlueArc breakthrough offers the world’s firstarchitecture capable of scaling beyond today’s gigabitoptical networks and towards tomorrow’s 10-gigabitnetworks, providing a solution that will keep pacewith customer needs while also significantly loweringcosts. A single BlueArc SiliconServer can replace between10 and 15 traditional file servers. It accommodatesup to 250 terabytes of storage capacity, up to38,000 simultaneously connected users, provides upto a fivefold improvement in price/performance ratioand has a record of 99.999% solid state reliability.This extreme performance is now being leveraged fora wide range of applications following the completionof a beta programme at more than 20 sites in theUnited States and the United Kingdom.

Why is the company a pioneer?With the first totally new server architecture in 50years, the SiliconServer family is expressly designedto remove the blockages of traditional architecture.Network equipment providers have solved a similarproblem for routing by designing all data movementin silicon, yielding high performance at reasonablecost. Adopting a related approach, BlueArc’sarchitecture has for the first time integrated protocols,file and network services into programmablehardware.http://www.bluearc.com

6

BlueArc Corp

14


Nazim Kareemi, president and chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: California, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 35YEAR FOUNDED: 1999ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founders

Canesta is the inventor of a revolutionary, low-costelectronic perception technology that enablesordinary electronic devices to perceive and react tonearby objects or individuals in real time.Canesta’s electronic perception chips and softwareenable consumer, automotive, industrial, military andmedical products to attain levels of functionality andease of use that are impossible with “blind”electronics equipment.For example, Canesta opens the way for the nextgeneration of wireless devices to be furtherminiaturised while delivering large screen and inputinterfaces. The company’s technology can provide theconvenience of a full-sized keyboard and mouse “outof thin air” by projecting beams of light on any flatservice and detecting finger movements. Canesta’s goal is to further exploit the technology andmake it possible for devices or applications of anycomplexity to perceive objects and features in thenearby environment for identification and action. NECCorp is evaluating Canesta’s technology and willinitially focus on the Canesta Keyboard PerceptionChipset™, which applies the technology to mobileand wireless devices.

Why is the company a pioneer?Canesta makes it possible for actionable informationto be processed in real time by observation of thenearby environment through an ultra-low-cost sensortechnology. Electronic perception technology is thefirst inexpensive, practical solution to enable everydaymachines and computer devices to “see” in threedimensions in real time. Canesta has taken aleadership role in defining and implementing practicalelectronic perception technology with thedevelopment of low-cost, semiconductor-basedimage sensor chip technology and powerfulembedded image-processing software. http://www.canesta.com

7

Canesta Inc

Dr Charles Cohen, co-founder and chairman

CATEGORY: BiotechnologyLOCATION: Heidelberg, GermanyNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 120YEAR FOUNDED: 2000ORIGINS: Spin-off from EMBL

Cellular physiology depends on the function ofproteins. Proteins rarely act alone in the cell; rather,they interact to form multi-protein complexes.Cellzome, a leader in the field of functionalproteomics, uses its proprietary technology tocharacterise cellular protein complexes, which arethe actual molecular targets of drugs. Thecompany—the first-ever spin-off from the EuropeanMolecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) inHeidelberg—also develops action-based drugs.Cellzome is developing protein interaction andpathway maps to describe the molecular context foridentified targets and to provide the basis for targetand lead validation. Cellzome maps are expected toenable researchers to understand the roles ofindividual proteins in biology more fully and providefor a more comprehensive approach in choosingtargets for drug discovery.Cellzome believes this approach will enable a betterunderstanding of the mode of action of existing andpotential drugs, creating the opportunity to develop asecond generation of drugs with a higher efficacy,specificity and safety profile.Cellzome has acquired the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)UK-based Cell Map unit to support the company’sefforts to move towards product development andcommercialisation.

Why is the company a pioneer?Cellzome is going beyond conventional drug targetdiscovery, applying its technology to determine theprecise physiological context of drug targets so as tobetter direct experimental efforts and decrease therisks associated with drug development. Cellzome iscurrently using this approach with human cells toestablish the molecular context involved in the onsetand progression of various chronic degenerativediseases. http://www.cellzome.com

8

Cellzome

15


Claus Bo Mikkelsen, chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: Aarhus, DenmarkNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 80YEAR FOUNDED: 1986ORIGINS: University spin-off

Cryptomathic, an established Danish company with15 years’ experience in data security and encryption,has created a unique network application that allowsusers to carry out mobile transactions from anyterminal connected to the Internet with unparalleledsecurity.Traditionally, private keys for encryption and digitalsignatures are stored on the individual’s PC or on asmart card protected by a password. These twomethods prevent the user from conducting bankingbusiness or other mobile transactions from devicesother than their own, or alternatively require smartcards as well as smart card readers. Such mobilityrestrictions are lifted with Cryptomathic’s SecureSigner solution.Cryptomathic Secure Signer is a central server thatstores the user’s private signature key in a securedatabase while allowing the individual to access it atall times via a web browser, a mail client or a mobiledevice. The key used for conducting electronictransactions and creating digital signatures is nolonger the user’s responsibility, as it is not physicallystored on the user’s PC or on a smart card.

Why is the company a pioneer?Cryptomathic’s Secure Signer represents a major stepforward in user-friendly security. It combines bothmobility and security by providing a single, securelog-on. Secure Signer was developed for and holds astrong position in the European financial sector, inparticular for home banking. However, the potentialof the product covers all areas of e-business. It is thecompany’s most important vehicle for providing end-users with easy, mobile and secure digital-signaturecapabilities. http://www.cryptomathic.com

10

Cryptomathic A/S

Amish Mehta, chairman

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: Massachusetts, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 170YEAR FOUNDED: 1999ORIGINS: Relaunch of existing company

CommercialWare is the world’s leading provider ofsoftware solutions for multi-channel retailers,enabling them to interact with their customers acrossall channels in real time. The evolution of e-commerce has acted as a catalystfor retail organisations to integrate channels,processes and systems into a single cohesivebusiness. Customers dealing with these organisationsexpect seamless service regardless of the point ofcontact with the retailer—be it a mobile device,catalogue, website or store. A successful “click-and-mortar” presence increasingly obliges retailers tounify customer interaction channels and to integratetheir front-office and back-office processes. CommercialWare’s products provide a robust,scalable architecture that streamlines ordermanagement, fulfilment and customer service fororganisations processing millions of transactions ayear. The application creates a unified view of thecustomer through the transaction lifecycle and acrossall points of contact. CommercialWare products already lie behind retailcommerce at more than 90 leading retail brands,including Abercrombie & Fitch, Staples, Target,Casual Corner, Brooks Brothers, Starbucks,EBWorld.com, J.Jill, Ritz Camera and Patagonia.

Why is the company a pioneer?CommercialWare is at the forefront of efforts toaddress the challenges of the Internet economy. Thecompany’s products enable retailers to build acustomer-orientated infrastructure that streamlinesinteraction with customers, suppliers and distributionpartners across all the channels that exist in acomplex commercial environment. Retailers canleverage this convergence to build customer loyalty,manage inventory and run targeted marketingcampaigns. http://www.commercialware.com

9

CommercialWare Inc

16


Dr Spiro Rombotis, chief executive

CATEGORY: BiotechnologyLOCATION: Dundee, United KingdomORIGINS: Research findings of Professor David Lane

Cyclacel is a biotechnology company specialising intherapeutics for treating cancer and other diseases byexploiting insights into the biology of cell cyclecontrol. The company was founded by a leadingauthority on the gene regulating cell division,Professor David Lane of the University of Dundee inthe United Kingdom.Cyclacel focuses on small-molecule drugs to stopuncontrolled cell division in cancer and otherdiseases involving abnormal cell proliferation. Thecompany is building a drug pipeline based on fourdiscovery engines with new product potential. Threeof them involve key aspects of cell cycle control andthe fourth uses Cyclacel’s proprietary drug deliverytechnology. Cyclacel’s most advanced programme is CYC202, aCyclin Dependent Kinase (CDK) inhibitor, currently inPhase Ib trials for cancer. CYC202 has alsocompleted a Phase I trial in healthy volunteers and isbeing explored for use in glomerulonephritis, adisease of renal cell proliferation.Cyclacel has raised £50m ($80m) to date and hasmade progress towards commercialisation, withdrugs in Phase II clinical trials and collaborationswith global leaders in oncology, including Astra-Zeneca for the development of a specific cyclingroove inhibitor (CGI) for cancer treatment.

Why is the company a pioneer?Cyclacel designs novel drugs to re-establish normalcell cycle control in pre-cancerous or cancerous cellsand/or to exploit the P53 gene to design and delivernovel, highly specific cytotoxic or cytostatic agents.The company’s discovery engines integrate core cellcycle expertise with a large library of proprietarygene-based targets, state-of-the-art molecular biologyand computational chemistry rapidly to deliver newdrug candidates. http://www.cyclacel.com

12

Cyclacel Ltd

John Hodgson, chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: Cambridge, United KingdomYEAR FOUNDED: 1998ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founders

CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio) designs single-chipradio devices for short-range and wireless LANcommunications. Its first output, the BlueCoreTM

family of communications products, provides cost-effective solutions for BluetoothTM applications. Itssingle-chip architecture has attracted Bluetoothproduct developers worldwide.The BlueCore product family saves product designerscosts and time through a unique technologycombining radio, baseband digital signal processorand microcontroller functions with full Bluetoothprotocol software. These solutions cut the costs andrisks of adding Bluetooth to products, and offeraccelerated time-to-market potential.BlueCore is suitable for a wide range of Bluetooth-enabled products, including PCs, mobile phones,headsets, personal digital assistants (PDAs) andpalmtops, and industrial applications.CSR recently won a contract to supply SamsungElectro-Mechanics (Semco) with 1m BlueCore2Bluetooth chips during 2003. The Korean group willuse the devices in modules to provide Bluetoothcapability to a wide range of products, includingSamsung laptops, PDAs and other consumerelectronic devices.In addition to CSR’s long-term focus on Bluetooth,the company has designed leading-edge application-specific integrated circuits to meet GSM, UMTS,DECT, ERMES and FLEX wireless communicationsstandards.

Why is the company a pioneer?CSR has built the first truly integrated single-chipBluetooth system, based on commoditycomplementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)technology with all its inherent cost and security-of-supply advantages. CSR’s expertise in CMOS radiosolutions led to this breakthrough in integration,eliminating virtually all additional radio frequency(RF) components conventionally required toimplement radio capability. This level of integrationremoves the significant barrier that otherwise facesoriginal equipment manufacturers (OEMs) seekingspecialist RF design skills.http://www.cambridgesiliconradio.com

11

CSR

17


Dr James H Sabry, president and chief executive

CATEGORY: BiotechnologyLOCATION: California, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 150YEAR FOUNDED: 1998ORIGINS: Founded by four cell biologists

Cytokinetics is a biotechnology company that linksthe life sciences and information technology sectorsto pursue complementary missions of drug discoveryand the commercialisation of novel cellularbioinformatics technologies. The company’s technologies, branded CytometrixTM,help speed target identification and compoundcharacterisation. Cytometrix employ fluidicsautomation and high-resolution microscopy, as wellas image analysis and bioinformatics to quantify thebiological response of a diverse array of human celllines to chemical entities or to genetic alteration. Cytokinetics maintains multiple small-molecule drugdiscovery programmes targeting oncology,cardiovascular disease and fungal infections. Theseforward-looking programmes capitalise on recentadvances that underscore the essential roles ofcytoskeletal proteins, and molecular motors inparticular, in critical cellular processes.The company’s first drug discovery collaboration,with GlaxoSmithKline, was announced in June 2001and focuses on small-molecule therapeutics targetingmitotic kinesins. Phase I studies have already begunin the United States.

Why is the company a pioneer?Cytokinetics scientists and engineers bringconsiderable cross-functional expertise in cytoskeletalbiology, enzymology, biophysics and biochemistry,combined with drug discovery genomics, molecularbiology, medicinal and analytical chemistry,informatics, software and database development, andlaboratory automation. The resultant cellularbioinformatics technologies increase productivity andaccelerate pharmaceutical discovery anddevelopment. This has allowed Cytokinetics to moverapidly towards the characterisation of novel small-molecule therapeutics. http://www.cytokinetics.com

13

Cytokinetics

Andy Rubin, president

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: California, USYEAR FOUNDED: 2000ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial startup

Danger Inc has developed an end-to-end mobileInternet solution offering wireless service operatorsthree key integrated components: a back-endinfrastructure; a development platform that usesstandard application development tools; and thehiptopTM Device Design, a hardware design for awireless all-in-one device.Danger technology is a standards-based platform thatis configured to evolve with advancements inhardware, software and network standards, providinga low-risk, future-proof platform for content andservice delivery. Danger differentiates itself from personal digitalassistant (PDA)/handset competitors by focusing onaffordability. The design allows for the back-endinfrastructure to do the data processing instead of thedevice. This results in a lower-cost device withimproved performance and battery life. The device also provides a seamless, integrated datacapability. With a single log-on, the user can multi-task, receiving voice calls while also sending andreceiving e-mail, communicating via instantmessaging or accessing the Internet. No additionalInternet ISPs or data services are required. The hiptop platform is customisable to the carrier’sneeds, allowing carriers to target specific audiences.Danger’s launch partner is T-Mobile USA, which istargeting the young adult market.

Why is the company a pioneer?Danger bridges two distinct categories ofcompetitor—the handset/PDA manufacturer and thedata infrastructure provider. By providing a genuinelyend-to-end service, Danger is able to offer operatorsan affordable and integrated wireless solution. Noother solution provides such a broad range ofapplications and features on a single device. Theover-the-air software updates allow for continualimprovements and delivery of premium serviceswithout the support burden and cost of manualsoftware updates. Danger also provides carriers withaccess to an existing developer base. http://www.danger.com

14

Danger Inc

18


15

Digital Envoy

Cliff Meltzer, chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: California, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 70YEAR FOUNDED: 1998ORIGINS: Technology first developed in a university

Digital Fountain products allow both enterprisecustomers and content providers a cost-effective wayto deliver broadband media on demand to a virtuallylimitless audience. Digital Fountain’s products are based on thecompany’s patented Meta-Content™ technology, anetworking innovation that dramatically simplifies theprocesses required to deliver data over any network,regardless of impairments like packet loss and delay.The technology allows the receiving computer toreconstruct the original file from a string of datapackets that may arrive out of order and even withcertain parts missing. Developed for companies that regularly need to movelarge volumes of data among global locations,Transporter Fountain, the company’s flagshipproduct, delivers data from 3 to 30 times faster thantraditional data transport systems like file transportprotocol (FTP). PeopleSoft already uses thetechnology to distribute daily builds of its software,each measuring as large as 1 gigabyte, to 14 regionalcentres around the world. Potential consumerapplications include the delivery of digitalentertainment content to homes.

Why is the company a pioneer?Digital Fountain offers an innovative approach tocontent delivery that materially improves uponprevious solutions. This new technology enablesunlimited user concurrency, maximises existingnetwork resources and guarantees systempredictability. A 500 megabyte file that wouldnormally take up to four hours across a standardwide area network can be delivered in only 47minutes through the Transporter Fountain. Benefits to customers include enhanced productivitythrough significant time savings, bettercommunication between partners, customers andemployees irrespective of location, and more efficientuse of existing bandwidth. As firms move largeramounts of data around their networks, theseadvantages become ever more compelling. http://www.digitalfountain.com

16

Digital Fountain

Sanjay Parekh, co-founder and chief strategy officer

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: Georgia, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 35YEAR FOUNDED: 1999ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founder

Digital Envoy coined the term “geo-intelligence” todescribe its product—technology that helps e-companies control information distribution byidentifying the location and modem connection speedof users worldwide, down to the level of a specificcity.The technology allows e-commerce, streamingmedia, online advertising and information sites,among others, to customise, restrict and targetcontent based on the location of an individual user.By parsing existing data based on user location,companies have a new way to reach out to onlineusers. The technology also provides a way tomeasure the effectiveness of marketing andadvertising campaigns by tracking web trafficincreases in real time.Digital Envoy’s geo-intelligence analysis is enablingcompanies such as AOL Time Warner, Cable &Wireless and Google to determine user locations. Thecompany’s next-generation Emissary product willallow enterprises to optimise network performance byrouting users to globally dispersed content servers,using real-time, quickest-path analysis.

In what way is the company a pioneer?Digital Envoy is the leader in geo-intelligent solutionsand intelligent routing for the Internet. The systemuses autonomous search agents (ASAs) that functionin much the same way as search-engine spiders.ASAs use more than 20 different proprietary methodsand rules to analyse the interconnection of IP-enableddevices on the Internet. By using Digital Envoy’s datato overlay a geographical map of the Internet, theInternet’s topography can be analysed. Furtherproprietary methods are then applied to tie an IPaddress to a geographic location.http://www.digitalenvoy.com

19


Glen T Meakem, co-founder, chairman and chief executive

CATEGORY: New business modelsLOCATION: Pennsylvania, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 968YEAR FOUNDED: 1995ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founders

FreeMarkets operates online “reverse auctions” tohelp buyers purchase or source industrial parts, rawmaterials, commodities and services. Supplierscompete by anonymously bidding down the price ofthe buyer’s order. FreeMarkets combines web-based e-sourcingsoftware, market information, commodity knowledge,market operations and online market-makingexpertise. The company aims to improve clients’sourcing process by generating fast, measurableresults and a higher return on investment.Since its inception, FreeMarkets has sourced morethan $35bn in goods and services in more than 130supply categories. Savings to buyers have beenestimated at $7bn. FreeMarkets provides coverage of any geographiclocation, offering its services in 30 languages andcurrencies. The company maintains an extensivedirectory of buyers and sellers available to clients,and can create specially designed trading portals tosupport each company’s unique needs. Companiesinterested in exploring e-auction technology can turnto FreeMarkets to create, host and manage the entireoperation.

Why is the company a pioneer?To increase buyer and supplier options, FreeMarketshas created the first global marketplace in whichmultiple suppliers can submit bids for a buyer’spurchase order in a real-time interactive competition.Before the advent of the Internet, buyers had limitedways of establishing relationships with new suppliers.With restricted competition between suppliers,buyers may have paid higher prices or obtained lowerquality than they would have in a more efficientmarket with better information and more readilyavailable alternative sources of supply. FreeMarketscreates just such a market.http://www.freemarkets.com

17

FreeMarkets Inc

Dr Pamela Lipson, president and chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: Massachusetts, USYEAR FOUNDED: 1997ORIGINS: MIT Labs spin-off

Imagen specialises in automated visual recognitionand pictorial/multimedia search technology. Itsgroundbreaking approach to image and videoanalysis was developed by the founders, who spunoff the company from the Massachusettts Institute ofTechnology (MIT) Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Imagen’s technology has been applied for the firsttime in a product family manufactured and marketedby Teradyne. Optima 7200 systems incorporateimage management and analysis technology licensedfrom Imagen for the optical inspection of PC boardsduring the production process. The systems identifyprocess variation while detecting problems andnoting quality trends in boards and are capable ofdiagnosing problems in the upstream production line.Optima 7200 is an automated system technology fordefect detection as well as process monitoring of thesurface mount technology (SMT) componentplacement process. The technology calls for a state-of-the-art megapixel colour camera, telecentric opticsand a multi-axis broad-spectrum lighting system. Theimage acquisition system is attached to an overheadgantry that scans the entire printed circuit board.

Why is the company a pioneer?The Optima 7200’s patented combination of threeimage analysis methods provides the best perspectiveon component placement and the assembly process.Imagen’s technology brings a new level of inspectionbenefits—including image matching, structuralanalysis and geometry measurement—to everycomponent inspected. The technology helpseliminate human set-up errors and reduces time-to-volume, the volume of defects produced and the costto repair them.http://www.imagen-inc.com

18

Imagen Inc

20


Dr Rolf Kaese, chief executive

CATEGORY: BiotechnologyLOCATION: Aachen, GermanyNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 55YEAR FOUNDED: 1997ORIGINS: Research project

Impella Cardiotechnik develops, manufactures andmarkets advanced intracorporeal circulatory-assistsystems for use in cardiology and cardiac surgery. Allits products are based on the technology platform ofits intracardiac pump system, which was developedinitially through a research project conducted by theHelmholtz Institute for Biomedical Technology inAachen. The company’s flagship product, the impella®elect,is the world’s first biventricular intracardiac pumpsystem, and provides a minimally invasive alternativeto the heart-lung machine for use during cardiacsurgery. Impella®recover, a pump system designedfor use over a period of several days, represents apromising second product for use in the post-operative period. All the company’s products use tiny high-performance motors as well as miniature pressuresensors, only a few tenths of a millimetre in size, thatcan reliably transmit data from within thebloodstream for a period of days.Impella intends to develop and manufactureadditional new products in Europe as well, in closeco-operation with leading domestic and foreign heartcentres and research institutes such as the HelmholtzInstitute and the Aachen Centre of Excellence forMedical Technology (AKM).

Why is the company a pioneer?The intracardiac pump system is the first heartsupport system to enable intracorporeal, as opposedto extracorporeal, circulation. The technologyplatform represents a realistic chance for theemergence of an alternative method for minimallyinvasive coronary bypass surgery. Minimally invasivesurgical techniques reduce overall stress as well asrisk for the patient both during and after surgery.They also contribute to cost reductions in the area ofpublic health services. http://www.impella.com

19

Impella Cardiotechnik AG

Frank Gleeson, president and chief executive

CATEGORY: BiotechnologyLOCATION: Toronto, CanadaNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 200YEAR FOUNDED: 1999ORIGINS: Launched by parent company

MDS Proteomics (MDSP) is a drug discoverycompany that aims to increase clinical success ratesand drug development productivity through the directstudy of the human proteins primarily involved inhealth and disease. Proteomics is the systematic analysis of proteinfunctions and expression patterns in tissues. Itinvolves the isolation, separation, identification andfunctional characterisation of the proteins in anorganism. The functioning of drug targets usingproteomics is key to the understanding of the causesof disease and to the development of new drugs anddiagnostic products. MDSP has delivered drug targetsto collaborators and presently has a number ofcandidate drug targets in pre-clinical discovery. MDSP specialises in therapeutic productdevelopment, using proprietary methods and know-how for the functional analysis of proteins. Thetechnology enables the discovery of protein drugtargets that are difficult or impossible to determineusing conventional methods. MDSP is majority-owned by MDS Inc, a leadinghealth and life sciences company. This structureallows access to clinical development resources thatare usually not available to small companies at thisstage of development.

Why is the company a pioneer?MDSP’s automated, large-scale proteomicstechnology fuses pathway biology, computationaldesign, ultra-sensitive mass spectrometry systemsand high-performance supercomputing. The MDSPtechnologies are designed to revolutionise drugdiscovery productivity, enabling faster, better-informed selection of drug targets and profiling ofcellular response to drugs in development. http://www.mdsp.com

20

MDS Proteomics

21


Robert K Lifton, chairman and chief executive

CATEGORY: Energy/environmental technologyLOCATION: New York, USYEAR FOUNDED: 1992ORIGINS: Émigré Russian scientists in Israel

Medis Technologies is developing advanced powersources to help satisfy the worldwide demand forcleaner and more efficient energy.The advent of third-generation (3G) mobile phonesable to offer Internet access and personal digitalassistant (PDA) connections will require more powerthan previous phones. Medis’s strategy is to be theprimary supplier of fuel cell batteries, installed asoriginal equipment, for 3G phone companies. Mediscurrently offers the highest power density per squarecentimetre, over ten times more than conventionaltechnology.The company’s product pipeline, based on theaccumulated knowledge of leading Russian-Israeliscientists and cutting-edge military technology, alsoincludes an AA-sized battery with twice the life oftoday’s batteries, and a new proprietary-shapedengine offering great fuel efficiency.To satisfy growing demand for the technology, Medisintends to grant licences, establish joint ventures ormerge with a company capable of worldwideproduction. It also plans to manufacture theproprietary elements that are at the heart of itstechnology—the highly electric conductive polymers,the catalyst and the electrolyte.

Why is the company a pioneer?Medis has developed the world’s most advanceddirect liquid methanol (DLM) fuel cell to date.Designed without the standard proton exchangemembrane (PEM), the DLM fuel cell does not requirea complex external hydrogen source. And whereasPEM fuel cells generally consist of a fuel electrodeand an oxidant electrode separated by an ion-conducting membrane, DLM fuel cells do not need amembrane, enabling a higher fuel concentration.http://www.medisel.com

21

Medis Technologies

Jeff Taylor, chief executive

CATEGORY: New business modelsLOCATION: Massachusetts, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 1,500YEAR FOUNDED: 1994ORIGINS: Created by TMP Worldwide Inc

Monster.com is the world’s leading online careernetwork, connecting companies with qualified,career-minded individuals and offering innovativetechnology and services that give consumers andbusinesses more control over the recruitmentprocess. Monster.com has 16m registered visitors worldwide,10m of whom have put their CVs online. Thecompany is now taking its innovations into thehuman resources departments of firms and is workingwith HR managers to redefine the way they managetheir employees. Monster.com has opened up a world of newemployment possibilities for skilled workers from lessdeveloped nations in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa.

Why is the company a pioneer?Monster.com has pioneered online recruiting andcareer management, changing the way individualsand firms manage their recruitment and careerdevelopment. Monster.com has introduced a streamof innovations over the past few years that havehelped ensure its success. For job-seekers,Monster.com is a lifelong career network, providingcontinuous access to employers as well asinteractive, personalised tools to make the processeffective and convenient. Features include MyMonster, a personal career management office; CVmanagement; a personal job search agent; a careersnetwork; chats and message boards; privacy options;expert advice on job-seeking; and free careermanagement newsletters. For employers, Monster.com offers cost-effective andefficient recruiting solutions, including real-time jobpostings, company profiles and CV screening, routingand searching. Features for members include CVskills screening, real-time recruiting, a comprehensiveCV database, CV routing and white-labelfunctionality. http://about.monster.com

22

Monster.com

22


Howard C Birndorf, co-founder and executive chairman


Nanogen develops and commercialises moleculardiagnostic tools and systems for the gene-basedtesting market. The company’s approach combines advancedmicroelectronics and molecular biology into aplatform technology with potential commercialapplications in the fields of medical diagnostics,biomedical research, genomics, genetic testing anddrug discovery. Nanogen’s fully automated system,which incorporates a proprietary semiconductormicrochip, provides a flexible tool for the rapididentification and analysis of biomolecules. Nanogen’s mission is to become a leading supplier ofmolecular diagnostic tests by developing commercialapplications for its technology and by workingtowards recognition as the standard for molecularidentification and analysis. To date, Nanogen has developed two analyte specificreagents (ASRs), one for the detection of Factor VLeiden, a common hereditary blood coagulationdisorder, and the other for cystic fibrosis. Thecompany has also internally validated four researchprotocols, three associated with cardiovasculardisease and one with hereditary hemochromatosis,the most common form of iron overload disease.

Why is the company a pioneer?Molecules, including DNA and RNA, have naturalpositive and negative charges. Through the use ofmicroelectronics, Nanogen enables the activemovement and concentration of charged molecules toand from designated microlocations, or test sites, onthe semiconductor microchip. Its semiconductor-based platform technologyprovides a low-cost, highly efficient and accuratesystem that will shift the paradigm for moleculardiagnostics from current manual and mechanicalmethods to microelectronic systems, therebysignificantly improving the quality of healthcare. http://www.nanogen.com

24

Nanogen Inc

Peter D Meldrum, president and chief executive

CATEGORY: BiotechnologyLOCATION: Utah, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 520YEAR FOUNDED: 1991ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founders

Myriad Genetics uses bioinformatic gene mapping,family history analysis and protein interactionidentification to locate inherited gene mutations thatincrease the risk of disease. Research anddevelopment is focused on the discovery oftherapeutic targets related to society’s predominantkillers: cancer and viral diseases. The company also has significant developmentprogrammes in the areas of depression, dementia,obesity, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.Myriad has expertise both in identifying genes and inproteomics. This has allowed it to develop businessesin two complementary areas: creation of early-warning diagnostics for gene mutations andidentification of compounds with high potential foracting as drugs to combat genetically induceddiseases.Research alliances have linked Myriad with Bayer, EliLilly and Schering-Plough. The firm has also teamedwith Hitachi and Oracle to map the human proteome,cataloguing all human protein interactions andbiochemical pathways.

Why is the company a pioneer?Myriad’s database of important disease pathways,ProNet®, provides a significant advantage in drugdiscovery, enabling scientists to generate a largenumber of potential drug targets. ProTrapTM

technology is used to screen many targets against alibrary of small-molecule compounds. This integratedplatform enables the company to pursue a rapid andcost-effective approach to identifying drugcandidates. In contrast to much of the biotechnologyindustry, Myriad is able to screen large numbers ofdrug targets against a relatively small but diverselibrary of compounds and rigorously to select themost promising candidates.http://www.myriad.com

23

Myriad Genetics Inc

23


Raomal Perera, chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: IrelandNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 70YEAR FOUNDED: 1999ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founders

Network 365’s mission is to enable wirelessoperators, banks and enterprises to deliver the mobilelifestyle to their customers with its mzoneTM

technology, a secure personalised payments,identification and service delivery platform. The company has four main products. mzone avataris a secure digital wallet that enables consumers topay quickly and easily for e-commerce goods andservices from any location via a mobile phone orother communications device. mzone kiosk is an integrated m-commerce platformthat enables service providers to launch and operatem-commerce communities. mzone kiosk provides theinfrastructure to create and manage virtual shoppingmalls and other value-added services, includinggames, betting and stock tracking. mzone maestro identifies the type of mobile deviceand network in use and transforms content into anoptimised form for that network and device so thatthe subscriber enjoys an exciting mobile experiencethat is tailored to his environment. mzone agora is a messaging product designed toallow access to applications over a variety ofmessaging protocols. It acts as both a hub andserver, providing messaging services to a series ofclient applications.One of the advantages of the firm’s mzone productsuite is that it is operable across GPRS, EDGE, UMTS(3G) and i-mode. The company’s mzone technologyis being used by telecoms operators worldwide,among them Hong Kong CSL, Cesky Oskar Mobil inthe Czech Republic, Meteor Mobile Communicationsand mmO2.

Why is the company a pioneer?Network 365 is one of the few companies in theworld deploying applications that enable securepayment, personalisation, and identity and contentdelivery. Its proven track record is illustrated by asuccession of industry firsts, including deployment ofthe first WAP-based payment system, the firstbusiness-to-business application on all threeJapanese networks, the first fully functioning mobilewallet and participation in Europe’s first 3G trial. http://www.network365.com

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Network 365

Dev Gupta, founder, president and chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: Massachusetts, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 100YEAR FOUNDED: 2000ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founders

Narad Networks is a business services software andbroadband access company that creates newbusiness models for cable operators through its TrueBroadbandTM infrastructure solution. The solutioncomprises both network hardware and servicedelivery software for the creation, provisioning andmanagement of broadband services. Narad’s access network leverages the vast unusedportion of cable networks on the “last mile” of coaxialcable without affecting existing services. High-speedEthernet switching and breakthrough modemtechnology enable Narad to provide fibre-likeperformance characteristics over hybrid fibre coaxial(HFC) networks at a fraction of the cost of alternative,pure fibre-based solutions.The upshot is in effect a tripling of the cablefrequency range available to cable operators. Thisresults in cable networks that are faster, more costeffective and better equipped to deliver broadband IPservices. Narad’s True Broadband software is the first fullyautomated back-office software solution forbroadband provision. Based on industry-standardtechnologies and Narad innovations, the softwaresuite ensures quality of service levels across thenetwork.

Why is the company a pioneer?The “last mile” bottleneck is a significant barrier tothe pervasive deployment of broadband services.Narad is the only company capable of deliveringswitched gigabit Ethernet over the existing HFCnetwork. As a result, Narad’s solution allows cableoperators to offer premium IT services such as databack-up, disaster recovery, and outsourced storageand IT services to an entirely new customer base—small and medium-sized business customers.http://www.naradnetworks.com

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Narad Networks

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Jen-Hsun Huang, co-founder, president and chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: California, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 1,300YEAR FOUNDED: 1993ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founders

As one of the world’s leading makers of graphicschips and boards, Nvidia designs and manufactureshigh-definition 2D and 3D graphics processors forgaming and industrial-design applications. 3D graphics are a powerful digital medium thatenables the communication and visualisation of thesimplest information to the most complex, whether inprofessional applications such as CAD/CAM,commercial applications such as financial analysistools or consumer products such as computer games.The visually engaging and interactive nature of 3Dgraphics meets customers’ demands for a convincingsimulation of reality. Nvidia is the recognised global leader in advancedgraphics processing technology for mainstreamplatforms. The breadth of Nvidia’s product lineprovides 3D, 2D and high-definition digital video andtelevision for various audiences, from workstations toInternet-enabled appliances. Nvidia chips are used inCompaq, Dell, Gateway and IBM computers, and onadd-in boards and motherboards produced bycompanies such as Creative Technology and Intel.

Why is the company a pioneer?Nvidia is the first semiconductor company to deliver acomplete top-to-bottom series of 3D graphicssolutions with full support across multiple operatingsystems. PC original equipment manufacturers(OEMs), add-in card manufacturers, system buildersand consumer-electronics companies worldwidechoose Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) asthe core elements of their graphics processingsolutions. Nvidia’s award-winning graphicsprocessors deliver crisp visual quality for PC-basedapplications in areas such as manufacturing, science,e-business, entertainment and education.http://www.nvidia.com

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Nvidia Corp

Robert A Rabiner, president and chief executive

CATEGORY: BiotechnologyLOCATION: Massachusetts, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 30YEAR FOUNDED: 1998ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founders

OmniSonics Medical Technologies is an early-stagemedical equipment company dedicated to developinginnovative, minimally invasive medical devices.Based on proprietary ultrasonic platforms, itsproducts are intended to improve patient surgicaloutcomes while advancing standards andmethodologies for the removal of soft tissue.OmniSonics has developed a technology calledResolutionTM System, designed to remove largevolumes of tissue in a non-thermal, non-traumaticfashion. The technology uses a handheld transducerto convert electrical signals into specific motion on aprobe. This ultrasonic energy device uses a verysmall, thin wire at the tip of, for example, a catheterto treat cardiovascular diseases by breaking up andremoving blood clots and other blockages from thehuman circulatory system.The company has made significant progress towardsdeveloping its core applications for this innovativetechnology in the treatment of arterial thrombosis andperipheral vascular disease, among other disorders.Clinical trials are under way in the United States andEurope. Commercialisation in Europe is imminentand OmniSonics plans to initiate additional trials in2003.

Why is the company a pioneer?The company continues to develop proprietaryproducts for a broad range of minimally invasivesurgical procedures where rapid, precise tissueremoval is required. Currently there are limited toolsfor removing body tissue in a safe, non-thermalmanner. OmniSonics’ innovative Resolution Systemenables surgeons to carry out a more controlleddissection and removal of soft tissue. This system willhelp minimise potential damage to surrounding tissueand improve operative precision and efficiency—keybenefits for the patient. http://www.omnisonics.com

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OmniSonics MedicalTechnologies Inc

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Mike McTighe, chairman

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: London, United KingdomYEAR FOUNDED: 1999ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founders

Red-M develops and markets hardware and softwarefor mobile data, voice and video communication to arange of devices, including computers, personaldigital assistants (PDAs), wireless applicationprotocol (WAP) smart phones and other emerginginformation appliances, using BluetoothTM

technology.Red-M’s mission is to allow users to be as effectiveon the move as they are at their desks whileminimising mobile communication costs. Thecompany’s True MobilityTM technology is designed tosolve the problems (such as security, roaming, devicediversity and location awareness) associated withmoving within and between wireless networks.Red-M configuration comprises a mobility server, asoftware suite optimised for voice and datacommunications, and wireless access points andaccess servers for wireless local area networks (LAN)and Bluetooth connectivity. The aim is to enablemultiple wireless technologies to be integrated withexisting corporate wired networks. The company is a market leader in short-range radionetworking solutions, including Bluetooth/802.11.These standards facilitate wireless broadbandnetworking. Alliances are in place with ComputerAssociates, Motorola, BT and Flextronics, amongothers.

Why is the company a pioneer?The company is breaking new ground in advancedmobile commerce solutions, focusing on next-generation mobile data, voice and video services inthe workplace, home and public concourses. Red-M’sMobility Services Infrastructure unites general packetradio service (GPRS), wireless LAN and Bluetooth forthe first time, enabling secure management of allmobile voice and data services quickly and cost-effectively. Red-M is also developing wireless Internetserver products that allow mobile access to theInternet and intranets from a wide range of devices. http://www.red-m.com

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Red-M

Ron Kok, founder

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: Eindhoven, The NetherlandsYEAR FOUNDED: 1994ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founder

OTB-Group designs, develops and realisesbreakthrough high-precision inline productionequipment. The company’s inventive use of injectionmoulding, deposition/vacuum technology and inlineproduction automation is changing the manufacturingeconomics of everything from contact lenses to solarenergy cells and DVDs.For example, engineers working with founder RonKok developed an inline machine that radicallyreduced the cost of producing disposable contactlenses for Johnson & Johnson. At the time Johnson &Johnson was manufacturing contact lenses using anautomated batch system that required 26 operators.OTB-Group’s invention did the same job with fiveoperators. Similar technology was then applied to theproduction of photovoltaic solar cells for Royal DutchShell, radically reducing costs with a fully automatedprocess.In the optical media sector, OTB-Group has designedinline machines for the mass production of DVDs,recordable DVDs and the next wave of DVDs, calledblue laser. To do this, the company invented a newtype of compression moulding technology called theE-Clamp.OTB-Group sells its processes and servicesworldwide, and has built up annual revenues toabout $100m.

Why is the company a pioneer?OTB-Group is known for its ability to produce tailor-made manufacturing breakthroughs. Now thecompany is working on ways to apply its coretechnology to silicon wafers and flat panel displays,with the aim of reducing production costs by as muchas a factor of ten. OTB-Group also sees the possibilityof extending its expertise to biomedical systems,since replicating nanostructures is within thecompany’s grasp.http://www.otb-group.nl

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OTB-Group BV

26


Simon J Sturge, chief executive

CATEGORY: BiotechnologyLOCATION: Cambridge, United KingdomNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 93YEAR FOUNDED: 1997ORIGINS: Spin-off from UK Medical Research Council

RiboTargets is applying its drug discovery platform toa wide range of anti-infective drug targets,concentrating on two therapeutic areas: anti-bacterials and anti-cancers. The company expects itsfirst compounds to enter clinical development in2003.Research draws on a unique computational screeningplatform technology, RiboDock®, which supports therapid generation of lead compounds from targetstructures. It is the only computational screeningplatform capable of screening against both proteinsand nucleic acids.To unleash the full power of RiboDock®, thecompany accesses a library of over 4m compoundsthat are screened against 3D structures of new drugtargets. RiboTargets has particular interests in thebacterial ribosome, which contains many known andnovel sites for antibiotic action, including that of twoof the four top-selling antibiotics, with combinedsales of over $3bn. The company maintains anexclusive consultancy agreement with VenkiRamakrishnan, who defined the crystal structure ofthe 30S ribosomal subunit in bacteria. It also has anexclusive option to negotiate patent rights to thestructure of the 30S ribosome.

Why is the company a pioneer?RiboTargets has built a world-class capability thatcan rapidly and accurately elucidate the 3D structureof protein and nucleic acid targets using X-raycrystallography or NMR spectroscopic methods.RiboTargets has established an innovative drugdesign and development engine focused on the use ofstructure-based design to improve the drug discoveryprocess. RiboTargets was the first company in theworld able to apply such structure-based drug designto the bacterial ribosome, one of the richest pools oftargets for existing antibiotics. http://www.ribotargets.co.uk

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RiboTargets Ltd

Vic Verma, president and chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: California, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 275YEAR FOUNDED: 1989ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founder

Savi Technology provides supply chain assetmanagement, security and collaboration softwarethat is uniquely integrated with automatic datacollection and identification systems to provide timelylogistics solutions. Ideal supply chain security and asset managementsolutions must include real-time data, structured dataaggregation, and secure, automated assetmanagement of all containers and their contents.Savi delivers on all these elements with its completeproduct offering. Savi’s radio frequency identification infrastructure,including the innovative EchoPoint technology andSavi SmartSeal electronic security seals, providesstatus monitoring and plugs directly into the SaviSmartChain Platform. The SmartChain Platformaggregates and integrates logistical data frommultiple sources and translates them into actionableinformation. Asset owners, carriers, terminaloperators, international ports and logistics serviceproviders thus have the ability to monitor, manageand secure supply chain assets more efficiently.The company’s customer base includes the USDepartment of Defense, for which it built andoperates the world’s largest real-time trackingnetwork, the US Postal Service and SingaporeAirlines, as well as major automotive, electronics,grocery and retail companies.

Why is the company a pioneer? Savi Technology is a leader in dynamic supply chainexecution solutions, providing visibility into globalsupply chains in order to improve, control andoptimise operational performance. Savi’s softwareplatform and applications enable multinationalshippers, logistics service providers, conveyanceowners and infrastructure owners to monitor, manageand improve the progress of goods through allsegments of a global supply chain. http://www.savi.com

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Savi Technology

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Dr Alex Zelinsky, chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: Canberra, AustraliaNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 21YEAR FOUNDED: 2000ORIGINS: University spin-off

Seeing Machines has developed new technology toread facial expressions for the purpose of detecting asubject’s fatigue or inattention, to measure humanperformance and to provide input for interactivemultimedia products.Seeing Machines faceLABTM technology performsprecise and reliable human facial measurement to fixthe direction of a subject’s gaze. The technology usestwo cameras and operates through passive analysisof stereo-video information. The software is able tolocate and identify a human face, then track it bylocating the 3D positions of facial features.The research was sponsored by Volvo Technologyand Development and is based on work done at theResearch School of Information Sciences andEngineering at the Australian National University.Volvo’s interest was to test the safety of new lorrycabin designs by determining whether cabin layoutswere likely to confuse or distract the driver. Further work evolving from the ground-breaking Volvoproject holds promise for the company. Thedevelopment of camera technology is likely to forcedown video capture and processing power costs,shifting the balance towards systems with more thanone camera. Seeing Machines is also developingproducts based on a low-cost, single-camera system,aimed at the consumer market.

Why is the company a pioneer?After studying and testing the state of existing eye-gaze-tracking technology, Volvo concluded that itsrequirements for reliability and robustness simplyweren’t met by any other available system. Othersystems require slow head motion, cannot track inthree dimensions and are prone to failure or falsemeasurement under certain conditions. The SeeingMachines system overcomes all these limitations. http://www.seeingmachines.com

33

Seeing Machines

Dr Joon Chung, chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: South KoreaNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 102YEAR FOUNDED: 1998ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial start-up

Solid Technologies has developed innovativesolutions for wireless operators based on its digitalsignal processing, fibre optics and radio technologiesexpertise. The company’s product line includeswireless repeaters for in-building coverage, highpower hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) systems and digitalfibre-optic repeater systems. Solid Technologies iscurrently developing broadband (1xEV-DO) wirelesscommunication systems and plans to develop mobileIP-based data access systems.The company has launched a series of innovations forthe code division multiple access (CDMA) networkingequipment market, including the introduction toSouth Korea of in-building CDMA repeaters and thelaunch of digital repeaters. The company has grown very quickly to become aleading CDMA equipment manufacturer in Korea.Customers are the two dominant Korean CDMAoperators, SKT and KTF. Solid Technologies’products have allowed the operators to reduce theirnetwork development costs and enhance their in-building service quality. Now the company is developing a new type of 3Gwireless data base station combining 1xEV-DOtechnology with its repeater technology and know-how accumulated during the past three years. Thisbase station will be particularly useful in serving hotspots where a high capacity for wireless data isrequired.

Why is the company a pioneer?Using its software-defined radio technology anddigital signal processing technology, SolidTechnologies was the first company in the world tointroduce digital repeaters. The digital repeater offersa lot more flexibility in usage, better reliability andhigher performance, leading to a significant costreduction for wireless network deployment. KT iCom,one of the wireless operators with a 3G licence inKorea, has adopted the digital repeater as its outdoorrepeater. SK IMT, another 3G operator, also opted forthe product as one of its repeater solutions.http://www.st.co.kr

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Solid Technologies Inc

28


Richard D Hansen, president

CATEGORY: Energy/environmental technologyLOCATION: Massachusetts, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 40YEAR FOUNDED: 1993ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial founder

Soluz develops and operates rural energy companiesoffering distributed micropower in off-grid areas ofdeveloping countries. Customers are rural householdsand dispersed small businesses, mainly servedthrough a fee-for-service approach that offers solar-powered photovoltaic (PV) systems and service.Soluz was established expressly to develop thecommercial potential of PV technology. Thecompany’s core expertise is in the development andsupport of rural energy delivery companies (REDCOs)to meet the vast need for electrical service in ruralareas, where an estimated 2bn people, or 400mhouseholds, lack access to electrical distributioninfrastructure. Soluz customers can pay set monthly fees to rent PVsystems, including wiring and fluorescent lighting, forillumination and power for radios and television sets.Majority-owned Soluz subsidiaries in the DominicanRepublic, launched in 1995, and Honduras, begunin 1998, are serving thousands of rural householdsand small businesses with the fee-for-service offering.The operations are models for large-scale PVelectrification.

Why is the company a pioneer?Soluz has built an innovative business andtechnology model for the delivery and financing ofsolar power for rural electrification in developingcountries. Soluz has developed the first REDCOs tocombine distributed PV technology with anunsubsidised fee-for-service, or rental, offering. Therental option offers customers an easy paymentmethod and total service commitment, significantlybroadening the reach of PV beyond cash and creditsales. http://www.soluz.net

35

Soluz Inc

Stuart Patterson, chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: Massachusetts, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 409YEAR FOUNDED: 1994ORIGINS: Spin-off from MIT Labs

SpeechWorks is a leading provider of softwareproducts and professional services, enablingenterprises and carriers to offer automated speech-activated services by telephone. SpeechWorksdelivers natural language speech recognition, speakerverification and text-to-speech solutions to leadingcorporations, telecommunications providers andgovernment organisations worldwide. Through thepower of SpeechWorks’ products and technologies,the human voice is all a caller needs to access instantinformation and conduct transactions from anylandline or wireless phone.SpeechWorks’ research has led to a suite of productsproviding open, standards-compliant speechtechnologies engineered for fast platform integrationand superior performance on voice-processingplatforms. SpeechWorks’ products have been built tooptimise the performance of VoiceXML-based speechservices. The company’s products are now embraced by morethan 80% of leading interactive voice response (IVR)and automated speech recognition (ASR) platformproviders worldwide, including Avaya, ComverseNetwork Systems, Convergys, Edify, Intervoice,Nortel Networks, VoiceGenie and West.SpeechWorks’ customers include AOL, ContinentalAirlines, E*TRADE, FedEx, Crédit Lyonnais, Amtrakand United Airlines.

Why is the company a pioneer?To reduce the intricacy of building speech-recognitionapplications, SpeechWorks pioneered the concept ofbuilding blocks called DialogModules, which pre-package common tasks such as capturing an accountnumber, date, or "yes/no" response—the lower-leveltasks of application development. SpeechWorks also takes a leadership role inestablishing standards for creating speech-enabledapplications. SpeechWorks was the first to provide anopen source VoiceXML interpreter to facilitate thedevelopment of browser-based speech-recognitionsolutions. http://www.speechworks.com

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SpeechWorks International

29


Dr Joshua Boger, chairman and chief executive

CATEGORY: BiotechnologyLOCATION: Massachusetts, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 1,000YEAR FOUNDED: 1989ORIGINS: Entrepreneurial start-up

Vertex Pharmaceuticals brings together a range ofdrug discovery technologies into a single approach.The firm’s multi-disciplinary tools—using biophysics,chemistry and computer-based modelling—eliminatethe traditional trial-and-error approach to drugdevelopment. Vertex is dedicated to the discovery of the structure ofmalfunctioning molecules associated with diseaseand to the design of compounds that alter thosemolecules’ functions. Vertex seeks to develop andcommercialise major pharmaceutical productsindependently or with partners.Vertex’s first approved product is Agenerase®, anHIV protease inhibitor, which Vertex co-promoteswith GlaxoSmithKline. It is approved for use in theUnited States. The company has 12 drug candidatesin development to treat viral diseases, inflammation,cancer, autoimmune diseases and neurologicaldisorders.Vertex has developed a variety of advanced andproprietary technologies, including compoundscreening using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)spectroscopy, virtual screening using computermodelling and combinatorial chemistry, and earlyincorporation of pharmacological testing. Collaborative agreements are in place with Novartis,Eli Lilly, Aventis and Schering AG, among others.

Why is the company a pioneer?Within the past few years, Vertex has pioneered thenew field of chemogenomics to accelerate drugdiscovery directed at gene families. Chemogenomicsdrives parallel drug design directed at targets withinthe same gene family. In contrast to approaches thatgroup genomic targets according to therapeutic area,Vertex has the potential to allow highly efficientdiscovery of lead compounds, since chemicalinformation based on one target can be rapidlyapplied towards structurally similar targets whosebiological function may be very different. http://www.vrtx.com

38

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc

Dr Kenan Sahin, president

CATEGORY: Energy/environmental technologyLOCATION: Massachusetts, USNUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 280YEAR FOUNDED: 2002ORIGINS: Successor to Arthur D Little unit

TIAX, a leading technology research consulting firm,is involved in a wide range of research anddevelopment activities, prime among them researchinto next-generation power sources.TIAX has developed key technologies for lithiumpolymer ion batteries, which provide three to fourtimes the energy density (120-200 watt hours perkilogram) of a standard nickel-cadmium battery.TIAX’s solutions extend battery life, reduce volumeand add the capability to shape the battery in anyform, stretching the design horizons for next-generation devices. TIAX researchers have also worked for more than adecade to develop and assess fuel cell technologiesand their commercial prospects. The companycontributes the technical, commercial andinfrastructural understanding that is essential forbringing these and other emerging energytechnologies to the marketplace. Formerly Arthur D Little’s Technology and Innovationunit, the company has also worked on residential andcommercial power generation and portable powerprojects to develop proprietary technology or improveexisting technology.

Why is the company a pioneer?Among other achievements, TIAX was central to theformation of Nuvera Fuel Cells. Nuvera has becomeone of the leading integrated fuel cell systemsuppliers in the world for stationary andtransportation applications. TIAX has also developednew technologies to burn coal more cleanly andefficiently, a possible avenue towards reduced USdependence on oil. More recently, TIAX has beenselected by the California Energy Commission topioneer electricity generation from landfills usinghydrogen-enriched biogas.http://www.tiax.biz

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TIAX LLC

30


Paul L Kennedy, president and chief executive


VivoMetrics provides continuous, ambulatory healthmonitoring products and services for the collection,analysis and reporting of physiological data gatheredduring a subject’s everyday activities. The company’s core offering is the LifeShirtTM, alightweight shirt with embedded sensors that collectdata without interrupting daily life. Proprietary PC-based software decrypts and processes recorded datausing patented algorithms. The processed data helpclinicians make more informed healthcare decisions.LifeShirt’s core technology is based on the in-patientrespiratory monitoring system Respitrace®, whichVivoMetrics has miniaturised and adapted foreveryday use. Respitrace is currently used in morethan 1,000 hospitals worldwide.The technology is based on inductiveplethysmography, a non-invasive respiratorymonitoring system uniquely capable of differentiatingbetween varieties of sleep apnea, among otherdisorders. A three-lead, single channel ECG measuresheart rate and a two-axis accelerometer recordspatient posture and activity level. Optional peripheraldevices measure blood pressure and blood oxygensaturation.The US Food and Drug Administration as well asCanadian and European regulators have approved theLifeShirt for consumer use.

Why is the company a pioneer?Clinicians and researchers examining a patient haveso far been limited to viewing a "snapshot" of thatpatient’s health—a moment of data frozen in time.The LifeShirt’s embedded sensors and patient diarycapture continuous data, affording an unprecedented,real-world view of the patient. For the first time,researchers and clinicians can review trends andinteractions among multiple physiological responsesto real events in patients’ daily lives. http://www.vivometrics.com

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VivoMetrics Inc

Tom Alexandris, president and chief executive

CATEGORY: Information technologyLOCATION: Florida, USYEAR FOUNDED: 1997ORIGINS: Technology licensed from a university

As surgical procedures become less invasive,clinicians need access to more and better data togauge where instruments, implants or other therapiesneed to be placed in the patient’s body. Z-KAT ishelping to enable this revolution by making surgeryand intervention procedures digital.The company has launched a number of imagingtools in orthopaedic surgery and is now moving intobrain surgery. For other applications, a robotassistant is in clinical trials. With its acquisition ofMarconi Medical System’s image-guided surgerybusiness, Z-KAT’s portfolio of patents andtechnologies is one of the broadest in the industry.Z-KAT’s technologies are applied today both forinvasive and non-invasive procedures, since openprocedures often provide only limited vision andaccess for the surgeon. Z-KAT products are in usetoday in a growing number of hospitals around theUnited States and have been used in thousands ofsurgical cases.Z-KAT believes in a variation of Moore’s law (theexponential growth of computing power with minimalcost increases), predicting that high technologyproducts will be delivered to the medical communitywith expanded functionality year after year. Byapplying the growth of computing power directly tothe surgical process, tremendous strides in thestandards of treatment and significant reductions inthe costs of healthcare beckon.

Why is the company a pioneer?Z-KAT’s focus is on providing leading-edge, image-guided technology solutions to clinicians. Thetechnology allows the clinician fully to explore thetarget anatomy pre-operatively as well as acting uponthe data during an operation. Z-KAT’s productsenable clinicians to develop techniques andprocedures that are less invasive yet faster, moreaccurate and easier to perform than standardprocedures.http://www.z-kat.com

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Z-KAT Inc

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