Quantum sensors

Quantum sensors can detect even the slightest changes in the environment. These devices are being built for a wide range of applications, from underground mapping to medical imaging, and can be smaller, cheaper and thousands of times more accurate than sensors used today. 

Quantum sensors will have far-reaching commercial implications. Harnessing the quantum properties of matter could lead to significant advances in medical imaging, navigation, underground mapping, discovery of new materials and much more.

Startups using quantum sensors in their products and services.

Atomionics is working on a quantum gravimeter for applications such as navigation and underground mapping.

NVision applies quantum technologies to medical imaging, with a focus on improving the resolution and accuracy of MRI.

Qnami develops a quantum microscope for high-precision measurements of the magnetic properties of materials.

Safe and accurate AI models

Artificial intelligence systems, especially those based on machine learning (ML), are vulnerable to bias and toxic data stuffing (an attack that replaces a model's training data). With over 55% global companies using artificial intelligence, these threats could have huge implications across multiple sectors. AI bias is caused by preferences or exceptions in the training data, as well as how the data is obtained, how the algorithms are developed, and how the output is interpreted. To mitigate these risks, startups are integrating software with artificial intelligence systems to audit and troubleshoot data problems.

Snitch AI helps companies monitor and troubleshoot their machine learning models. The company works with universities and research institutes such as IVADO and Polytechnique Montreal to test the created  tools.

Platform Kosa AI работает над снижением ошибок ИИ на протяжении всего процесса обучения от проектирования модели до ее развертывания. Сферы применения платформы чрезвычайно широки — от диагностики в местах оказания медицинской помощи до систем управления кадрами компаний и обнаружения мошенничества.

Platform CognitiveScale, USA, helps detect and assess AI risks across 6 dimensions: performance, data quality, reliability, explainability, fairness and compliance. It can also check black box models.

Connecting the mind to the computer

Although the brain-computer interface was created decades ago, new solutions in this area are less invasive, which can certainly speed up the commercialization of this technology. Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) systems can detect, quantify brain signals, and translate them into user intent commands for devices, such as typing words or moving a robotic arm.

Historically, BCI implantation has been an invasive, open-brain procedure. However, new, minimally invasive solutions such as Synchron are less risky for patients. Additionally, many surgeons already have the necessary skills to perform the procedure, which is similar to conventional stenting, making it easier to spread.

По мере того, как минимально инвазивные решения BCI, предназначенные для длительного использования распространяются за пределы лабораторий или больниц, данная технология может стать решением широкого спектра медицинских проблем. Первоначальные приложения BCI были направлены на то, чтобы помочь пациентам с тяжелыми нарушениями, таким как паралич, общаться с окружающими. В будущем по мере развития технологии BCI, она может повлиять на ряд медицинских применений — от более эффективного обнаружения опухолей до улучшения двигательной функции хирургов, повышения когнитивных показателей в качестве инструмента обучения нейрообратной связи и ускорения реабилитации пациентов после инсульта.

Neuralink, co-founded by Elon Musk, is developing a brain chip implant that will help study and treat neurological disorders. The company's device has not yet been approved for human testing.

Implantable device Paradromics captures thousands of brain signals to achieve medical results such as restoration of connections and sensations. So far, the company is studying the brain activity of sheep.

Synchron, has developed a permanent implantable device that can restore function in victims of severe paralysis. The Food and Drug Administration approved the device for human clinical trials in 2021, and Synchron completed its first implantation procedure in July 2022.

Diamond Age of Electronics

Diamond is one of the finest materials known to mankind, with maximum thermal conductivity and hardness, high refractive index and strong electrical insulation. These features support next-generation technologies in semiconductors, optics, renewable energy, medical devices and more.

Используя процесс, называемый химическим осаждением паров (CVD), алмазы выращиваются в реакторе слой за слоем. Они могут заменить такие материалы, как кремний, нитрид галлия и плавленый кремнезем, в широком спектре технологических применений — от полупроводников и детекторов излучения до лазерной оптики и телекоммуникационных устройств. По понятным соображениям все эти области применения невозможны с натуральными камнями.

Semiconductor devices with diamond material can conduct more than a million times higher electrical current than silicon.

Quantum Brilliance is developing room-temperature quantum computers by using nitrogen lattice vacancies in single-crystal diamonds to generate qubits (the computing units of quantum computers).

Appsilon is a manufacturer of diamond material for technology applications such as thermal management, optics, quantum computing, high-power electronics and diamond detectors.

Diamond Foundry produces lab-grown diamonds using proprietary reactor technology. Its diamonds are suitable for technological applications and as a material for jewelry.

Putting personal data back in the hands of consumers

The transfer of personal data from individuals to corporations often leaves them unprotected and undervalued, creating opportunities for abuse (e.g. data leaks, manipulative advertising).

Historically, digital platforms have owned consumers' personal data. They have been the beneficiaries of almost every monetization opportunity. Today, a new generation of startups is using blockchain technology to return ownership of data to consumers and create new monetization opportunities.

Spruce allows users to control their personal data online with login and data storage solutions built using blockchain.

ODE uses blockchain and artificial intelligence to provide a range of solutions for personal data, from monetization to secure storage.

Invisibly allows the user to earn points and unlock ad-free content by sharing data.

Programming cells using digital biology

Advances in digital biology and bioinformatics are increasing the cost and scalability of human cell production for research and cell therapy. New cell reprogramming technologies make it possible to grow cells faster and more efficiently than before.

Индуцированные плюрипотентные стволовые клетки (также известные как iPS-клетки или iPSC) — тип плюрипотентных стволовых клеток, которые могут генерироваться непосредственно из соматической клетки. Технология iPSC была впервые создана лабораторией Шиньи Яманаки в Киото, Япония, которая показала в 2006 году, что внедрение четырех конкретных генов (названных Myc, Oct3/4, Sox2 и Klf4), совместно известных как факторы Яманаки, кодирующих факторы транскрипции, может превратить соматические клетки в плюри. Это открытие открывает новые возможности в области регенеративной медицины.

Cellular coding may offer effective treatments for a wide range of diseases. Startups are creating new programming and automation methods, reducing the cost and coding time of a cell from months to days.
These technologies make it possible to eliminate dependence on difficult-to-change human stem cells, make treatment more personalized and targeted, reduce the cost of cell therapy, and create conditions for mass production.

Bit Bio applies computational principles in biology to encode human cells for disease research and drug production.

Mogrify develops systems to improve efficiency, safety and scalability in the production of cell therapy products.

Asgard is developing a platform for cancer therapy through reprogramming the patient's tumor cells.

The next generation computer that thinks like a human

Inspired by the structure and processes of the brain, neuromorphic computers are made up of artificial "neurons" and "synapses" that process information completely differently than the von Neumann architecture used in most computers today.
Neuromorphic computing has received a lot of interest recently.

This new technology promises lower power and lower latency than existing computing methods by mimicking the principles of information processing in the brain. A key concept in neuromorphic computing is event-based state determination.

Neuromorphic computing has advantages such as massively parallel processing (where many calculations can be performed simultaneously) and burst computing (where energy is consumed only when data arrives, meaning that at any given time energy is consumed by only a portion of the system). This means that neuromorphic computers can consume much less power, delivering much faster processing times.

Neuromorphic systems can perform some types of calculations using 1,000 times less energy than traditional methods. This makes them effective for applications used in peripheral devices or autonomous vehicles.

Neuromorphic computing methods are also well suited for artificial intelligence applications that seek to mimic the workings of the brain, such as deep learning.

Rain Neuromorphics is developing a specialized neuromorphic processing chip that has artificial intelligence with the ability to learn on its own. The company plans to commercialize the chip by 2025.

Innatera develops low-power processors for continuous-use sensing applications such as vital sign monitoring and fall detection. The company introduced its first chips in 2021.

SynSense предлагает нейроморфные решения для различных отраслей — от здравоохранения до автомобилей. Компания также занимается совместной компанией Prophesee разработкой чипа определения состояния на основе событий.

Decentralized commerce

Merchants can tokenize physical products and services as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This allows buyers to receive a digital representation of a product, which they can then resell or exchange for a physical asset. By transacting on blockchain technology, both parties bypass centralized e-commerce platforms while maintaining transparency and authenticity.
The decentralized trading model allows consumers to transact directly with merchants in a transparent, trusted environment at a lower cost structure.

Using NFTs to represent physical items means sellers can open up new sales channels by tapping into virtual environments such as metaverses.

Platform Boson Protocol tokenizes real-world assets into NFT format and develops digital markets for physical and virtual goods.

Origin helps producers and sellers create digital storefronts to sell NFTs directly to audiences and profit from secondary sales in the future.

Аутентификация без пароля — повышение безопасности с помощью невидимого MFA

More than 60% of data breaches can be attributed to weak or reused passwords, and the average data breach costs more than $4 million. Invisible multi-factor authentication (MFA) may become widespread in the near future. The next generation of MFA eliminates the need for a password entirely, tying the user's device to their identity. For example, when logging in to a laptop, a user can simply enter their username and the system will seamlessly and automatically verify their identity using the secure key on their smartphone.
Invisible MFA requires no additional hardware or steps (such as tokens or one-time codes), does not store user information, and uses template variations that prevent the use of stolen data.

HYPR offers companies a platform to authenticate employees and consumers using devices instead of passwords.

Beyond Identity securely links users to their devices to enable passwordless verification

Stytch provides infrastructure (e.g., APIs) that allows organizations to authenticate users using multiple passwordless methods (e.g., device, biometrics, etc.).