The Swiss company, created in 1999, was founded by Dr. Francois Sugnaux and was spun out of the Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne. According to Sugnaux, the nanomaterials developed by Xoliox have charge and discharge rates more than 100 times faster than conventional lithium ion battery technologies. Further, the ability to deliver such a great amount of energy in a short space of time, coupled with the low cost of the battery, would make electric vehicles (EVs) or hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) a realistic alternative to the internal combustion engine.

“Ntera and Xoliox are specialized in the developement of nanostructured films,” explains Matthew Moth, spokesperson for Ntera. “Through Xoliox acquisition, Ntera adds to its technology patents for paper quality displays and the technological know-how of a very specific range of batteries." He added that the group will focus on developing applications such as displays for PDAs, mobile phones, billboards and diagnostic instruments.

Born in Dublin under the name Nanomat, Ntera received its first €7 million round of financing in '97 by Cross Atlantic Partners, Evolution Group and other private investors. It was founded by professor Donald Fitzmaurice, who lectures on nanomaterials science at the University College Dublin, and today is the technological director of the company.

Ntera is also active in biotechnlogy through NanoLyte, a diagnostic sensor for the healthcare sector. According to the company’s estimates, the market for diagnostics instrumentation is worth $20 billion per year.

NanoChromics, another proprietary technology, is aimed at producing nano-structured films, which in the future could replace LCD display technology. It targets a market which, thanks to mobile phones, palmtop devices, televisions and other products, generates revenue worth $18 billion per year, the company claims.

Further, the company carries out research on a technology enabling to establish the solubility and toxicity of new drug candidates via laboratory testing. This technology, NanoPart, uses NanoChromics, the core product of Ntera.