The firm's technology would be used in making "smart" credit cards and labels that enhance security and convenience, says Emily de Rotstein, vice president of marketing for Aveso.
Meanwhile, InnovaLight, which is developing a nanotech approach to making light bulbs, moved to St. Paul last month from Austin, TX. The company is leasing about 5,000 sf of space in Menlo Park, a biotech incubator center on University Avenue that once housed the state of Minnesota's crime lab.
Each firm hopes to end the year with about 15 to 20 employees. And the jobs are typically high skill matching wages--for instance, InnovaLight is looking to hire researchers and other scientists by dangling salaries that average $75,000 a year or so.
While each of the companies have their own reason for moving, both cite nanotechnology research and expertise at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Technology. A key element to InnovaLight's silicon nanocrystals used in its "next generation" lighting was invented by Uwe Kortshagen, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota. Meanwhile, InnovaLight expects to have an easier time finding qualified workers to fill its jobs here than it did in Texas, and that's in large part due to the University of Minnesota.
Also, some of Minnesota's largest companies are focusing on nanotechnology, including 3M, Cargill, Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, Boston Scientific and SurModics, according to industry officials. And that may provide enhanced resources for the Twin Cities nanotechnology industry and could be potential partners for the small start-ups, such as InnovaLight and Aveso, says Jack Uldrich, a Minneapolis-based nanotechnology consultant. Uldrich adds both Aveso and InnovaLight face intense competition in their fields and may need larger partners to help them bring their products to market.
The existing infrastructure of companies working in nanotechnology also was attractive. For instance, Aveso checked out a range of high-tech centers around the country, including Raleigh, Austin and Madison, before settling on the Twin Cities, de Rotstein says. "We chose the Twin Cities because it offered us the best access to world-class printing and microelectronics contract manufacturing capacity," she says, adding she is not ready to talk about where her company is planning to lease space.
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