Key Trends That Will Influence The Future of Ammonia Production

Ammonia, which is known as anhydrous ammonia in pure form, is among the most widely produced and used chemicals globally. Ammonia is also produced in the human body and is an essential building block for making proteins and other complex molecules, and is also found in nature as it occurs in soil from bacterial processes, and is produced when animals, plants, and animal wastes decay.

Ammonia is highly corrosive, and the severity of health effects depends on the dose, exposure, and duration of exposure. Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in air can lead to instant burning of nose, eyes, throat, and respiratory tract, and can eventually result into lung damage, blindness, or death.

Ammonia is a highly used chemical and an integral part of the industries, primarily used in agriculture. According to the New York State Department of Health, almost 80% of the ammonia production is consumed as fertilizer in agriculture. The colorless irritating gas is also used as a refrigerant gas in water supplier purification and in manufacturing plastics, dyes, pesticides, explosives, and a wide range of chemicals. Ammonia is used in numerous household and industrial-strength cleaning solutions, however cleaning solutions for industrial use are composed of high amounts of ammonia, and thereby, can cause irritation and burns. Crammed with myriad benefits, ammonium is increasingly gaining ground as an asset in a wide range of industries, but its production leads to CO2 emission and significantly adds to climate change. Owing to huge applications of ammonia in diverse industries, the demand for ammonia is skyrocketing, and the manufacturers are seeking new ways to produce ammonia to meet its ever increasing demand.

The world is rapidly witnessing different trends on the back of advancing technology in the chemical industry, and ammonia isn’t left behind, as manufacturers are increasingly focusing on environment friendly ammonia production processes to address the various concerns around climate change.

Key Trends that will Influence the Future of Ammonia Production

Small-Scale Ammonia Production Becoming The Big Thing in United States

In the recent years, the US has witnessed wide changes in terms of ammonia production plants, as many world-scale ammonia plants have been built, relocated, and restarted across the region. The most recent ammonia mega-project started operations at Freeport in Texas in April 2018, with no further plans of any new ammonia plants construction. But, the US small level project developers and ammonia start-ups have changed their strategy and are continuously announcing plans of building new ammonia plants, owing to the persisting low natural gas prices. Project developers are paving the way for a new trend in the ammonia production sector by planning construction of regional-scale ammonia projects with expected production capacities of only one tenth the industry standard.

The projects will be based on fossil feedstock but are expected to set new emissions and efficiency standards for small-scale ammonia plants. These upcoming projects demonstrate new business models, which are capable of greatly changing the future industry landscape for sustainable ammonia technologies. The emerging trend of developing smaller ammonia plants is expected to capture the United States in the forthcoming years. These projects may lack in becoming the most efficient ones but will be sufficiently big to cater to a regional market, and thereby, represent a feasible business model. Moreover, small scale plants will be comparatively cost effective, and may actually be fundable, eliminating many restrains associated with large-scale projects.

Some other ammonia production trends that are likely to capture the amoonia manufacturers worldwide include:

  • According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, the significance of natural gas, which is accountable for almost two-thirds of the production capacity of ammonia, should not be understated in terms of nitrogen fertilizer production. The organization has recently projected that most of the upcoming ammonia production projects could be based on natural gas in the upcoming years. The rapidly blooming shale gas production in the United States and subsequent availability is leading to decline in natural gas prices in the United States and this is projected to have an impact on the global fertilizer industry.  
  • Another trend gaining traction among ammonia producers is electrochemical synthesis of ammonia, which carries out ammonia synthesis from nitrogen and hydrogen through an electrochemical cell, completely depending on electrical energy to power the process. This kind of process holds the potential to convert sustainable electricity, such as the one produced by wind energy, into ammonia, which can be further used as a chemical or a synthetic fuel. Electrochemically-produced ammonia holds the potential to revolutionize food production.
  • Ammonia production using a two-step cyclic process is also gaining some traction as a probable alternative to the conventional way of ammonia production using the Haber−Bosch process. Many leading ammonia producing companies are eyeing at this two-step cyclic process, as a sustainable way of producing ammonia. This process depends on concentrated solar energy for high-temperature process heat, thereby eliminating the emission of concomitant CO2, which takes place during fossil-fuelled processes.
  • The Haber-Bosch process is a widely and currently used process for ammonia production. It is performed at high pressure and temperature using pure hydrogen, which is generally obtained from natural gas through steam reforming. As ammonia synthesis uses up to 5% of total natural gas present in the world, it emits significant amount of greenhouse gases, adding to the climate change. Energy intake by ammonia production is the largest in the chemical industry. CO2 emissions are at least 2x the production volume. The ammonia production project developers have been working on strategies to synthesize ammonia, which don’t rely on methane-based and energy-intensive currently used Haber-Bosch process, in a move to alleviate the total energy consumption at a global level and to curtail climate change. Owing to the grave concerns around climate change, alternative methods for synthesizing ammonia are now of great scientific interest. Several aqueous electrolyte methods promise simplicity and cut costs, as the solvent water works as the direct hydrogen source, but this method of producing ammonia suffer from competitive hydrogen evolution that restricts the overall efficiency, and results into a low overall reaction rate.
  • In a recent discovery, Tokyo Institute of Technology researchers  have found that a calcium amide catalyst made up of  small amount of added barium with ruthenium nanoparticles immobilized onto it, holds the potential to produce ammonia 100 times more efficiently than the currently used conventional ruthenium catalysts at below 300ºC temperature. The performance of the calcium amide based catalyst is much better than the currently used iron catalysts.
  • Carbon-based catalysts could be attractive alternatives to transition metal catalysts for electrolytic ammonia synthesis because of low selectivity for hydrogen evolution.
  • In another probable trend, some manufacturers are retrofitting Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis facilities with the existing technology for competitive wind electricity-based feedstock preparation for the production of fossil-free ammonia.
  • The thermochemical looping process represents one of the potential approaches for the sustainable production of ammonia without fossil CO2 release.

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Many manufacturers are taking initiatives to adopt a greener way to produce ammonia. For instance, Yara International ASA and BASF recently opened a novel world-scale ammonia plant, a $600-million, state-of-the-art facility in Freeport, Texas, USA which uses a cost-efficient and sustainable production process. The ammonia production plants is totally based on by-product hydrogen instead of natural gas, and thus, safeguards resources and alleviates environmental impact.

Home Infusion Pharmacy Services Emerging as Opportunity with Wide Acceptance of Home Infusion Therapy Services

Home infusion therapy is gaining wide adoption across countries owing to the convenience and less costly as compared to the treatment at hospitals. Home infusion pharmacy presents a huge growth opportunity for pharmacists with the wide adoption of home infusion therapy services. Home infusion therapy is witnessing immense growth with the launch of new infusion devices in the homecare market, rise and aging population, and favorable reimbursement policies from the public and private firms.

Home infusion therapy is emerging as an opportunity for pharmacists with its wide acceptance by healthcare players. The increasing number of pharmacists are offering home infusion services such as pharmacokinetic dosing, compounding, nutrition support, electrolyte monitoring, etc. There has been significant growth in the number of pharmacists and nurses providing home infusion care to the patients.

Infections unresponsive to oral antibiotics, dehydration, cancer or cancer related pain, and gastrointestinal diseases that prevent normal functioning of the system are some of the most common and emerging diseases requiring home infusion therapy. Several new trends are expected to gain significance in the home infusion therapy services and specialty pharmacy space. In recent years, past players from a provider perspective are eliciting more control in infusion and specialty space. Players are making a decision on which patient can receive which treatment with a focus on margins that can be developed with it, this is likely to continue in the near future.

North America to Hold Largest Share in Home Infusion Therapy Services Market

Home infusion therapy services market is expected to witness significant growth in North America due to the rise in a number of various diseases and high adoption rate. The US is witnessing a rise in the rate of hospital acquired infections. These infections are leading to the rise in chronic diseases that require continues monitoring, thus, fueling demand for home infusion therapy services.

New legislation has also been passed in the US that helps home infusion patients. The legislation aims to fill the benefits gap left by the Cures Act and to ensure the accessibility of home infusion therapy services.

New cases of cancer in the US is currently on a rise. This is driving demand for home infusion therapy service that helps in subsiding side-effects of chemotherapy. The US government is also contributing to the growth of home infusion therapy services with various initiatives. Health plans such as TRICARE, Medicaid, and Federal Employees Health Benefits Program have been introduced to reimburse for home infusion therapy.

The rise in the number of home healthcare facility providers offering services at low prices is resolving affordability issues faced by the low-income group and aging population. Increasing surgical procedures with the rise in number of accidents globally is also accelerating the growth in the home infusion therapy services market.

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Europe is likely to show strong growth in the home infusion therapy services market in coming years. Growing demand for high-quality patient care and increasing adoption of home infusion therapy for treatment of chronic diseases is driving the growth in the home infusion therapy services market in Europe. Also, the cost of infusion therapy provided at home is far less as compared to the cost of treatment at hospitals, this is further driving the demand for home infusion therapy services in Europe.

Top Four Trends that are Shaping Growth of the Soups and Broths Market

In the culinary world, stock and broth are considered the foundation or base for various types of soups and sauces, which enhance the quality, taste, and flavor of soups. Thereby, stock and broth are considered among the most important ingredients in most soup recipes, and they can be prepared by simmering a combination of various vegetables, bones, and herbs, which gives it flavors and creates the foundation for stocks.

Broths as well as soups are available in concentrated form or in concentrated form, which makes preparing soups and sauces more convenient and simpler and saves a lot of time. Apart from common consumers, restaurants and food chains are among the target consumers for players in the soups and broths as they account for a significant share in the global sales of soups and broths.

The packaged food industry is witnessing tremendous growth worldwide, and this creates a positive growth environment for manufacturers in the soups and broths market. Apart from the burgeoning growth of the processed food industry, fast-paced lifestyle of consumers is creating needs for soups and broths that help consumers to save time on cooking yet improving the flavor of the food. Increasing growth of the food industry and changing dietary habits of consumers are giving rise to the preeminent trends in the soups and broths market.

Here are the top four trends that are redefining growth prospects of the soups and broths market.

Demand for Healthy Soups and Broths is Increasing as Consumers are Becoming More Health-conscious

With the increasing prevalence of lifestyle diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, a mounting number of consumers across the world are bringing a significant change in their dietary habits. With most consumers wanting to adopt healthier eating habits, the inclusion of soups and other healthier dishes in diets has become a common trend across the world.

Unique flavors in soups and broths are gaining popularity among health-conscious consumers, which is leading to the emergence of one of the leading trends in the soups and broths market. To capitalize on the increasing health-consciousness to bolster sales, leading players in the soups and broths market are promoting the health benefits of their main product ingredients. Manufacturers in the soups and broths market are shifting their focus on improving the nutritional values as well as introducing innovative flavors of their products, which is one of the predominant market trends.

Clean Label Movement Makes a Significant Impact on Soups and Broth Market Players’ Strategies

Health-conscious consumers have made safety of the food products a primary criterion before purchasing the product, thereby making consumers label-conscious as well. Governing bodies have imposed strict labeling regulations on market players, which makes it necessary for soups and broths manufacturers to declare the ingredients of their products. The clean label movement is gaining momentum across the world, which is influencing the salient business strategies players in the soups and broths market.

Manufacturers Adopt Advanced Processes to Improve Shelf Life of Soups and Broths

Health-conscious consumers are becoming aware of the negative effects of frozen food products and are preferring to purchase fresher products to avail better nutritional properties. Taking into consideration the consumers’ inclination towards shelf-stable food products over their frozen variants, manufacturers in the soups and broths market are aiming to improve the shelf-life of their products.

Furthermore, the palpable shift from offering frozen soups and broths to shelf-stable soups and broths is enabling market players to cut down on energy consumption and overall production cost. As manufacturers are saving more on the transportation as well as production of shelf-stable soups and broths, they are introducing competitive prices of these products. Thereby, market players are adopting advanced manufacturing strategies to offer shelf-stable soups and broths that are more cost-effective and easier to use, to ultimately boost profitable sales of their products.

Rapidly-growing Food Industry in Asia-Pacific Creates Lucrative Opportunities for Soups and Broths Market Players

The recent trends of urbanization and globalization in emerging economies, such as China and India, have opened new avenues of growth for stakeholders in the food industry in the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan (APEJ). In addition, enhancements in the economic growth prospects of the region have led to a significant rise in discretionary income of consumers.

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Improved spending capabilities of consumers are driving demand for convenient food products, such as soups and broths, in the region, creating a positive growth environment for soups and broths market players in the APEJ region. Furthermore, the ever-expanding restaurant industry is expected to create more lucrative growth opportunities for stakeholders in the soups and broths market in the region.

Sabio Acquires Callware and establishes itself as a leading contact center expert in Spain

Sabio brisk walks to extend its workforce optimization capability (WOC) by acquiring a Workforce Optimization Company, Callware that has its operational hub in Mexico and Spain. The acquisition is aimed at strengthening and enhancing Sabio’s regional capacity in order to develop as the largest independent contact center in Spain. With Callware’s expertise in the field of Speech Analytics, Customer Experience Optimization Process, and Workforce Optimization, Sabio will be able to establish itself as a leading provider of Workforce Optimization solutions assisted with business consultancy. Getting Callware’s proficiency on-board, Sabio will deliver value-added services to its clients across the world.

With Sabio – Callware acquisition, Sabio will be able to work for Callware’s clients like Atento, Orange and Securitas, Banco Sabadell, and BBVA. This will consequently help Sabio bag a few more skills with the rich-experience brought in by Callware. With this merger, Callware gets an opportunity to advance its business propositions and leverage its impressively growing customer portfolio to meet the solutions of the digital challenges faced of the modern businesses. Additionally, since Callware is based in Mexico, Sabio will find it easier to further strengthen its participation in the Intelligent Communications Alliance (ICA) in South and Central America.

Sabio – A Background of the Company

Sabio, found in 1998, has consistently showcased its immense potential by delivering top-notch technological solutions in the customer service vicinity. With the aim to revolutionize the current customer service operations across the world, Sabio has witnessed an organic growth and is currently supporting the clients in 50+ countries. Callware records an impressive success rate, on account of its experience in Speech Analytics. This will further assist Sabio gain a designation of an independent solution provider across the world. In the last two years, Sabio has notably performed and delivered an approximate annual international sales growth of 25.4%. With two successful decades that Sabio has seen, acquisition of Callware will aid it further deliver the best of its customer-facing technological solutions.

Callware laid its foundation in 1994 and since then, it has been a market leader facilitating unified messages, voicemail, auto attendant, and unified communication solutions that streamlines the communication process, its productivity, and cuts down the expenses. In 2016, Horizon Capital invested £30 Mn in Sabio to help it improve its business operations as well as fund its acquisitions. Post the funding, Sabio is moving at a brisk pace to diversify the company’s solution portfolio along with its geographic reach.

Latest Innovation in Food and Beverages Industry: Vegan Burger that Tastes Like Beef

In order to meet the global demand for meat, a U.S. based startup, Impossible Foods found a scalable, affordable, and sustainable way to prepare meat, without causing an impact on the livestock. Recently, Impossible Foods launched a next-gen vegan burger at Consumer Electronics Show that tastes exactly like beef. In burger 2.0, the patty is made by extracting the plant protein with a view to create a big impact by reducing the amount of land used for raising livestock and supporting its production. The company received a funding of about $400 Mn, including that from Bill Gates, for the development of a plant-based product that stimulates the flavor of real beef.

In a research, scientists of the company found a molecule called, “heme”, which is responsible for providing the same flavor as that of meat. Plants contain a heme protein called soy leghemoglobin, which is fermented and used in this high-tech vegan burger. The burger contains no gluten, antibiotics, or hormones. Additionally, it has cleared the halal and kosher certification.

Burger 2.0 is competent in taste as well as in terms of minerals. It provides the same amount of protein and bioavailable iron as provided by a hamburger. The patty is prepared from the extracts of plant protein. The burger tastes equally delicious as compared to any meat dish, minces, meat pies, meatballs, or any beefy products.

A Peek into the Background of Impossible Foods

Impossible Foods, located in California, aims at preparing mouth-watering, nutritious, and meat & dairy based products by extracting nutrition-rich contents from plants by causing only a little damage to the environment than the one caused by livestock production. The company extensively makes use of contemporary science and technology along with advance food engineering to support plant-based products and protect the environment.

Post its debut on January 7, impossible burger is now available at America’s top 20 most-revered restaurants. By next week, 200 burger-chains of America will have this high-tech burger listed in their menu. In the upcoming weeks, the next-gen burger is anticipated to be accepted by 5,000+ restaurants.

Not just U.S., the impossible burgers have taken even Macau and Hong Kong on a swirl. Impossible burgers rock the menu card of 100+ restaurants in these regions. The company is convinced to end its year by launching a new recipe in Singapore.

With the environmental catastrophe that livestock production causes and the increasing need to be vegan, Impossible Foods is making a remarkable footprint in the food and beverages industry.

SK Innovation to Invest in Construction of a Behemoth Battery Manufacturing Unit in US

Before a month or so, SK Innovation has made a commitment of spending nearly $1.67 billion for construction of a battery manufacturing unit in the southeast U.S. state of Georgia. After 4 weeks, Jun Kim, the Chief Operating Officer of the company, made an announcement that the company’s plan had some major permutations, and the next decision is to invest approx. $5 billion into the same project. An investment as such is considered to be a major contribution to the EV (electric vehicle) revolution and is likely to create new opportunities for the company to enhance its brand equity.

With this new investment, does SK Innovation wants to go a mile ahead by auguring well for the drastic EVs penetration? It would be interesting to see if any of the rivalry of SK Innovation comes up with something in similar lines or would come up with something unique. A commitment as such from SK Innovation would be instrumental in making it a prominent player in the manufacturing space on a global scale alongside other renowned firms including Samsung SDI, Panasonic, LG Chem, and CATL.

As per multiple sources, the construction is likely to start off this year itself. Post its construction, approximately 2,000 workers will be employed and the production capacity is expected be large-scale. The completion of construction has been scheduled for 2022 and is likely to go through several refinements and reformations before it approaches the completion period.  

SK Innovation is well-known as a supplier of batteries to prominent brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Kia, and Hyundai. Volkswagen has stated that SK is one of its leading battery suppliers for the upcoming ID brand with regard to electric cars.

Mercedes, Hyundai, and Honda operating their independent assembly plants in the region of Alabama. Mazda and Toyota have also initiated a new venture with by jointly-owing a factory located in Alabama. Kia owns a plant in the region of Georgia while Volkswagen does have an assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Volkswagen recently unveiled that the company is on a lookout for a particular place to come up with another factory construction in the US. With its announcement regarding use of SK Innovation batteries in its innovative ID cars, probably Georgia could be in the list for the new Volkswagen factory.

Expectations point that capacity for the automotive traction batteries will take off by significant heights in the forthcoming years, in a bid to meet the herculean needs and latest demand projections.

Colorado State Supreme Court in a Landmark Ruling Favors Oil Industry over Environmental Concerns in the Martinez Case

A news of great relief for Colorado’s oil and gas industry came on Monday as Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of oil and gas companies which after the decision won’t require environmental permits from Colorado Oil and Gas Commission (COGCC). The Martinez case which dragged on for years has seen some major ups and downs through its journey before coming to this decision.

The issue which started when Xiuhtezcatl Martinez an 18 year old student and environmental activist who in 2013 with the help of 6 other young students filed a petition to the COGCC which regulates all oil drillings in the state of Colorado. The petition asked the regulator that before issuing permits to drill oil and gas to corporations environmental impact assessment should be carried out by using scientifically demonstrable methods and by an independent third party to ensure that no environmental damage occurs. The commission rebuffed the petition by saying that their job is to balance environmental and industry concerns and not to give one more priority over other.

The young activists went to the trial court level but lost again. But they were far from being subdued, in 2017 a panel of Colorado Appeals Court judges in a landmark ruling for oil and gas industry ruled in favor of the activists and reversed the trial court’s ruling. The Appeals Court judges ruled in favor of compulsory environmental impact based permits based on a 41 word passage in the state law as following  :“utilization of the natural resources of oil and gas in the state of Colorado in a manner consistent with protection of public health, safety, and welfare, including protection of the environment and wildlife resources’’.

The court said that the wording ‘in consistent with’ explicitly requires the state to consider environmental impact as a prerequisite for permit approvals. This came as a shock to the oil and gas industry, but the new ruling by the state Supreme Court reverses this judgment. The court said that the wording only suggests striking balance between competing interests and it should not be taken as an order of priority.

Martinez said that the ruling was not surprising at all but very disappointing indeed. The activist along with others have complained of gross and persistent neglect by state authorities to address the concerns of environmental activists. The ruling has been received differently by the opposing factions of the tussle mainly environmental groups and oil industry.

Members of the oil industry have welcomed the ruling which came as a major relief for them. Colorado Petroleum Council’s executive director Tracee Bentley said that the ruling is ‘positive for all Coloradans’ and expressed that the ruling will ensure development of energy in Colorado and United States.

As more and more people have expressed the inadequacy of the law to protect public safety and environment, Democratic lawmakers are planning to introduce legislation which will force COGCC to consider health and public safety in priority over others while doling out drilling permits.

WANdisco, a Company Based Both in UK and US has Launched LiveData for Multicloud Platform for General Availability

WANdisco has launched its LiveData for Multicloud a technology which processes data on distributed terminals across multiple platforms on January 16 for general use. The technology is powered by a high performance and patented consensus technology called DConE.

As multicloud management is becoming the leading priority in IT world, the multi cloud management software has been expected to grow up to $4.4 billion by 2022. Many tech companies are taking the challenge head on to provide a management software which synchronizes with multiple cloud platforms in real time to leverage best features of each cloud solutions provider. Multicloud strategy which evolved as an answer to the risks involved in relying on single cloud platform and legacy data protection tools which includes data outage as well as natural disasters.  

For the multicloud strategy to work, there is a significant challenge of ensuring a consistent and live data lifecycle management. LiveData offers to resolve this issue by providing a resilient and consistent cloud environ by eliminating points of failure and latency. LiveData gives business the flexibility to choose particular features from a particular cloud to maximize overall performance.

WANdisco has witnessed a year of significant milestones from winning a blockchain patent for DConE technology to securing its first and largest cloud contract with US health insurer for $3 million. It also extended Hadoop services to multiple cloud environments by including value-added services like BigSQL, Hive, Knox and Rangers. It introduced blob storage as well as multi cloud object storage in its list of service offerings and secured a major original equipment manufacturer agreement with Alibaba Cloud. 

Its list of customers include big names like Daimler AG, Morgan Stanley and AMD who are already using WANdisco’s fusion enterprise software.

WANdisco says that the change data capture technology adopts a unidirectional data replicating approach while LiveData’s approach is rather bidirectional or multidirectional which allows continuous replication necessary for reading and writing multiple applications to the same data. The company’s CEO David Richards said that the company manages this at petabytes of scale by producing 4 petabytes of data per day.

WANdisco just recently in a team effort with IBM has announced the development of relational database technology for extending WANdisco Fusion also called IBM Big Replicate to customers in need of a hybrid cloud environment.

Boeing, US Space Giant Invests $14 Million in UK-based Satellite Antenna Startup Isotropic Ventures

Boeing, the Chicago based aerospace giant has invested in a UK based startup which has developed a technology which promises to radically transform the manufacture of satellite antennas by controlling the direction of radio frequency waves.  The investment which came from the investment arm of Boeing called Boeing HorizonX Venture will be used to bring the technology of Isotropic Systems to the market.

The $14 million investment will be the second in line of investment in a British space company by Boeing Ventures in less than a year’s time. The investment comes in the wake of the ongoing storm of Brexit that surrounds the UK industry.

Isotropic Systems which prides at being the next generation satellite terminal provider has used the transformational optical technology for producing a fully electronic low cost tracking terminal. The company uses transformational optics used for bending light and has adopted it to radio waves. The technology bends radio waves through optical devices for making satellite antennas with no mobile parts as well as cheaper manufacturing process than the existing antennas.

With the advent of non-geostationary and high-throughput satellite systems, the satellite industry is undergoing a major shift. The new systems will demand better ground infrastructure which will need satellite antennas to be of greater capacity. The company’s chief executive John Finney believes that Isotropic’s technology will be instrumental in wide scale adoption of satellite communication, for example its application in maritime industry will enable access to low cost broadband to smaller fishing vessels beyond just superyachts. 

Boeing HorizonX Venture director Brian Schettler believes that Isotropic’s solution increases existing capabilities of satellite antennas to many fold at reduced costs. The unit in April 2018 invested in British aerospace manufacturer Reaction Engines Ltd based in Oxfordshire, England. Others investors participating in the Series A round of funding include  two venture funds Space Angel and Space Capital along with a private individual who prefers to be unidentified.

Isotropic formed in 2014 with the backing of grant funding form InnovateUK, UK’s Innovation fund and UK Space Agency. Mr. Finney believes the previous funding was instrumental in nurturing IP in last four years. He is optimistic about the future of UK’s space industry amidst the Brexit uncertainties.

The fear that UK won’t be able to guide the development of the pan- European 10 billion euro Galileo Satellite navigation program’s military aspects post Brexit had urged UK to threaten withdrawal from the project in November 2018. This leaves the future of several UK companies hanging who are closely involved in the Galileo Project. Talks on Galileo and Copernicus projects are still underway which are important for UK’s ambition of generating 40 billion euros through space sector alone by 2030.

Mr. Finney also expressed that it sees Isotropic’s future mainly in UK owing to the support offered by UK Space Agency and that it may shift the engineering resources from US to UK in near future.

Amazon, Samsung Including Retail and Labeling Giants are Investing Big in Israel-based Battery Free Chip Startup Williot

Wiliot, an Israeli startup which harnesses electromagnetic energy in nanowatts from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular networks to work without any battery or other wired sources has announced that it has secured funding of $30 million from a bunch of companies.

The investors are some of the biggest names in financial and strategic venture capital investment which include Samsung, Avery Dennison and Amazon. Previous investors are Qualcomm Ventures, M Ventures, Grove Venture Partners, 83 North Venture Capital and Norwest Ventures. A retail giant with an undisclosed name is involved in the investment round. With $50 raised up till now the startup is valued at $120 million.

The chip basically is supported without any battery, which can measure air pressure, location and temperature and transmits the information to cloud. The chip is useful for in tagging, logistics and manufacturing for transmitting data about any non-electronic object. It will be a boon for internet of things devices and applications.

The senior vice president of the marketing and business division, Steve Statler said that the initial applications of the chip could be adopted in apparels industry. The chips could be integrated into care labels both manufacturing to sale and will help in providing services to the buyer. The other applications include wardrobe recommendations to washing instructions. The chip although has not been rolled out commercially but the CEO and co-founder of Williot, Tal Tamir said that the new series B funding will be used to find large scale chip production methods as well as sell the chips to its first customers.

The latest bunch of investors may be looking at the investment in strategic point of view. As Avery Dennison is world’s biggest RFID tags and label maker, Qualcomm and Samsung are semiconductor giants while Amazon has been planning to AI based fashion recommendations as well as apparels through its Alexa platform. Its platform Amazon Web Services can aid Williot for the cloud computing part of the chip.

Williot wants tap into the huge amount of electromagnetic energy that gets produced as part of wireless services like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The technology can only work where wireless networks are readily available. One significant limitation is that it cannot be used in regions of low and zero connectivity. Another challenge is to ensure energy efficiency for devices to operate on nanowatts instead of watts of power.

The other key players in the field are Sigfox in France, these budding startups with their innovations could open doors for more ambient and sophisticated power solutions. For Williot CEO Tal, this is just the tip of an iceberg who believes that the coming age of edge computing will bring devices using energy from radio frequency. Amazon has also recently acquired another Israeli startup which offers edge computing solutions CloudEndure.