Thought Papers

Nuclear Fission

In this thought paper, we’ll cover nuclear fission, which is what we typically mean by nuclear power. Today’s nuclear power plants make electricity from uranium fissioning into smaller atoms at commercial scale all over the world. Nuclear fission and nuclear fusion (which I’ve written about elsewhere) are two VERY DIFFERENT sources of energy!

Webinar

Advanced Manufacturing Webinar

Join us for an exciting webinar on advanced manufacturing, where we will explore the latest top trends, technologies, and beyond. Panelists include Samuel Reeves, William I. Gibbs IV, and Andrew Duggleby.

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The Future of Data Storage Webinar

Join us for an exciting webinar on the future of data storage, DNA, and biological solutions, where we will explore the latest top trends, technologies, and beyond. Panelists include Murali Prahalad, Philip Nelson, and Tad Weems.

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Semiconductors Webinar

Join us for an exciting webinar on semiconductors and the global chip shortage, where we will explore the latest top trends, technologies, and beyond. Panelists include Dan Armbrust, Andrei Iancu, and Willy Shih.

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Brain Computer Interfaces Webinar

Join us for an exciting webinar on brain computer interfaces, where we will explore the latest top trends, technologies, and beyond. Panelists include Matt Angle, Dan Rizzuto, Nishita Deka, and Andreas Forsland.

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Is Nuclear now Climate Tech? Webinar

Is nuclear now climate tech? Join us in this webinar where we will explore the latest top trends, technologies, and beyond. Panelists include Ben Reinke, Kristine Svinicki, and Christine King.

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Enabling The Future of High Speed Flight Webinar

Join us for an exciting webinar on enabling the future of high speed flight, where we will explore the latest top trends, technologies, and beyond. Panelists include Mark Lewis, AJ Piplica, Eric Stern, and Joe Jewell.

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Senescence: An Emerging Industry Webinar

Join us for an exciting webinar on senescence, where we will explore the latest top trends, technologies, and beyond. Panelists include Angele Maki, Marco Quarta, and Paul D. Robbins.

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Ocean Technology Webinar

Join us for an exciting webinar on ocean technology, where we will explore the latest top trends, technologies, and beyond. Panelists include Tom Goreau, Bren Smith, and Marc Collins Chen.

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Synthetic Biology Webinar

Join us for an exciting webinar on synthetic biology, where we will explore the latest top trends, technologies, and beyond. Panelists include Michael Clay, Rob Carlson, and Todd Peterson.

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Scaling Production Webinar

Join us for an exciting webinar on scaling production, where we will explore the latest top trends, technologies, and beyond. Panelists include Michael Landry, Russell Varone, Christina Yi, and Ben Silverman.

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Earth Observation & Remote Sensing Webinar

Join us for an exciting webinar on earth observation & remote sensing, where we will explore the latest top trends, technologies, and beyond. Panelists include Scott Larson, Vince Deno, and Adam Maher.

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Autonomous Vehicles Webinar

Join us for an exciting webinar on autonomous vehicles, where we will explore the latest top trends, technologies, and beyond. Panelists include Nathan Mintz, Antonio Priore, and Kevin Peterson.

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Decoding Sleep Webinar

Join us for an exciting webinar on Decoding Sleep, where we will explore the latest science in sleep and hear about applications in the military and beyond. Panelists include Keith Murphy, Tracy Jill Doty, and Giulio Tononi.

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Living Therapeutics Webinar

Learn about the top trends and technologies in living therapeutics. Panelists include Yug Varma, CEO at Phi Therapeutics, Ken Nogami, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Metcela, and Larry Weiss, Founder and CSO at Symbiome.

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Quantum Computing Webinar

Learn about the top trends and technologies in quantum computing. Panelists include Tatjana Curcic, Program Manager at Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Jonathan King, Co-founder of Atom Computing, and Jan Goetz, CEO & Co-Founder of IQM Quantum Computers.

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Automated Warehousing Webinar

Learn about the top trends and technologies in automated warehousing. Hosted by Prime Movers Lab partners Suzanne Fletcher and Dan Slomski and features panelists Matt Rendall, CEO and Co-founder of Clearpath Robotics and Otto Motors, Justin Young, Investment Manager at Prologis Ventures, and Sam Lurye, CEO and Co-founder of Kargo.

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Psychedelics Webinar

Learn about the top trends and technologies in psychedelics. Panelists include Cosmo Feilding-Mellen, CEO at Beckley Psytech, Rob Berman, MD, Adjunct Prof. of Psychiatry at Yale Medicine, CMO at Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals, and Jonathan Sporn, MD, CEO at Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals. Asst. Prof. of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University.

Thought Papers

Fuel Cells

Currently there is a fairly sharp line between the worlds of electric power and the hydrocarbon fuels (oil and gas) we use for transportation and industrial heat. Hydrogen doesn’t play a big role in providing electricity or as a transportation fuel at the moment, but its role is set to expand, especially in Europe. Looking ahead, hydrogen could provide a solution for both sides of our energy needs: as a flexible form of energy storage to support the electric grid, and as a transportation fuel.

Thought Papers

Nuclear Fusion

While nuclear fission (what we refer to as nuclear power today) is a carbon-free source of baseload power that is well established, there are several reasons that fusion would be even better. The fuel used by nuclear fission plants, Uranium-235, can be enriched to make bombs, leading to nuclear weapons proliferation concerns. Traditional nuclear plants also generate some radioactive waste, and there is the low probability of an accident leading to release.

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Breakthrough Science Conference – Founder Panel

Speakers: Blake Scholl | Founder & CEO at Boom Supersonic, Greg Wyler | Founder & Chairman at OneWeb, Maureen Hillenmeyer | Founder & CEO at Hexagon Bio, and Bill Gross | Founder & CEO at Heliogen, Founder & Chairman at Idealab Studio

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Breakthrough Science Conference – Investor Panel

Speakers: Shaun Maguire | Partner at Sequoia Capital, Maryanna Saenko | Co-founder & Partner at Future Ventures, Eric Migicovsky | Partner at Y Combinator, Founder at Pebble Technology, and Ian Rountree | Founder & General Partner at Cantos Ventures

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Breakthrough Science Conference – Peter Diamandis Keynote

Keynote Speaker: Peter Diamandis | Founder & Executive Chairman at XPRIZE, Co-founder & Executive Chairman at Singularity University, and Co-founder & Vice Chairman at COVAXX

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Cell-Based Meat Webinar

Learn about the top trends and technologies in cell-based meat. Hosted by Prime Movers Lab partners Anton Brevde and Caleb Bell, and features Brian Spears, CEO and founder of New Age Meats, Niya Gupta, CEO and founder of Fork & Goode, and Ryan Bethencourt, CEO and founder at Wild Earth.

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Large-Scale Energy Storage Webinar

Learn about the top trends and technologies in large-scale energy storage. Hosted by Prime Movers Lab partners Anton Brevde and Dan Slomski, and features Stephen Harper, economist and the 22nd prime minister of Canada, Ramez Naam, award winning author and professor and co-chair for Energy and Environment at Singularity University, and Rob Piconi, co-founder and CEO of Energy Vault.

Thought Papers

Automation of Essential Services

In this overview, we discussed why we need more fully automated systems to make our supply chains more robust in the face of labor disruptions; and we outlined some of the concepts that will be helpful for exploring automation across various sectors; the present and future role of automation in our labs and hospitals, along with some insights I have gained from working in this field as a systems engineer and hardware designer.

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Precision Agriculture Webinar

Learn about the top trends and technologies in precision agriculture. Hosted by Prime Movers Lab partners Suzanne Fletcher and Dan Slomski, and features the following founders and industry experts: Michael Norcia, CEO and co-founder of Pyka, Shely Aronov, CEO and co-founder of InnerPlant, and Kyle Cobb, CFO and co-founder of advanced.farm.

Thought Papers

Agricultural Automation and Food Processing

The advent of agriculture in ancient times may have been the fundamental enabler for all known civilizations to flourish. And ready access to food remains a cornerstone to society even today. We all need to eat, and there are more of us every day. Advances in farming technology have been enabling increased crop yields since time immemorial; and nowhere is this more visible than in the last hundred years with the widespread adoption and expansion of agricultural automation.

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Portable Battery Webinar

Learn about the top trends and technologies in the portable battery industry. Hosted by Prime Movers Lab partners Anton Brevde and Dan Slomski. Panelists include Richard Wang, Founder and CEO of Cuberg, James Kaschmitter, Founder and CEO of SpectraPower, and Christine Ho, Founder and CEO of Imprint Energy.

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Fusion Webinar

Learn about the top trends and technologies in nuclear fusion. Hosted by Prime Movers Lab partners Dakin Sloss and Carly Anderson. Panelists include Michael Delage, CTO at General Fusion, Malcolm Handley, Former Managing Partner at Strong Atomics, Mary Woollen, Energy and Risk Management Consultant, and Bob Mumgaard, CEO at Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

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Space Webinar

Learn about the top trends and technologies in the space industry. Hosted by Prime Movers Lab partners Anton Brevde and Dan Slomski. Panelists include Col. Chris Hadfield, Former Astronaut & Commander of the ISS, Mikhail Kokorich, CEO of Momentus, and Bulent Altan, CEO of Mynaric and Former VP of Avionics at SpaceX.

Thought Papers

Graphene and Carbon NanoTubes

In this overview, we introduce graphene and other advanced forms of carbon, describing what is amazing about this material and also what is holding it back in the marketplace. We also discuss how graphene is made today, and the companies that are incorporating it into the products of tomorrow.

Blog

Founders Are Our Customers: How We Serve Prime Movers

Although most investors tout a founder-friendly approach, few follow through on this lofty ambition. This post explains how we at Prime Movers Lab partner with Prime Movers, the creators of breakthrough scientific inventions, to commercialize their technologies and transform billions of lives. Most importantly, we view and treat the founders of our current and potential portfolio companies as customers.

Blog

Breakthrough Scientific Startups: Energy, Transportation, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Human Augmentation, and Computing

An overview of the most promising areas (transportation, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation, and computing) to find breakthrough scientific startups and some theses we at Prime Movers Lab anticipate driving value creation in the coming years of inventing the future.

Thought Papers

Carbon Capture

In this overview, we discuss the conditions that would make carbon capture economically attractive, the status and cost of carbon capture technologies today, and how they are likely to progress. Irrespective of one’s political views, there is likely a substantial investment opportunity in the area of carbon capture.

Webinar

Microbiome Webinar

Learn about the top trends and technologies in the microbiome industry. Hosted by Prime Movers Lab partners Carly Anderson and Gabrielle Sloss. The webinar features the following founders and industry experts: Jason Green, CEO and co-founder of Upward Farms, Dan Tomso, Chief Business Officer at AgBiome, and Stephane Culler, CEO and co-founder of Persephone Biosciences.

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Carbon Capture Webinar

Learn about the top trends and technologies in the carbon capture industry. Hosted by Prime Movers Lab partners Suzanne Fletcher and Carly Anderson. Panelists include: Bill Gross, Founder of Idealab and portfolio companies Heliogen, Carbon Capture, and Flowing Energy, Professor Volker Sick: Director at Global CO₂ Initiative, and Matt Lucas, Managing Director of BD at New Energy Risk.

Thought Papers

Lithium Batteries

There is an ever-growing need for portable energy storage solutions ranging from cell-phone batteries to electric vehicle batteries, and from microbatteries for tiny disposable sensors to lightweight powerpacks for flying cars. This is an overview of the current state of the lithium battery industry. We explore the future of portable battery technology, and how to evaluate new battery technologies for applications ranging from electric aviation, autonomous vehicles, medical implants, to portable electronics.

Blog

Breakthrough Scientific Startups: Inventing the Future

Software has already eaten the world. Now, the opportunity to invent the future is in the hands of breakthrough scientific startups that are commercializing inventions that can transform billions of lives.