Two of our early stage ventures have achieved in the past weeks major milestones in moving from a technology development to product shipments. Liquavista started to produce larger quantities of its unique low power reflective displays while Greenpeak has successfully completed the final tape out process of its ultra low power radio chips for sensor networks. These steps enable the companies to further engage with potential customers, fix roadmaps and commercialise their unique technology. Both companies have built demos which have proven what their respective technologies are capable of. These demos are essential in getting real customer demand, also industrial parties want a certain degree of “proof of the pudding” to partner instead of only design sheets . At Liquavista, the demos of the reflective displays working on video convinced several players from the watch, handset and other mobile devices that this was a technology development to get closer to. Similarly, the battery free wireless switching and remote control demos of Greenpeak convinced leading industry players to partner with the company before final products were available.
During the technology and product development, high tech start ups are by nature internally focused. Besides the “Proof of the pudding” effect, it is very important to keep already in this early phase also in contact with the market to make sure the technology is developed for the right application and spec sets. In addition, it is important to test which parties are interested to be the early adopters/customers, often also opening their own supply chain partners to cooperate with the start up.
Elderd
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