pureNANO Technologies will be ‘the Intel of nanotechnology,’ power flat-screens and solar panels of future: CEO Lev Davidson

pureNANO leaders: CEO Lev Davidson and Eric Borguet

If you want to talk about the Philadelphia region’s distinction for startups, it lies in the slice of life sciences called nanotechnology, says Lev Davidson.

Davidson is the CEO and co-founder of pureNANO Technologies, which produces proprietary, ultra-pure carbon nanotubes said to be some 50,000 times narrower than a human hair and 100 times stronger than steel.

How do you make money on really tiny tubes?: by producing “the world’s most energy efficient flat-panel displays, high-performance flexible thin-film solar cells and advanced mobile water filtration systems,” boasts the company’s promotional materials.

“pureNANO will be the Intel of nanotechnology by providing the material that will enable technologies which will fundamentally disrupt innumerable industries,” said Davidson, 28, who lives in Center City and grew up in Lafayette Hill, Montgomery County. “We will do for nanotech what the Intels of the world did for computing.”

To start, in May, the company took top honors and $125,000 in cash, prizes and services at Temple University’s Fox School of Business 13th annual Be Your Own Boss Bowl. With co-founder, chief scientist and Dublin-native Eric Borguet, 48, pureNANO was also a standout in the last GoodCompany Ventures incubation class.

That’s a good start but not yet the global disruption that Davidson is seeking. So what’s next?

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Tech Transfer: Why It Matters and How Philly’s Making It Better

As we approach our nation’s birthday this weekend, let’s give a nod to another Philadelphia first: The University City Science Center. It’s the nation’s oldest and largest urban business incubator, providing physical space, resources and funding to help startup companies and university researchers commercialize new technologies. With 31 university partners across the region, the Science Center is no stranger to technology transfer, the process that allows university research to be commercialized for greater public benefit.

It’s also at the center of a national debate over whether tech transfer encourages or hampers the creation of tech startups.

Read more at Philly Mag’s Philly Post.