PRODUCTS
Mission Viejo’s “sustainability-driven technology company” Smart Cups has been named a special mention on Time’s 2021 list of “Best Inventions.”
“A truck that could ordinarily carry 96,000 cans of soda could carry 1.2 million Smart Cups printed with the same product—potentially cutting carbon emissions 40-fold,” Time reporter Simmone Shah wrote about Smart Cups.
Launched in 2017 by Cornell University alumnus Chris Kanik, Smart Cups says it has created “the world’s first printed beverage.”
The company’s “proprietary process” involves printing flavor materials inside of “eco-friendly bioplastic” cups to make energy drinks at home, significantly reducing the carbon footprint of transporting liquid, the company said. All the customer needs to do is add water.
While it’s starting with energy drinks, the company said its ultimate mission is to create a new standard for all environmentally conscious consumer products. It currently operates out of a 23,000-square-foot facility in Mission Viejo.
TECHNOLOGY
University of California, Irvine said on Jan. 10 that an on-campus biotech startup, Arvetas Biosciences Inc., has developed new oncology technology that can profile multiple tumors simultaneously.
Arvetas was co-founded by UC Irvine professor Weian Zhao and life sciences exec Alan Hauser in 2020.
Called the Multi Omic Single-scan Assay with Integrated Combinatorial Analysis, or MOSAICA, Arvetas’ “highly innovative” 3D tissue imaging platform can spatially profile several mRNA and protein markers in cells and tissues, including clinical tumor tissues, officials said.
“Spatial biology is a new science frontier and mapping out each cell and its function in the body at both the molecular and tissue level is fundamental to understanding disease and developing precision diagnostics and therapeutics,” Zhao said in a statement.
“Many cancer immunotherapeutics, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, don’t work … because of the spatial organization of all the tumor tissue cell types, which dictates drug efficacy. The MOSAICA can characterize the spatial cellular compositions and interactions in the tumor immune microenvironment in biopsies to inform personalized diagnosis and treatment.”
Arvetas’ research is supported by a $400,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Cancer Institute and several undisclosed grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the university said.
MathLabs Ventures, a VC firm reportedly started by Harvard and MIT mathematicians, on Jan. 10 optimistically pronounced that “commercially viable power plants” that utilize fusion energy will arrive by the mid-2030s—“20 years earlier than planned.”
The firm gave credit to Irvine upstart Kronos-Fusion Energy Algorithms LLC, which is reportedly using quantum computing to build the first fusion energy generator.
Kronos’ mission “is to reverse global warming by helping to make fusion energy commercially viable in the near future,” Chief Executive Michael Hoban said in a statement.
Research surrounding fusion energy, the recreation of the sun’s power on Earth—started about 60 years ago, but it required technological advancements that did not yet exist, including computing power, artificial intelligence, and quantum computers, the company said.
Kronos-Fusion said its breakthroughs will help design the “next generation” of fusion energy power plants that are theoretically more efficient than today’s carbon-burning power plants.
MathLabs said Kronos-Fusion’s ongoing contracts and patents put its current valuation at $530 million, though there’s been no reports of the Irvine company receiving funding or any specific contracts for its work.
FUNDING
Irvine-based NFT and blockchain gaming studio Luckmon announced last month the closing of a $600,000 pre-seed round. Investors in the round include Tapas Media CEO Chang Kim, AAX CEO Thor Chan and Primer Sazze Venture Capital Partners.
Founded in 2021, Luckmon is developing games with in-game non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
“We believe NFTs are a game changer for the gaming market and we are striving to contribute to that type of development in a positive way,” Luckmon Chief Executive David Son said.
NFTs are a “necessary path” for game development for the company, Son added.
With the funding, the company will continue the development of its two NFT titles, Unidragon and Farmmates, with Unidragon taking priority.
Unidragon presales are planned for this quarter with a soft launch in the second quarter, the company said.
Luckmon—which currently counts eight staff members—said it is also “looking to increase its staff numbers.”
PARTNERSHIPS
Irvine-based wireless 5G telecom equipment firm Movandi announced Jan. 6 a new partnership with Korean conglomerate Doosan Group to manufacture smart repeater modules, which increase the range of home security products by using Movandi’s “barrier penetrating” Beam XR technology.
Movandi, launched in 2016 by former Broadcom executives, is a 5G millimeter-wave developer focused on creating new semiconductor technology across multiple industries.
A Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022 Innovation Awards Honoree, Movandi is helping customers increase performance and [reduce] the cost of 5G deployments” in “a growing world population,” said Movandi Chief Executive and co-founder Maryam Rofougaran.
The company has raised about $67.4 million in funding to date.
Together, Movandi and Doosan will deliver BeamXR-powered platforms, including radio units, small cells and mobile devices, to global providers of 5GmmWave networks.
“Movandi’s manufacturing partnership with Doosan will accelerate our market momentum in rolling out BeamXR smart repeater technology to key 5G ecosystem players around the world who share our commitment to realizing the 5G vision with rapid, cost-effective mmWave deployments,” Rofougaran said.
Tustin-based software firm Specright Inc. reported Jan. 6 a new partnership with San Francisco technology accelerator SAP.iO to “grow partnership and integration opportunities” with System Applications and Products (SAP) software.
“Many consumer goods, retail, and industrial companies use both SAP and Specright, so the partnership is a no-brainer,” Specright’s VP of strategic partners Adam Armstrong said in a statement.
Specright, founded in 2014, is “the first purpose-built platform for Specification Management.” Whether it’s packaging, raw materials, formulas, products, or machines, Specright helps companies digitize actions across their supply chain to reduce costs, increase profitability, and drive sustainability, the company said.
In July 2021, Specright raised $30 million in Series B funding from investors led by Sageview Capital.
