Nano to Giga: When small becomes big

By Karishma Jasani and Anne Ware, Kennedys

There are currently over 1,000 consumer nanotechnology products available on the global market and the number is only going to increase. The most conservative forecasts predict that the total global revenue for nanotechnologies will grow from around $2 billion in 2007 to $81 billion in 2015 (see Nanomaterials and Markets 2008-2015, Nanopost, quoted in Nanoscale Technologies Strategy 2009-12, Technology Strategy Board, September 2009). The UK is ranked third in the world (after the USA and Germany) in terms of the number of operating nanotechnology companies.