Partner search
Graphene-based materials for use in various forms of heater applications
Client overview
Established electronic device manufacturer for the consumer market looking to improve the performance of their heaters by enabling rapid heat up and even heat distribution. Graphene was a material they believed could accommodate this, being a material that is being heavily investigated in multiple industries due to its excellent physical properties. The client was keen to identify organisations that could provide prototypes of graphene heaters that they could then test in their application using a third party partner.
The search
Strategic Allies Ltd (SAL) initiated a 3-month search to identify partners who could develop suitable graphene-based materials for use as heaters in consumer devices. The partners had to have experience integrating high-quality graphene into more downstream applications that the client could then test, with a particular interest in those that had experience with 3D porous substrate materials and flexible films/sheets.
SAL undertook interviews with companies and research organisations from all over the world, including those who were solely focused on graphene production, those who worked with other carbon-based nanomaterials and selected the most appropriate raw material according to application, and companies with a strong development and prototyping capability.
SAL worked with the client to filter companies against specific commercial and technical capabilities.
“…exactly what we’re after…”
Outcome
16 companies were shortlisted for presentation to the client – SAL provided a detailed overview of the organisation’s capabilities and supporting literature.
The client expressed an interest to progress conversations with 14 and put NDAs in place with 5, conducting further discussions with 2 companies before asking their 3rd party development partner to engage directly on their behalf with the remainder of the companies to accelerate the development process