About Us

Harris & Harris Group, Inc.^® is an active investor committed to working side-by-side with the management of its portfolio companies to surmount the many challenges they confront. We assist our portfolio companies in attacking general strategic and operational problems, as well as assisting them with business and intellectual property strategy, executive recruiting, fundraising, preparing for compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and building collaborations with strategic partners.

We believe in the classical early stage venture capital model and disciplines. We think that most technology-based start-ups can use all the help they can get from the diversified experiences, network of contacts, complimentary business networks, technical expertise, up-to-date customer connections and financial resources that a syndicate of professional venture capital investors can provide.

We are looking for scientific, technological, business and execution excellence. Proprietary, well-protected and highly differentiated technology is a prerequisite. However, we are eager to invest in companies with market-centric strategies that seek to define and dominate large product categories. But above all, we back passionate entrepreneurs who want to change the world with their nanotechnology-enabled products.

HISTORY

Harris & Harris Group has been investing in companies with proprietary technology since 1983. For most of our history, we were a very small firm that invested in and helped develop early stage businesses, particularly ones founded on proprietary intellectual property.

Prior to 2002, we did not specialize in any particular industry vertical. Often, in our early days, we were the founding investor in our portfolio companies. In a given year, we might invest in only one or two new companies. From 1983 through the present, our financial successes include NanoGram Devices, Nanophase Technologies, Genomica, NeuroMetrix, SciQuest, Ag Services of America, Molten Metal Technology, Re Capital Corporation, Capital Trust Company, Magellan Health Services, Alliance Pharmaceutical, NBX Corporation, Princeton Video Image and PHZ Capital Partners. Nine of these completed public offerings, the rest were acquired.

We first became interested in nanotechnology in 1994, when we invested in Nanophase, which subsequently went public in 1997. By early 2002, we were convinced that nanotechnology had matured sufficiently to provide us with a robust deal flow for the indefinite future. We began to focus exclusively on nanotechnology and microsystems. We began recruiting professionals for our Company with the requisite specialized backgrounds to capitalize on an emerging set of investment opportunities based upon the novel properties of matter at the nanoscale, as well as on related technologies.

OUR APPROACH

In addition to our general experience in venture capital, we have specific scientific, business, financial, intellectual property and start-up experience that benefits our portfolio companies and co-investors.

1.)    Nanotechnology Ecosystem

Our portfolio now consists of over 30 companies focused exclusively on nanotechnology innovations. As an active investor, we maintain close relations with the management teams of our companies, thus learning about emerging technology and market trends as well as key industry developments and pain points. Our knowledge of where to find needed technical, manufacturing and intellectual property for our portfolio companies is one of our competitive advantages. We readily share Harris & Harris Group's network of contacts with our portfolio companies, helping them identify and recruit executives, engineering talent and experienced independent boards of directors.

The five members of our deal team have between us three Ph.D. degrees with specific training in nanotechnology, two M.B.A. degrees and one master's degree in economics. We have specific technical expertise in intellectual property, as well as scientific expertise in materials science, solid-state physics, physical chemistry and biochemical engineering. We also have first-hand experience in implementing, and compliance with, Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

2.)    Syndication Partners

Harris & Harris Group has co-invested with many venture capital as well as strategic (corporate) investors. For example, we have co-invested with:

VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTORS

STRATEGIC INVESTORS:

3.)    Intellectual Property Expertise

Most of our portfolio companies have their roots in universities and government research labs. We have helped spin out companies from Harvard, MIT and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and supported spin-offs from UC Berkeley, Princeton, UCLA, UCSB, UT Austin, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, etc. Our team members have prior work experience in technology commercialization offices, and we actively assist our portfolio companies with negotiations of favorable licensing agreements.

4.)    Relationships with Global 2000 Companies

Remaining focused in making tiny technology investments, we have worked with major chemical, electronics and semiconductor companies. Our active Rolodex includes Dow Chemical, DuPont, AirProducts, Rohm & Haas, ATMI, Sumitomo Chemical, Mitsui Chemical, BASF, Degussa, Eastman Chemical, Eastman Kodak and Bayer Specialty Materials. We have made introductions for our portfolio companies to a wide range of industrial and semiconductor companies, including Intel, IBM, Micron, Samsung, Hitachi, Toshiba, NEC, NTT, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, SANYO, Motorola, Raytheon, Honeywell, Boeing, International Rectifier, Cabot, Cargill, ChevronTexaco, BMW, Infineon, KLA-Tencor, Tokyo Electron and ASML.