Influent | Technology in Motion

Like many start-ups, Influent is in the process of raising its next round of funding. The current economic crisis has created one of the toughest environments ever for start-up companies to obtain the funding critical to enable growth. According to Rebecca Buckman of Forbes.com, a prominent Silicon Valley investor stated that VCs “have been living off fumes for a long time now”. Returns and morale are low.

To compensate, VCs are demanding higher standards of diligence and taking advantage of market conditions to drive better terms, creating much lower pre-money valuations for start-ups. This ‘tightening of the belt’ only works to a certain degree. It’s once again time for VCs to embody their prospecting name, to make high risk/high reward investments. ‘Safe’ investments won’t always transform the marketplace or offer the high returns that are necessary to build VC funds. The current state of the economy might be abysmal, but this environment has the potential to drive VCs to invest in unlikely start-ups. Perhaps the next Google or Cisco will emerge.

Despite the economic downturn, there are VCs across the country participating in forums to find the next it company. Take Early Stage East for example, a conference held in Baltimore, MD to match start-ups with VC investors. The video conference coverage by Forbes.com, details the useful connections and feedback that entrepreneurs receive as conference attendees.

Some tips from VCs for pitching a company – branding is key, make outside references and resist that overwhelming temptation to overcrowd your slides.

We know the advantages of liquid cooling; it can extract more heat from cooled parts, which makes it ideal for handling issues like overclocking and it is less influenced by the ambient temperature. Liquid cooling is not limited to one component, so it can cool the CPU, GPU and other components simultaneously while creating relatively no noise.

Fujitsu’s LifeBook N7010

The appeal of liquid cooling has some OEMs working diligently to create a water cooling system that can fit into today’s average height profile, .7-1.5 inches. It seems the closest that anyone has come thus far is the Fujitsu LifeBook N7010. The laptop, which was reviewed by Engadget on Dec.15, didn’t exactly receive extensive praise. According to Thomas Ricker of Engadget, the laptop is full of compromises including its size, nearly 2 inches thick and 7 and half pounds in weight. The computer has only one hour of promised battery life. On the flip side it is packed with features like a digital television turner, 1.3 megapixel webcam, fingerprint scanning security, 4GB of memory, a 4-inch LCD touch screen along with other bells and whistles. Don’t expect to get your hands on a LifeBook N7010 if you live in the US, Fujitsu is only distributing this liquid cooled laptop within Japan.

Strides are being made to create a viable liquid laptop solution, but there is still no liquid pump on the market that can fit into an average laptop profile. The quest continues.

Though the price of oil has drastically declined over the past several months, the development of long term alternatives to gas powered vehicles is still in high gear. Electric vehicle (EV) companies are racing to take the market and promote the unique features of their products, but there are still some bumps in the road.

The development of EVs means that component level issues, such as the ability to cool car ‘hot spots’ must be integrated into the build. The power system for an electric vehicle (EV) consists of a motor controller, motor and energy source (e.g., battery). According to the CEO of an EV system company, these components all have huge issues with heat. These issues must be dealt with via a thermal management solution for EVs to truly become a viable option.

Joule

Despite this inhibitor, there are several EV companies that are preparing their products for launch. For example, Optimal Energy, a South African based EV company is débuting the Joule for purchase in the U.S. and Europe in 2010. Their competitive edge — ultimate customization for the greenest of consumers. According to VentureBeat, the electric Joule, an innately eco-friendly car comes with the option to integrate solar panels on the roof to help charge the car. The car is to have a range of almost 250 miles and top speed of about 80 miles per hour. The Joule is projected to cost $22,000 USD.

EV companies are highlighting unique and beneficial features to differentiate themselves from the competition, but an ideal thermal management solution could enhance the appeal of owning an EV. The range per charge could be extended even further, one of the top concerns coming from today’s potential consumer.