It doesn’t happen often but every now and then a tech story comes along that looks like it just might survive the tech bubble and create a real business that makes real money.
One such story at least at face value is ASX listed Weebit Nano that was back door listed by Perth connections into Radar Iron earlier this year and is now headquartered in Nedlands.
The company appears to be in the right business at the right time having invented a “next generation”, highly disruptive style of computer memory storage that Weebit says is 1000 times faster than existing “flash” memory and consumes 1000 times less power.
Flash memory is typically used in devices that need to store memory after the power has been turned off and can be found in mobile phones, laptops, usb thumb drives and a raft of other devices. It is also well utilized in cloud style data centres that are popping up everywhere around the world.
It seems slightly incredible that a mobile phone could become 1000 times faster and use 1000 times less memory power by using Weebit’s silicone oxide based memory storage device, but in this age of technological advancement it appears that nothing is off the table.
Weebit’s memory storage device uses resistive random access memory or “Re-RAM” and was originally incubated at Rice University in Houston Texas.
There is now a general industry expectation that re-ram will overtake flash memory as the memory device of choice for device manufacturers by the year 2018.
Whilst other companies have differing forms of re-ram technology, Weebit’s version stands apart because it is made using silicone oxide, the element of choice for most semi-conductor manufacturers.
Other Re-Ram players are forced to use exotic and expensive elements such as Cerium, Manganese or Calcium, all of which are rarely used in the semi-conductor manufacturing industry.
The key to Weebit’s technology is that semi-conductor manufacturers will not have to re-tool their production lines in order to move away from flash memory in favour of Weebit’s Re-RAM because they are already geared up to manufacture using silicone.
Silicone is the principal element in Weebit’s memory storage device.
This week Weebit announced a major collaboration agreement with Leti, a leading French microelectronics research institute with connections to the French Government.
The two partners will develop silicone oxide Re-RAM memory using Weebit’s technology that is scalable to 40 nanometres in order to convince any part of the $35b a year worldwide flash memory market to convert to Re-RAM without the need to re-tool.
The collaboration with Leti, is seen as the first step in the commercialization process for Weebit and Leti is no slouch either.
In fact Leti is a global powerhouse in the innovation and technology space. They already own 2800 patents and have 40% of them under license.
They boast some 1800 researchers, 250 PHD’s, 350 industrial partners and they have already catapulted 54 start-ups into commercial reality.
Commercializing Weebit’s technology should be a walk in the park for them.
By Matt Birney
