Nanolumi

Viewing colours in all their brightness and glory

What if the product in your hands could prove itself? Not just with a QR code or serial number, but through invisible luminescent markers woven into the material itself. Be it fuel, plastic or label — scan it, and the truth glows back.

This is the kind of trust Nanolumi is building into the world. Its origins are rooted in curiosity. The company was founded in 2018 to commercialise technologies exclusively licensed from the NUS Department of Chemistry, where early research into perovskite quantum dot materials and optical systems had quietly been pushing the boundaries of what light and matter could do together.

But Nanolumi has never stood still. What began as a focus on display and optical materials has grown into something broader: an innovation engine that solves problems wherever luminescence can make a difference. Anti-counterfeiting. Fuel Integrity. Bio-imaging. Each application is a new answer to the same underlying question — can a material tell the truth?

Jax and his co-founder Tan Zhi Kuang had their entrepreneurial sparks ignited while on the NUS Overseas Colleges Programme, where they interned at tech start-ups in Silicon Valley in 2007 and 2008. They were also part of the Lean Launchpad Programme, where their team validated perovskite quantum dot technology before licensing it from NUS for Nanolumi.

"Our team's deep knowledge in advanced luminescent materials has enabled us to overcome key barriers in translating scientific research into commercially deployable technologies," says Jax.

In addition to developing its own proprietary products, Nanolumi also leverages upon its multi-disciplinary, cross-functional knowledge in nanomaterials, optics, polymer chemistry and coating engineering to coach and collaborate with aspiring advanced materials scientists and entrepreneurs on their innovation journey. In doing so, Nanolumi supports the advance materials community in product development and commercialisation of their technologies so they too can make a difference through their work.

“Material innovation is our core competency.” says Jax. "By combining material science with efficient deployment systems, we aim to develop technologies that strengthen trust, security and transparency across global industries.”

In a world where what something is can be hard to prove, Nanolumi is making the invisible visible — and building a future where authenticity isn't just claimed, but proven.