TINY's Big Potential

On Thursday, Nanomix Inc., a leading nanotechnology company specializing in the commercialization of industrial and biomedical detection devices, announced that its new hydrogen detection device was available for delivery.

This is good news for Rule Breaker recommendation Harris & Harris (Nasdaq: TINY), which is an investor in Nanomix, and bolsters the claim that Carl Wherrett and John Yelovich made in their article yesterday that the company's stock may warrant a higher premium because "we are at the dawn of nanotech commercialization."

Nanomix's announcement supports this theory. While the market for hydrogen-specific sensors may be limited, the overall market for gas and chemical sensors is estimated to be in the billions of dollars. Nanomix's technology -- which is one of the first to harness the features of nanoelectronics -- has the potential to find a number of applications in this area because it is ultra-sensitive, uses minuscule amounts of power, and is easy to deploy.

More promising still is the notion that Nanomix's products could gain entry into other lucrative markets, including the medical field and chemical and biological detection applications.

In a separate and unrelated announcement yesterday, NanoOpto -- another promising nanotechnology company in which TINY has taken an equity stake -- revealed that it had added an additional $2.5 million to bring its already oversubscribed C-round financing total to $46 million.

The financing itself does not add anything to TINY's net asset value. It does, however, suggest that NanoOpto -- which uses nanofabrication technology to produce a variety of unique optical components for both consumer electronics and communication devices -- will have the resources to bring its products to the commercial marketplace in the next few years.

The Nanomix and NanoOpto developments, when combined with TINY's investments in potential nanotech stars like Nanosys, Nantero, and Molecular Imprints, offer investors another reason to seriously consider an investment in Harris & Harris.

I previously owned shares in Harris & Harris and sold early last year in the neighborhood of $16 because I didn't see a lot of commercial opportunities on the near-term horizon coming out of its portfolio companies. Given developments like the one with Nanomix and a stock price hovering below $11, I am seriously contemplating a new purchase (but, of course, not until the Fool trading guidelines' 10-day window is up).

In Motley Fool Rule Breakers , we're following the exciting field of nanotechnology. Want to see what's next? Sign up for a free, no-obligation trial today.

Fool contributor Jack Uldrich has been thinking small since grade school. He is the author of The Next Big Thing Is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He does not currently own shares in TINY.