| | MAR - APR 2021 8OPINIONIN MYBy Niklas Hebborn, Junior Partner, Freigeist CapitalTHE NEXT WAVE OF TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGHS IS AHEAD OF USAs an early stage deep tech investor, our focus at Freigeist lies on disruptions that haven't happened just yet, but that can be anticipated if you keep an eye on technological developments. The changes we've seen in our society since the advent of microchips, data storage, the internet, and smartphones are tremendous. The way we communicate with others, the way we consume, the way we shop, the way we navigate, the way we access knowledge - a few key technological developments have had a far-reaching impact on our everyday lives.Now, there's a second wave of technological breakthroughs about to happenWe like to call this the 10xera 1.0. But as of right now, we're entering the 10xera 2.0 - with technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D-Printing, synthetic biology, 5G, IoT, and Edge Computing evolving exponentially, the second wave of technological disruption will be much bigger than what we've ever seen before. The difference is that this time, since we're already globally-connected, technological breakthroughs will roll out much faster and be available anywhere within no time. Another factor to take into account is the disruptive power of the technologies mentioned above. Each one of them on its own has the potential to turn entire industries upside down as well as let completely new industries emerge. But thanks to their digital origin, all of these technologies can be combined to create even bigger innovations. Our world might look completely different in 20 yearsLet's take 3D-printing and AI as an example. 3D-printing allows us to combine materials that we haven't been able to combine before, make alterations easily with no additional costs and almost no delay by simply changing the software (instead of having to change the entire production line), and create shapes and patterns that would be impossible to create using existing manufacturing processes. This alone could potentially change the entire manufacturing industry, as supply chains will sooner or later become obsolete since we will be able to print any desired part as we need it, where we need it. Combined with artificial intelligence, this could lead to a world that looks much different from the one we know today. Smart algorithms will analyze exactly what features a certain product should have and how they are best achieved, and they might come to the conclusion that we haven't been building everyday items the most efficient way possible.
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