Bao Group @Stanford

What Bao Group @Stanford does

Bao Group @Stanford is an academic research laboratory within Stanford University's Department of Chemical Engineering, led by Professor Zhenan Bao (K.K. Lee Professor and department chair) and founded in 2004. The group operates as a multidisciplinary team of chemical engineers, chemists, materials scientists, physicists, and electrical engineers, developing flexible and stretchable materials, electronics, and energy devices inspired by human skin.

The lab's core technology stack centers on organic materials, polymers, and nanomaterials engineered to mimic the mechanical and sensory properties of biological tissue. Its portfolio includes multi-layer self-healing electronic skin, NeuroString graphene-based soft implantable probes for dopamine and serotonin monitoring, wireless smart bandages with biosensors and electrical stimulation, biodegradable battery-free blood flow sensors, all-polymer stretchable light-emitting displays, a spray-on silver-gold nanowire mesh with meta-learning AI for gesture recognition, and the SAFE solvent-anchored non-flammable electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries. Research outputs are disseminated primarily through peer-reviewed publications in Nature, Science, Matter, and Nature Nanotechnology, alongside earned media coverage in Stanford News, Reuters, and science outlets.

Bao Group is funded through research grants from agencies including NSF, DOE, and NIH, plus Stanford institutional support and foundation funding. It has no commercial product revenue or disclosed pricing model; its go-to-market is event-driven and community-led, relying on academic dissemination, conference presentations, and technology transfer. Commercial impact is realized through Stanford's technology licensing office and spin-out companies such as PyrAmes Inc., which is developing neonatal wearable monitoring devices based on the group's wireless biosensor research. The group reports ~8 personnel in its core headcount, with additional postdocs, PhD students, master's and undergraduate students, and visiting researchers operating from the Shriram Center at 443 Via Ortega, Stanford, California.

Name

Bao Group @Stanford

Legal name

Stanford University - Bao Group

Website

https://baogroup.stanford.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bao Group @Stanford is an academic research laboratory led by Professor Zhenan Bao that develops skin-inspired flexible electronics, soft bioelectronic sensors, self-healing materials, and advanced battery electrolytes. It serves the medical device, energy storage, and wearable electronics industries via publications and spin-out commercialization.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Stanford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Research Grants: The group is funded through academic research grants from government agencies (NSF, DOE, NIH), foundations, and Stanford internal funding programs.
2. Technology Transfer / Spin-out Companies: Innovations are commercialized through spin-out companies such as PyrAmes Inc., which develops neonatal wearable monitoring devices based on Bao Group research.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Bao Group @Stanford is a multidisciplinary academic research laboratory that develops skin-inspired flexible and stretchable materials, electronics, and energy devices. It produces research outputs such as electronic skin, soft implantable NeuroString biosensors, wireless smart bandages, self-healing synthetic skin, stretchable polymer displays, spray-on AI-enabled gesture sensors, and non-flammable battery electrolytes, which it disseminates through publications and transfers to industry via licensing and spin-out companies.

Product overview

Bao Group @Stanford is a university research laboratory led by Professor Zhenan Bao, not a commercial product company. The group develops skin-inspired electronic materials and devices including electronic skin technology, BodyNet wireless monitoring tags, NeuroString brain chemical sensors, smart bandages with wound healing capabilities, self-healing synthetic skin, stretchable displays, spray-on AI-powered smart skin, and advanced battery electrolytes. These are research technologies published in scientific literature, not commercial products available for purchase.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Electronic Skin (E-Skin) Technology Skin-inspired flexible and stretchable electronic materials that sense pressure, temperature, strain, and chemicals, developed for prosthetics, wearables, and human-machine interfaces.
• BodyNet A soft, integrated, wireless tag with sensors, screens and smart devices that can be attached or implanted into the human body for health monitoring applications including intracranial pressure monitors and blood flow sensors.
• NeuroString Soft implantable probe made of graphene that monitors fluctuations in brain chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin for seamless interface with brain and gut tissue in neurological disease research.
• Smart Bandage Wireless smart bandage integrating impedance/temperature sensors, microcontroller, radio antenna, memory, electrical stimulator, and biosensors in a 100-micron-thick layer that monitors wound healing and delivers electrical stimulation demonstrated to heal serious wounds 25% faster.
• Wireless Biodegradable Blood Flow Sensor Battery-free, wireless, biodegradable sensor that uses resonant LC circuits to monitor blood flow through arteries and warn of blockages remotely, designed for post-surgical monitoring without removal.
• Self-Healing Electronic Skin Multi-layer synthetic electronic skin using PPG and PDMS polymers with dynamic hydrogen bonds that autonomously realigns and heals when cut, designed for robots and prosthetics.
• Stretchable Light-Emitting Display All-polymer light-emitting diode using SuperYellow polymer in a polyurethane elastomer matrix that can be stretched to 100% strain while preserving high brightness for multicolour flexible displays.
• Spray-On Smart Skin Sprayable electrically sensitive mesh network embedded in polyurethane with silver nanowires coated with gold, combined with meta-learning AI algorithms for rapid hand gesture and task recognition.
• SAFE Electrolyte (Solvent-Anchored non-Flammable Electrolyte) Polymer-based non-flammable electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries containing 63% salt that prevents solvent evaporation and fire risk at high temperatures while maintaining battery performance.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• PyrAmes Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2022PyrAmes Inc. is a spin-out company from the Bao Group that commercializes wearable biosensor technology for neonatal intensive care applications. The company develops devices based on research innovations including wireless monitoring capabilities for premature infants.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Blackrock Neurotech: Develops neural probes and brain-computer interface systems for clinical and research applications. Comparable to NeuroString as an implantable electrode technology targeting brain signal acquisition, with longer commercial track record but less soft-material focus.
• MC10 (now Medidata Solutions): Pioneered conformal, stretchable bioelectronic sensors for health monitoring and clinical research. Directly comparable to Bao Group's e-skin and BodyNet research in flexible electronics for physiological monitoring.
• Synchron: Develops minimally invasive neural interfaces for brain-computer communication. Closely comparable to the NeuroString platform in pursuing soft, implantable probes for brain-machine interfacing, though Synchron focuses on motor restoration rather than chemical monitoring.
• PyrAmes Inc. Spin-out from Bao Group @Stanford commercializing wearable biosensor technology for neonatal intensive care applications. Most directly comparable as the lab's own commercial vehicle, translating the group's wireless monitoring and flexible electronics research into a regulated medical device.

Broad incumbents

• Smith+Nephew: Global medical device company with a major advanced wound management division. Comparable commercial target for the smart bandage platform given its established wound-care distribution channels and 25%-faster-healing performance claim.
• Integra LifeSciences: Established medical device company with a significant wound healing and regenerative tissue portfolio. Broad incumbent relevant to the smart bandage technology, representing a likely acquisition or licensing target for commercializing Bao Group's wound-care IP.
• Neuralink: High-profile brain-computer interface company developing implantable neural devices. Broad incumbent in the same neural-interface category as Bao Group's NeuroString, but with much larger capital base, in-house manufacturing, and FDA-IDE clinical trials underway.

Emerging players

• Paradromics: Emerging player developing high-bandwidth neural interfaces for medical and research applications. Comparable technology overlap with NeuroString in implantable neural probes, though at a different stage and with a narrower chemistry-monitoring focus from the Bao Group side.
• QuantumScape: Develops solid-state lithium-metal batteries targeting EV and consumer electronics applications. Emerging player with adjacent battery-technology innovation focus, comparable to Bao Group's efforts to address lithium-ion safety and energy density limitations.
• Sila Nanotechnologies: Develops silicon-anode battery materials for next-generation lithium-ion cells. Comparable emerging player in adjacent battery-materials innovation, relevant to the SAFE flameproof electrolyte technology though focused on anode chemistry rather than electrolyte safety.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/stanford
• YouTubeyoutube.com/stanford
• Facebookfacebook.com/Stanford
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bao-group-stanford
• Instagraminstagram.com/stanford

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bao Group @Stanford