Most aspects of the project proceeded according to schedule during the first year of activity. A project this complex requires careful planning and design work, and thus a great deal of the early efforts were devoted to hiring staff and completing basic planning and design tasks. During the first year of this project, we closely monitored and amended the project risk register, and while the project has experienced some mild to moderate delays, these were largely anticipated in the register, and mitigation strategies were deployed when possible.
The second year of the project brought serious challenges that ultimately required a complete restructuring of the project. Firstly, we determined that our commercialization plan, developed several years ago, was no longer viable, and that in order to launch a successful product, we would need to greatly increase the capabilities of the chip we were planning to manufacture and sell. The original plan called for 3 generations of chip: Chip 0, Chip 1 and Chip 2, each with increasing numbers of features. The plan was that we would complete Chip 1 by the end of the project (November 31st, 2020) and that this would be our first product. Chip 2 would then be a second-generation product financed by additional fundraising. However, ongoing work on our commercialization strategy led us to understand that in fact this mid-range Chip 1 would not meet the specifications required for a minimum viable product in an intensely dynamic and competitive field. During this time, progress with Chip 0 was excellent, and we were able to validate the design and send it out for manufacturing with our CMOS manufacturing partner. Additional delays were incurred, however, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as critical microfabrication facilities were shut down for extended periods of time, preventing critical outsourced tasks to be completed on schedule. Fortunately, we were able to use this time to advance our Chip 2 design efforts, and we ultimately adapted a strategy to jump directly from Chip 0 to Chip 2. In October 2020 we applied for, and were granted, a 1-year extension of the project. The new plan will enable us to launch a product with improved capabilities shortly after the completion of the project in November 2021.
