CenterState CEO selects six finalists for Genius NY business competition

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Genius NY, a business-accelerator program at the Syracuse Technology Garden, on Thursday introduced six finalists that will compete for the competition’s $2.75 million in prizes.

CenterState CEO, which operates Genius NY and the Tech Garden, selected the companies from a pool of 250 submissions, the organization said in a news release. They’re developing “innovations” in the unmanned-aircraft systems (UAS) and internet of things (IoT) sectors.

CenterState CEO will announce the grand prizes at an event in March, where teams will compete by pitching their technologies to a panel of judges.

The organization will then award three grand-prize investments of $1 million, $600,000, and $400,000 during that occasion.

It’ll award the remaining runner-up teams an investment of $250,000 each.

The program’s goal is to “encourage all participants to establish roots here and continue to grow their business,” CenterState CEO said.

If any of the selected teams decide to pursue other opportunities, CenterState CEO said it will select an alternate finalist.

“The Genius NY program builds on our progress to create a global hub for UAS in our region,” Robert Simpson, president and CEO of CenterState CEO, said in the release. “We are excited to welcome these teams and their next-generation technologies to the Tech Garden and to Central New York, and we are committed to helping them grow and lead the future of the unmanned and internet of things industries in the region.”

Finalists

The finalists include Akrobotix of Syracuse, which develops “robust and stable autonomous vision-inertial navigation systems” (ROSAVINS). The firm is developing autopilot products for reliable and safe unmanned ground, aerial, and marine vehicles based on the proprietary ROSAVINS technology.

OmniMesh of Syracuse is designing a wireless-network protocol that it says is “more reliable, secure, and convenient” than current Internet routing. The OmniMesh network will “boost” drone safety and security, and “greatly expand” the feasibility of drone control and data transmission “beyond visual line of sight.”

SkyOp, which launched in Canandaigua in Ontario County, is an unmanned aerial-systems training company. It provides classes directly and through workforce-development partnerships currently at a “growing list” of 12 community colleges in four states.

The finalists also include three companies that originated outside New York.

Ascent AeroSystems, which started in Arizona, designs, manufactures, sells, and supports small unmanned-aerial vehicles. The company says it has designed a “unique” vehicle configuration that is “superior” to typical multirotors.

EZ3D, which launched in Virginia, uses “low cost” drones and allows professionals to photograph, inspect, and measure buildings without climbing a ladder or waiting for a “dated” aerial report. The work allows repair estimates, claims adjusting, and solar installation “on-demand in a fraction of the time and cost, replacing traditional methods for a billion-plus dollar market,” the company contends.

AutoModality, which started in California, is working to create autonomous mobile systems that “sense, explore, and analyze the world around us.” It’s currently focused on inspecting agriculture and infrastructure assets.

“The teams will create new opportunities for economic growth and support an emerging industry related to unmanned systems in Central New York,” Rick Clonan, VP of innovation and entrepreneurship at CenterState CEO, contended in the release.

ESD support

Empire State Development (ESD), New York’s chief economic-development agency, is providing $5 million in funding for the Genius NY program in a model similar to Buffalo’s 43North program.

It’ll invest more than $3 million in six companies over the course of the year-long competition, “making it the largest business-accelerator competition for the UAS industry in the world,” the release stated.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com