SYRACUSE — The 10 semi-finalists for this year’s Creative Core Emerging Business Competition include startups working on everything from biorefinery technology to biometrics.
The Central Upstate Regional Alliance announced the semi-finalists today. The competition seeks to honor the most innovative, growth-oriented company in the region.
The winner of the contest’s $200,000 grant prize will be announced April 4 at the CenterState CEO annual meeting. The competition also includes a $15,000 prize for innovations in agribusiness and a $5,000 prize for the best student business idea.
M&T Bank and the New York Business Development Corp. are the contest’s title sponsors.
“This year’s semi-finalists exhibit the strength and depth of entrepreneurial spirit that is defining innovation in our region,” M&T Syracuse Division Regional President Allen Naples said in a news release. “The judges next face the difficult task of choosing one winner from this impressive field of candidates.”
The top 10 companies were chosen from a field of 96 candidates. Finalists will pitch their companies to a panel of judges March 26.
Two of this year’s semi-finalist companies previously competed for the competition’s top prize, including MicroGen, which has been a finalist in two previous years of the competition.
This year’s semi-finalists are:
-Applied Biorefinery Sciences, which is developing biorefinery technologies to turn plant biomass into carbon-neutral, biodegradable products and fuels.
-Cortland Research, which has developed technology that allows consumers to see how much power their appliances are using in real time and control them when they’re not being used efficiently.
-Georeader, which offers a smartphone app that plays short audio messages about historical markers as users drive by.
-ImproviSoft provides software products and services to the mobile device industry. The company is working to establish an advertising business around its AdStreamer Software Development Kit.
-MyMuzik, which is launching a digital music stand designed to eliminate sheet music for groups and individual performers.
-MicroGen’s technology harvests the energy created by vibrations for use in a variety of applications. The company is developing a line of micro-power sources to extend rechargeable battery lifetimes.
-NexID develops and licenses software to allow fingerprint-scanning technologies to more accurately authenticate scanned images.
-NOHMS is a supplier of advanced lithium ion battery materials and components. The products allow for improved battery performance at a lower cost.
-Seraph Robotics uses a robotic arm to create instant models or prototypes.
-Technology Life Cycle Solutions provides Web-based lease management software that allows companies to manage their entire portfolio and access information anywhere through a secure Internet connection.
Past winners of the competition include Sound Reading Solutions, Widetronix, e2e Materials, and Mezmeriz, all based in Ithaca.
The winner of the 2011 competition, BrandYourself.com of Syracuse, is a sponsor for 2012. The firm provides a Web-based tool that allows users to manage their search results.
Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com