Eight Teams will take AFRL Intellectual Property and Utilize it Within Their Companies; With One Team Winning $200,000 for their startup
ROME, NY — Griffiss Institute is pleased to announce the eight startup teams of the next AFRL Commercialization Academy cohort. The companies, which are developing innovations in the cyber security, big data analytics, information systems, and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry, were selected from an ambitious pool of applicant submissions.
The startup teams are:
- Counter Drone TrEx™ – Rome, NY – Counter Drone TrEx™ aims to be the training and knowledge exchange platform for counter-drone courses and related content, community, and, commerce.
- Koti – Cicero, NY – Koti is a cybersecurity company focused on protecting the smart devices that automate your home, such as your security system, smart appliances, and Wi-Fi.
- Lake of Bays Semiconductor Inc. – Buffalo, NY – Lake of Bays is using automotive sensor technology to solve collisions with wildlife, a $5 billion pain point for auto insurance companies.
- MyCloset – Utica, NY – MyCloset is an app-based company dedicated in assisting the individual in the personalization of their closet, through styling and suggesting new items to purchase via the app.
- On the Curb, Inc. – Utica, NY – On the Curb is a data architecture platform that makes data analysis, reporting, and new data products, extremely easy to develop and deploy, and more powerful the more its used.
- PreVision Corp. – Syracuse, NY – PreVision creates image processing systems that make real-time precision imaging of large areas possible, from small unmanned aircraft.
- Seven Sundays – Syracuse, NY – Seven Sundays provides digital solutions to the vacation rental industry, allowing homeowners to live life as if every day were a Sunday.
- United Aircraft Technologies – Albany, NY – United Aircraft Technologies is creating a new class of clamp for aircraft wiring that is designed to reduce weight, improve safety, and simplify maintenance, through lightweight parts and augmented reality.
During the cohort, the teams will be incubated while building their startups around Department of Defense Intellectual Property (IP) from the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate (AFRL/RI) in Rome, New York.
“Like the last cohort, we have a diverse group of startup companies focused on different applications such as cyber security, advance data analytics and smart electronic devices,” says AFRL Commercialization Academy program manager Dan Fayette. “I am very impressed with the products and services they are proposing to develop and market, and I am proud to be associated with this Air Force Research Laboratory technology transfer activity, in partnership with New York State, to grow the local economy here in the Mohawk Valley.”
Beginning this month, the startups will enter the Commercialization Academy cohort, go through a down-select process in the fall, with the remaining selected teams competing live by pitching their tech businesses to a panel of judges at a Demo Day event for $300,000 in prize seed funding from IDEA NY.
A grand prize of $200,000 will go to the overall winner, and $100,000 will go to the runner-up.
After Demo Day, eligible teams will participate in the IDEA NY accelerator program that will incentivize promising entrepreneurs to create and grow viable commercial businesses in the Mohawk Valley, by requiring that the company’s primary office be located in the Mohawk Valley region for a 12-month period.
The AFRL Commercialization Academy is a Griffiss Institute entrepreneurial education program sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate (AFRL/RI). The Commercialization Academy pairs high-caliber founders with high-potential AFRL technologies with the goals of developing entrepreneurial leaders and launching new technology ventures.