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CenterState CEO hosted its sixth annual Innovation Night on Wednesday featuring the finalists for the Genius New York Pitch, with technology startup blueflite winning the first place investment of $1 million.

The event, held at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, included presentations from each of the five tech startups that made it to the final round. Genius NY, a business accelerator dedicated to unmanned aerial flight systems, invests $3 million into tech startups in New York state each year. The program is funded by Empire State Development and held with CenterState CEO.

The companies competing included Aloft, blueflite, greenjets, Voltela and Votix, which all focus on drone production. Each company had five minutes to pitch their product to the audience, followed by a Q&A session from a panel of judges.

Frank Noppel, CEO and cofounder of blueflite, presented a sample of the group’s prototype drone to the audience. Noppel said the drone manufacturing design company is building drones that will transport medical devices, like EpiPens and medicines, anywhere, with a goal of saving people experiencing heart attacks and allergic reactions.

“Twenty-five million people have food allergies. We thought we needed a better solution than medicines stuck in the car,” Noppel said.

Voltela, another competing drone startup, presented work on software to control drones from cell phones. Kim Mahler, Voltela’s CEO and founder, discussed issues of drone reliability and connectivity in his presentation. With a strong network in Ithaca, Voltela now wants to expand to Syracuse, Mahler said.

“Mobile networks were not designed for drones, they are not reliable … Voltela is the only company solving the fundamental problem with drone connectivity,” Mahler said. “Central New York is the best place to grow Voltela.”

Anmol Manohar, greenjets’ CEO and founder, said his company is focused on creating quieter drones. During the pitch, Manohar showed videos of drones operating with high noise levels, sparking laughter from the audience.

“Today’s drones are too loud and annoying,” he said. “Greenjets motto is to make drones quiet and safe.”

Eduardo Boucas, CEO and founder of Votix, also expressed passion in choosing Syracuse as a place for his startup’s headquarters. His company’s goal is to improve drone safety through remote control command centers, while also collecting data to develop predictions about future drone operations.

“The government here supporting drone development is something we want to be a part of, and our family loves it here,” Boucas said, pointing to his Syracuse University T-shirt.

Votix won the fan favorite award of the night, with 69% of attendees voting for their pitch. Fifteen percent of audience members voted for blueflite, 7% voted for Aloft and greenjets’ and 1% voted for Voltela.

Spectators came from across the central New York area, with some seeking inspiration for their own tech companies. Christiane Roslyn, the CEO of Teleki – a tech startup focused on air purification – came for insight on how to pitch her company’s ideas.

“It’s always good to hear other people give their pitches and see how they’re doing it, because we’re going after investment on (our products),” Roslyn said.

While blueflite took first place, Aloft, greenjets, Voltela, and Votix will each receive $500,000 investments from Genius NY as runner-ups.

Published on October 5, 2023 at 12:35 am