Friday, April 19 at 3:30 p.m., representatives from Centerstate CEO, the Syracuse Tech Garden, and the Genius III cohort will host a roundtable at the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars in Bird Library to discuss the $3 million GENIUS NY program. The will also announce the opening of applications to be in next year’s cohort. Syracuse University faculty, staff and students are invited to come and learn about this world-class accelerator program in downtown Syracuse, and to form teams to apply.
GENIUS NY is the world’s largest business accelerator competition for unmanned systems (UAS). Finalists are selected from a competitive pool of submissions from across the globe, and the program provides UAS startups all the tools they need for success, including stipends, resources, programming, advisors and connections.
The in-residence accelerator program operates in two phases. In phase one, five teams receive a monthly stipend ($10,000 per month per team) and a housing subsidy to participate in the three-month accelerator. Phase 1 concludes at the three-month mark with a pitch competition, and the teams receive investments totaling $3 million. The winner of the competition receives $1,000,000, and the other four teams receive a guaranteed $500,000.
After the pitch competition, all five teams automatically enter the 2nd phase of the accelerator. It lasts for another 9 months, and culminates in three demo days, which are in front of investors and program judges. These take place in Syracuse, in New York City, and in Boston. Follow-on incubation is offered after the demo days with incentives of follow-on funding to continue operating in Central New York.
Photo caption: Mirco Coccoli is the CEO of MPD Partners, a boutique Private Equity firm based in Geneva, Switzerland. MPD Partners helped develop the business model for Sentient Blue. Mirco visited the Blackstone LaunchPad the day after the competition to begin building university connections to talented student innovators.
On Tuesday, April 9, the Genius III cohort, EagleHawk, Vermeer, Civdrone, Sentient Blue, and Resilienx, pitched to a team of judges. The grand prize of $1 million was awarded to Sentient Blue, a multi-national team working on a battery-alternative technology to power drones and extend range and flying time. Sentient Blue has already reached out to Syracuse University to partner on commercializing their technology.
Genius NY III teams
Applications for the Genius IV cohort are opening soon, so come to the announcement, Friday, April 19, 3:30 p.m. at the LaunchPad. Learn more about the program, and developing competitive applications. Pizza will be served. RSVP to LaunchPad@syr.edu