The world’s largest accelerator competition for uncrewed systems, IoT and robotics  start-ups has extended applications for its sixth cohort to June 14, 2022. Five finalists will be selected for this year’s program and split a total of $3 million in cash with the winner taking home a $1 million top prize. To apply, click here.

​Based in Syracuse, New York, the GENIUS NY program has helped more than a two dozen companies scale their operations and make the necessary connections to secure partners, customers and follow-on funding. Those companies selected as finalists spend a year at a Syracuse-based startup incubator where they have office space and amenities plus workshops, training, mentoring and opportunities for networking and follow-on funding. Since 2017, GENIUS NY has invested over $15 million in 26 early stage companies from around the world.

Among the winners so far have been Fotokite, of Switzerland, who won in 2018. Fotokite technology uses a tether combined with an onboard IMU to compute the vehicle's position relative to the user. This allows for quick deployment and controlled flight by virtually anyone and obviates the need for complex start-up protocols, GPS dependency, trained pilots, and bulky remote controls. Fotokite supports first responders and has partnered with firefighting firm Pierce Manufacturing as well as Axon. 

"Bringing Fotokite to the U.S. has always been important for the success of our startup,” said Chris McCall, former CEO of Fotokite. “GENIUS NY has accelerated this process for us even more than we could have expected, resulting in game-changing speed of growth, incredible local and national network connections, and highly curated business advice to help prepare and scale up operations."

Last October, Airtonomy, a team from North Dakota, won the $1 million prize. The startup is the leader of enterprise-scale autonomous robotics for delivering precise inspection insights. Airtonomy is a SaaS/RaaS company that enables scaled, autonomous robotic harvesting of unstructured asset data by frontline workers, specifically for machine perception, within the energy and utility sectors, in a $6.5B domestic market.

GENIUS NY is looking for companies who are focused on uncrewed systems, IoT, big data and robotics. To apply and see program requirements visit, www.geniusny.com/about.

The entry deadline for the upcoming accelerator is June 14. The program is funded by Empire State Development and administered at CenterState CEO’s Tech Garden incubator in Syracuse, New York. 

First official, public flight in the U.S. proves GT20 Gyrotrak ready for customer operations

The Gyrotrak GT20, a hybrid helicopter and gyrocopter UAV (uncrewed aerial vehicle) by Airial Robotics, was successfully demonstrated and tested at the FAA-designated New York UAS Test Site at Griffiss International Airport managed by NUAIR in Rome, NY. This is the first flight demonstration of its kind in the United States. The GT20 Gryotrak is an impressive and serious cargo and inspection platform – with flight times of up to 2.5 hours with an 8-pound task load. It can be equipped with a variety of sensors enabling it to be used for a broad range of uses, including medical transport, high precision mapping, line inspection and more.

The GT20 Gyrotrak flight test included four different missions including a manual helicopter flight; full autonomous helicopter mission, which transitioned to complete autorotation-mode, flying at about 80 mph; and a simulated delivery mission. All missions were done safely and efficiently proving that the GT20 Gyrotrak is ready for the U.S market and customers. 

“The demo was our first flight in front of potential customers in the U.S.,” said Jörg Schamuhn, CEO of Airial Robotics. “More importantly, is the first flight in public, demonstrating our proprietary autopilot solution, the Airial Robotics Autopilot Architecture (ARAA), as a reliable and powerful solution for a hybrid between helicopter and gyrocopter. We were proud to have this opportunity to test with the support of the GENIUS NY Program.”

The GT20 Gryotrak is a hybrid UAV solution between a helicopter and gyrocopter, advancing flight time, payload, range and speed over other systems, which comparatively are significantly limited in their flight envelope, weather tolerance and payload allowance. It can vertically take off, hover and land multiple times in a mission with optimized energy use, safety levels and weather tolerance. The GT20 Gyrotrak has been developed to minimize the consumption of energy, which will save resources and provide a green footprint of the fleet. 

"GENIUS NY continues to attract innovators from across the world to Central New York," said NUAIR CEO Ken Stewart. "NUAIR continues to help enable these innovators to help them flourish and expand their businesses. The Airial Robotics team was great to work with and have brought a revolutionary platform to the U.S."

The flight demo is integral to getting medical transport and precision mapping projects off the ground. An advantage of the GT20 Gyrotrak for medical transport is the ability to transport blood and tissue samples faster and to longer or more remote locations. High precision mapping additionally provides electric grid line inspectors the advantage of collecting more data over longer distances which is more cost efficient than any other solution today. 

“The gyrocopter design is a nearly forgotten aviation solution that is viewed as the safest of all aviation systems so far,” explains Schamuhn. “The core of the technology is a main rotor that is driven powerless by the apparent wind. The aircraft, although it is rotary, act in gyrocopter mode like an airplane with the same control logics. We added helicopter technology that allows us to take off and land vertically and to hover at any time in the air.” 

Airial Robotics is currently in the GENIUS NY accelerator, operated by CenterState CEO, and was funded $500,000 in October 2021. The company has been successful in the U.S and plans to bring manufacturing to New York state. GENIUS NY is the world’s largest accelerator for uncrewed systems and to date as invested more than $15 million into 26 companies. The goal of the program is to attract and grow UAS technology companies in New York state. Applications for its round six are currently open until May 31, 2022.

To learn more about Airial Robotics visit, www.airialrobotics.com. ​

If you’re a startup in uncrewed systems, IoT, big data, or robotics then the GENIUS NY program needs to be on your radar. GENIUS NY – the world’s largest business accelerator focused on uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) – is looking for the five teams which will participate in the sixth round of the year-long program. The in-residence accelerator, operated out of Syracuse, New York will invest more than $3 million in five finalist companies, including a $1 million grand prize,  this year.

The program has an incredible track record of success. Since 2017 GENIUS NY has invested more than $15 million in 26 startup companies who have gone on to raise more than $90 million in follow-on funding and scale and grow operations.

Its secret sauce is the ability to combine high value investments in companies at the beginning of the program while also offering participants industry mentors, stipends, resources, programming and networking opportunities.

Additionally, teams have direct access to the region’s hi-tech ecosystem that consists of emerging UAS technologies, 5G, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, autonomy and more.

Since the region is also home to a globally leading UAS ecosystem, teams benefit from expertise in UAS operations, research and integration; they can utilize assets like the New York UAS Test Site at Griffiss International Airport (one of seven FAA designated test sites in the country); and the 50-mile beyond visual line of site test corridor that facilitates UAS testing and commercial drone operations.

Past participants were all to ready to share the impact the program has had on their companies and growth trajectory. Round five winner, Airtonomy received the top prize of $1 million in October 2021. The company has been accelerating rapidly and partnered with several local providers and customers. They continue to hire in Syracuse and work with other local UAS organization and companies.