All Finalists Are International Teams Highlighting the Global Reach of the Program and Region’s UAS Ecosystem
 
GENIUS NY is Supported by “CNY Rising” – The Region’s Comprehensive Strategy to Revitalize Communities and Grow the Economy
 
Empire State Development (ESD) today announced the five GENIUS NY companies participating in round six of the world’s largest business accelerator focused on uncrewed systems. The companies, which are developing innovations in the uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), internet of things (IoT) and robotics industries, were selected from a highly competitive pool of more than 200 submissions from over 50 countries. The five winners are all international teams, representing Canada, the Netherlands, Israel, Poland and the United Kingdom. GENIUS NY participants are required to operate their business in Central New York for at least one year. The program is funded through the CNY Rising Upstate Revitalization Initiative (URI), the region’s award-winning strategic plan to generate robust economic growth and community development.
 
Empire State Development Acting President, CEO & Commissioner Hope Knight, said, “These selected GENIUS NY Round Six finalists are ready to take flight, adding to the cohort of forward-thinking innovators that have been drawn to this unique business accelerator competition which is elevating Central New York's unmatched UAS assets and infrastructure."
 
The winners are:
 
Archangel Imaging, Ltd. (United Kingdom) deploys smart machines alongside people to protect valuable assets and at-risk staff in remote or challenging places. Whether its cables being stolen, oil being tapped or elephants poached for ivory, Archangel provides the ability for the security team to know before these incidents are about to happen and immediately intervene or follow up.
 
AVSS - Aerial Vehicle Safety Solutions, Inc. (Canada) produces a parachute recovery system and flight termination system that is commercializing drone technology for Urban Air Mobility (UAM). AVSS’s products are distributed worldwide through their more than 50 authorized dealers’ network and sold directly to drone manufacturers across the world.
 
Dronehub (Poland) develops autonomous charging docks for drones that help companies with large infrastructure to reduce monitoring costs, get real-time aerial data, and exclude the human factor. Dronehub helps industries to collect real-time precise aerial data, process it and automate operations.
 
Fusion Engineering (Netherlands) are working to create the most reliable, flexible and easy-to-use flight controller for any type of multirotor drone. Fusion Engineering builds innovative flight control algorithms to ensure more accurate positioning, disturbance rejection and fault tolerance.
 
Wonder Robotics (Israel) is a leading provider of intelligent and robust autonomous solutions for commercial drone and unmanned platform applications, focusing on the drone delivery and Urban Advance Mobility (UAM/AAM) markets by utilizing highly advanced vision-based capabilities for mission enable and safety.
 
The selected teams will begin the in-residence accelerator at The Tech Garden, CenterState CEO’s regional business incubator, in the coming weeks, and will be immersed in the incubator's business workshops, events, resource pool and mentoring. On Nov. 3 the teams will compete for $3 million in investments, including a $1 million grand prize. To learn more and attend the event, click here. Throughout the program companies will also receive stipends, resources, programming, investor demo days and networking opportunities.
 
“We are excited to welcome these teams to Central New York and get to work advancing their business plans and technologies,” said Kara Jones, director of GENIUS NY. “Over the coming year, they will be connected to local businesses for strategic guidance and operational support and be immersed in the tech startup and UAS ecosystems. In addition to high-impact programmatic and business support provided by GENIUS NY, participants will also become more connected to our local community through events and social engagements.”
 
“The fact that each of these GENIUS NY finalists are international teams highlights the strength of the program and the industry’s recognition that Central New York is the single best place to grow your UAS company,” said Robert Simpson, president of CenterState CEO. “In addition to the resources provided by the program these teams will also become part of Central New York’s robust tech ecosystem. We proudly welcome this new cohort to our community and are excited to work with these companies to ensure their companies evolve and grow here.”
 
The GENIUS NY competition has been renewed through round 10 by ESD. The program has attracted more than 26 startups to Central New York since its inception in 2017. To date, the innovative teams have gone on to raise more than $90 million in venture capital and have created more than 60 upstate New York jobs.

Circle Optics, innovators with patented technology enabling real-time, high-resolution multi-camera systems that provide panoramic video without the distortion and errors inherent in other systems, has been awarded a $150,000 NASA Phase I SBIR contract to “Enhance Detect and Avoid Optical Sensing for Urban Air Mobility.”
 
During this Phase I project, Circle Optics will further develop a wide angle staring EO/IR optical system for enabling the air safety of eVTOLs as they traverse the airspace. This system will remove the temporal inefficiencies and noise of the conventional gimballed systems. Circle Optics will focus on furthering the optical and mechanical system development, while also further exploring the requirements for testing and integration of our optical system into eVTOLs.

Circle Optics was a winner in the fifth cohort of GENIUS NY and awarded $500,000. 
 
“The FAA requires that autonomous eVTOLs and UAVs have sense & avoid capabilities that are at least as safe – or better than – those of manned aircraft. NASA’s Armstrong Flight Center develops technology to meet this requirement. We are thrilled that our technology can support progress in both technology and safety,” says Zak Niazi, Circle Optics CEO.
 
NASA anticipates that radar can not meet this demand for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft due to its bulky size and interference effects. Additionally autonomous air travel will  require multiple sensing modalities, including optical  imaging, to collaboratively enable air safety. NASA contracted with Circle Optics in 2021 to develop initial designs for EO/IR sensors with both an ultrawide field-of-view and ultrahigh resolution, to meet the FAA’s requirements of detecting uncooperative air traffic 3.4 nautical miles out within a 270 x 30-degree field of regard.
 
“Collaborating with NASA will further our progress in revolutionizing panoramic imaging. Relative to safe air travel, we want to enable an optical safety net over a wide field of view,” said Andy Kurtz, Circle Optics, Director of R&D and Principal Investigator.
 
For more information, please visit Circle Optics at https://circleoptics.com 
 
For more  information about NASA’s Armstrong's Flight Center, please visit https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/home/index.html

About Circle Optics 
Founded in 2017, Circle Optics has developed patented technology that enables the ability to capture the entire world in stitch-less, instant 360-degree imaging. This unique capability is revolutionizing aerospace and unmanned flight, and enhancing immersive experiences globally. We are just beginning to learn the applications of this new technology and are eager to learn how wider field-of-views will enhance other technologies.