Company Name: Wonder Robotics
Company HQ: Israel
Team Size: 12
Focus: Autonomous solution for Drone and eVTOL
Interview with:
Idan Shimon, Co-Founder and CEO
Or Epstein, Co-Founder and CBO

Tell us about your company:
Wonder Robotics is revolutionizing Drone autonomy!  We are aiming to be a world leader in vision-based autonomous solutions for Drones and eVTOL, and to provide complete 360-degree awareness--exactly like Tesla's autonomous capabilities for cars.

Wonder Robotics's first product to market focuses on the most critical phase of commercial drone services: low-altitude missions, vertical awareness, ground clearance, and smarter precision landing. WonderLand is our groundbreaking product for the commercial drone industry, as well as for the advance air mobility/urban air mobility market. It utilizes innovative technology to provide affordable and autonomous services, and makes commercial drones safer and more reliable with less crew around the service. 

When and how did your company start?
We started the company at the end of 2019, just when the pandemic hit. But the idea and the strategy started years before. The founding team all have decades of drone experience, so the market's urgent needs were in front of our eyes for a long time. 

Where did the idea for your startup come from?
The company’s idea resulted from the founders delivering a unique drone solution to a customer in their previous workplace (homeland security related). The drone was carrying a heavy payload with limited endurance. The end-user asked for the drone to have a safe, autonomous landing on the target area, allowing for extended operations time. While looking for such a solution, the founders realized that not only did such a solution not exist but that once developed, such technology had virtually unlimited potential to be sold across a broad spectrum of industries. The founders then took a leap of faith, and Wonder Robotics was launched shortly after that.

Who is your ideal customer?
Our primary "go to market" customers are drone service providers. They need autonomy for making their service affordable, reliable, and safer...and eventually certified.  We are also talking to OEMs – drone manufacturers and end users who highly appreciate our technology value.

What can we expect from your company in the near future?
Our goal, after penetrating the drone market with the WonderLand vertical autonomy family of products, is to gradually expand its capabilities to 360-degree vision-based autonomy solutions--not only for drones--as this level of "visual awareness" is a requirement for the UAM/AAM market and eVTOL (flying cars) platforms. Wonder Robotics' mission is to make uncrewed (drones) commercial services more affordable using smarter autonomous solutions. 

Why are you excited about GENIUS NY?
After being in the program for a few months, we can honestly say it feels like we are part of a small family. Everyone is very supportive and encouraging, and it's obvious that GENIUS NY wants us all to be successful. There is phenomenal synergy between the GNY past and present cohort, so we genuinely believe something significant is happening here for the U.S. drone market. It is truly the next Silicon Valley of drones! Wonder Robotics is privileged to be a part of the drone revolution initiated by GNY. Honestly, it came at the right time, as our fast-growing number of U.S. customers and partners expect us to be close to them, helping them with training and providing critical support, while scaling their services nationwide.

What are you most looking forward to while staying in Syracuse?
We love The Tech Garden people; the facility is excellent! We love the unique drone-friendly ecosystem GENIUS NY built with CenterState CEO; we look forward to collaborating with some of the drone organizations in the ecosystem, like NUAIR, Griffiss International Airport, and Syracuse Hancock International Airport. For an international drone company, it is the perfect place at the ideal time to build our future. 
​
What will you do with the GENIUS funds?
The market needs Wonder Robotics technology now! It will create a new reality for drone service providers, making their services safer, more reliable, and more cost-effective for everyone to use. 

We need to support our customers' scaling. One of our customers, Walmart, will operate hundreds of drones next year. We are building a U.S. integration lab and operation, support, and training center for our growing community of customers. The goal is also to grow our sales in the U.S. and European markets, which are the fastest growing. We will engage the FAA and the industry market influencers to have a clear technology validation process and, eventually, the road for certification of an autonomous sub-system for drones and eVTOLS. We continue investing to make our product the best of its kind in the world by getting instant feedback from our customers about their use cases. Strategically, $1 million will help us move our high-volume production line to Syracuse.

​The teams also took some field trips, heading out to Marquardt Switches, a GENIUS NY resource partner, who welcomed cohort 6 to their Cazenovia location for team meetings, a factory tour, and happy hour at the Brewster Inn. Marquardt has provided valuable ongoing support to GENIUS NY and to CenterState CEO.

Later in September, GENIUS NY visited and toured the Innovare Advancement Center in Rome, NY, as well as met with partners at NUAIR and the Griffiss Institute. Innovare is a remarkable facility where the teams were able to view quantum computing in action, UAS development--including Skydome--emerging technologies, and team collaboration and innovation areas. The gracious hosts spent time talking with the cohort 6 team members and helped them learn more about the exciting resources available to them in the CNY area. 

Company Name: Fusion Engineering
Company HQ: Delft, The Netherlands
Team Size: 14
Focus: Flight Controllers
Interview with:
Robert Crone, Founder/CEO
Marwan Hussein, Business Developer

​When and how did your company start?
Sharing a technical background from TU Delft in the Netherlands, our founders originally got the idea of creating a drone that can perform all sorts of maintenance functions back in 2017, sort of like a flying robot. However, we noticed that there were several underlying deficiencies in the flight behavior of existing drones (and back then, ours as well) that needed to be addressed first, so we decided to take a step back and tackle the issue at its roots. Having observed a large boom in the relevance of commercial drones in today’s applications, no matter the field, we’ve been focusing exclusively on creating the industry’s next generation of flight controllers since 2018.

Who is your ideal customer?
Given the importance of our solution to the functionality of every drone, our aim is to supply multi-rotor drone manufacturers with scalable businesses who already have a foothold in the industry. This does not exclude us from working with smaller companies that are also building drones or are looking to replace their current flight controller!

What can we expect from your company in the near future?
Ever since we produced our prototype, the “Fusion Reflex” Introductory Model, we had mainly been focusing on maturing our technology with smaller drone manufacturers through a series of technical collaborations, alongside whom we also aim to grow. On the engineering side, we are currently at a stage where our maiden flight controller is undergoing its final iteration of refinement and polishing. Our collaborations continue to grow as we explore new types of applications we can confidently play a key role in enabling, such as VTOL drones, heavy-lift drones…etc. This ties in directly with our commercial endeavors as well. With our product nearing completion, we are actively seeking opportunities to kick-start Fusion’s integration into the market, whether it’s in Europe or elsewhere in the world, which is where GENIUS NY really comes in handy!

Why are you excited about GENIUS NY?
Thus far, our operations have mostly been centered within Europe, where commercial drones have only recently become popular for being more than just flying cameras. Coming to the United States, where the industry is more established and mature, a plethora of new opportunities have presented themselves for us to explore. Being able to do this through the Genius NY program has helped us seamlessly adapt to this market. The resources we get through the GENIUS NY program not only help us address our immediate needs, but also shed light on what we should focus on and consider as we grow in the near future.
Having access to the industry’s certifying bodies has also proven to be quite helpful, considering the complicated nature of acquiring said certifications, particularly for flight controllers. This is proving to be vital to our operations as we get the opportunity to dive deeper into the requirements of each of the certifications before anyone else, and in much greater detail.
Getting the privilege of visiting companies in adjacent industries has also helped us understand where exactly Fusion Engineering sits in the value chain and how we can maximize our output, without interrupting current procedures and supply chains.
Lastly, having spoken to several founders based in Syracuse, we were able to gain more insight into how their companies have grown, how they run their teams, and what difficult decisions they had to make along the way; questions you cannot answer by reading manuals.   

What are you most looking forward to while staying in Syracuse?
We heard that the winter season gets quite intense in Syracuse. Luckily, some of us are avid skiers! We are eager to hit the slopes when the snow has settled in!
​
What will you do with the GENIUS funds?
In order to align our technical capacity with our commercial outlook, we will aim to expand our engineering team to accommodate for the expected growth. Additionally, with a large portion of our anticipated customer-base being in North America, we will invest in setting up an entity in the United States as our first step towards addressing the global market’s needs as well!

Learn more about Fusion Engineering: https://fusion.engineering/
Get tickets to attend the GENIUS NY Pitch Finals Night on Nov. 3rd: ​www.centerstateceo.com/news-events/genius-ny-pitch-finals

On Tuesday, September 20th GENIUS NY and ff Venture Capital partnered together to host the 2nd Drones & Robotics Summit in New York City.

Converging on the midtown location were over 150 attendees comprised of entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders. What everyone there had in common was an interest in sharing knowledge and learning more about how drones and robotics are impacting the construction, agriculture, transportation, supply chain, energy, aeronautics, consumer, and defense industries.

More than 40 speakers from around the world provided expert insight into a wide range of topics covering subjects such as, drone delivery, startup investments, field robotics, public and private sector collaboration, and workforce optimization. The GENIUS NY group was well represented with eleven of our companies participating. Panel speakers from GNY included, Christopher McCall (Fotokite), Joerg Schamuhn (Airial Robotics), Or Epstein (Wonder Robotics), Zak Niazi (Circle Optics), Don Berchoff (TruWeather Solutions), Dan Sola (Archangel Imaging), Jay Shears (WindShape), Liav Muler (CivRobotics), and Slawek Potasz (CarScanner).

GENIUS NY Cohort 6 attendees, Archangel Imaging, Fusion Engineering, and Wonder Robotics, found plenty of networking opportunities to practice their pitches in preparation for the November 3rd Finals Night in Syracuse, NY, when one of the five teams presenting will be awarded $1 million.

Closing remarks were presented by John Liddy, Interim VP of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, from GENIUS NY and CenterState CEO.

ff Venture Capital is a venture capital firm that specializes in providing seed-stage and early-stage funding to technology companies and located in New York City. 

Wonder Robotics, a GENIUS NY Cohort 6 team, is a winner at the annual “Pitch the Press” event at the Commercial UAV Expo in Las Vegas, NV.

The WonderLand System from Wonder Robotics touts “Vertical Awareness” to improve the safe landing of autonomous vehicles. WonderLand’s sensors and algorithms increase understanding of weather conditions, ground conditions, lighting, and other factors that can impact the safety and precision of landings. In selecting WonderLand, the panel of judges cited the need for safe landing paths and risk management around drone operations.

Pitch the Press judges listened to two-minute pitches from 17 companies. Wonder co-founder Idan Shimon presented on behalf of his team. Companies were evaluated on innovation and potential for ROI, and the top three contenders were selected as winners.

Wonder Robotics’s winning pitch was great practice for the upcoming 2022 GENIUS NY Pitch Finals on November 3, 2022 at the Marriot Syracuse Downtown. On that evening, judges will award one company out of the five GENIUS NY Cohort 6 teams the grand prize of $1 million, based on a five-minute pitch and Q&A. The remaining teams will each receive $500,000, for an award total of $3 million. The event is free and open to the public, though registration is required. For more information and to purchase tickets: http://www.geniusny.com/finals.html

​Congratulations Wonder Robotics!

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.

ffVC and GENIUS NY are teaming up again for the 2022 Drones and Robotics Summit in New York City. The event, which will take place on September 20, will bring together founders, investors, and thought leaders to explore how drones and robotics are impacting the construction, agricultural, transportation, supply chain, energy, aeronautics, consumer, and defense industries.
 
Confirmed speakers include Davis Hackenberg of NASA, Col. Pat Mahaney of the Department of Defense, and Tom Ryden of Mass Robotics and VGo Communication. The day will feature a variety of events, from intimate networking sessions and lightning talks to panels that will focus on the world-changing dynamics of drones and robotics. 

Due to space restrictions and the subject focus, we are inviting people to apply to attend. Please use this link if you’re interested in attending the 2022 Drones and Robotics Summit.

ff Venture Capital is a venture capital firm that specializes in providing seed-stage and early-stage funding to technology companies and located in New York City.