The Florida Venture Forum, Florida’s largest statewide support organization for investors and entrepreneurs, are pleased to announce the 2023 Aerospace + EmergingTech “FINAL FOUR” who will be pitching on June 8, 2023, from 4:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M., at the newly expanded Groundswell co-working space in Melbourne.
The reception on June 8th will feature aerospace and tech enthusiasts as well as selected company finalists for the announcement of prize money allocation. The event is open to the public. Space is limited, however, tours of the new Groundswell prototyping lab will be available.
“The selection of companies from the long list of qualified applicants was made by a committed group of early stage investors,” said Ben Patz, Managing Partner of DeepWork Capital. “A special thanks to the selection committee for their hours of work and an equal thanks to the companies that provided information and presentations, and made this selection process the most competitive to date.”
The final four selected companies are listed below:
Ainthoven, Cocoa Beach, FL., www.whoweplayfor.org, the company is bringing life-saving electrocardiogram (“ECG”) heart screenings to pediatrics and young adults in the United States and beyond.
Gigantor Technologies, Inc., Melbourne Beach, FL., www.gigantor.com/, provides an AI accelerator that can speed up neural network models to speeds nVidia, Tesla, that the company says – others cannot touch. If the process latency is reduced to a fraction of other solutionsit can enable Deep and Convolutional neural networks (computer vision, radar, lidar) to work with any frame size, HD, 4K and above with no data loss, it also reduces power by over 90%.
Kind Designs, Miami Beach, FL., www.kinddesigns.org, are addressing the rising sea-level challenge by 3D Printing structural seawalls that both protect coastal communities and function as artificial reefs, sequester CO2 and have built-in sensors to track essential water quality data. The Living Seawalls are exponentially cheaper and faster to produce and permit than any conventional seawall products on the market.
Zulu Pods, Ft. Lauderdale, FL., www.zulupods.com, is an aerospace and defense company who design and manufacture decentralized fluid delivery systems. The company is focused on unitizing part counts on components such as jet engines and/or geartrains, thereby reducing cost, reducing weight and increasing performance. With their patented pod technology, they can drastically reduce part counts for expendable jet engines (think of engines that power drones or missiles) or back-up emergency lubrication systems (think of helicopters or single engine fighter jet engines).
All the finalists will be eligible for the Space Florida’s Accelerating Innovation (AI) awards, totaling $100,000. Selected presenting companies should be innovative and have a focus in aerospace and/or emerging technologies to be eligible to compete for up to $100,000 in total allocated awards. The GRAND PRIZE* winning company will receive $40,000. The FIRST PLACE RUNNER UP winning company will receive $30,000, SECOND PLACE winner will receive $20,000 and THIRD PLACE winner will receive $10,000. NOTE: Prize determination by the judging team is FINAL.
Additionally, DeepWork Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Orlando, will invest $100,000 in one of the companies.
About the Florida Venture Forum: The Florida Venture Forum is Florida’s largest statewide support organization for investors and entrepreneurs, helping fast-growth companies connect with sources of capital from across the country. Since 1984 more than 2000 companies have presented at Forum events and have gone on to raise upwards of $16B in equity capital, producing billions more in economic value to Florida. The Forum’s 250+ members represent a “who’s who” of venture capital and private equity dealmakers, including equity and debt investors at all stages, as well as major law, accounting, and investment banking firms, and large corporates active in the innovation ecosystem. The Forum provides programs and programming statewide throughout the year in addition to hosting major annual conferences like the Florida Venture Capital Conference, the Statewide Collegiate Startup Competition, the Early Stage Capital Conference, and industry-focused events including aerospace and healthcare. For more information, visit: https://flventure.org/.
About Space Florida: Space Florida is where leading aerospace companies get everything they need to see their new ideas take off. As that state’s aerospace finance and development authority, Space Florida brings a mix of unrivaled experience, unmatched financial tools, and unbeatable location to the table by providing critical business financing opportunities for the aerospace industry, managing infrastructure investment in the state’s spaceport system, and facilitating research and development, workforce, education, and investment programs. Visit www.spaceflorida.gov for more information.
About Groundswell Startups: Groundswell Startups is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, high-tech incubator and coworking space dedicated to helping founders and startups succeed on Florida’s Space Coast. For more information on our community of creatives, innovators, and entrepreneurs, and how we can help visit www.swellstartups.com.
About DeepWork Capital: DeepWork Capital invests professionally managed committed venture capital in growth-oriented early-stage companies in the technology and life science sectors. We partner with visionary founders in underinvested markets to build world-changing companies. For additional information please see http://www.deepworkcapital.com.
