“We at Sentient Blue are honored to have been selected as the winner of GENIUS NY 2019,” said Saif Akanni, CEO and CTO of Sentient Blue. “We would like to thank everyone at GENIUS NY for sharing our vision of revolutionizing the drone industry with our hybrid technology. We are thrilled to be a part of the GENIUS NY ecosystem. This award is a real milestone for Sentient Blue; it will allow us to establish the company in Central New York and accelerate our growth and development.”
The year-long business accelerator, awarded five finalist teams a total of $3 million at its Finals event last night, including prizes and investments of $1 million and four $500,000, awards. The program, which is administered by The Tech Garden and CenterState CEO in Syracuse, also offers incubator space, company resources, programming and mentoring. Participants are required to operate their business in Central New York for at least one year. The advancement of the GENIUS NY program builds on the progress of CNY Rising, the region’s award-winning strategic plan to revitalize communities and grow the economy.
“I applaud all of the winners and participants in the GENIUS NY competition and look forward to the investments they will make in our region and economy,” says State Sen. Rachel May, D-District 53. “The energy and innovation they represent is vital to continuing to build a thriving entrepreneurship economy in central New York. By funding business incubators and nourishing the best talent in our region, we are building a platform from which our local economy can prosper and we retain the talent we need to make our region stronger.”
During the event held at the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, the five teams pitched their business plans to a panel of judges and to a live audience. Following the pitches, all five competitors were awarded one of five investments. Additionally, the teams will use these investments to continue to accelerate their growth and expand their presence in the region.
The GENIUS NY teams’ business plans and pitches were judged by Colonel Anthony Basile, vice president of operations for the NUAIR Alliance; Somak Chattopadhyay, managing partner at Armory Square Ventures; Jim Fayle, regional director for Empire State Development Corporation; Craig Marcinkowski, vice president of strategy and corporate development at SRC; Noa Simons, executive director for Upstate Capital Association of NY; David Montanaro, president and founder of Strategic Advisory Associates; and Marc Viggiano, former head of Saab’s Traffic Management business and founder of Niteopark.