Tampa, Miami and Exploration Park, FL – October 17, 2018: The Florida Venture Forum has selected 17 companies to present at its inaugural Florida Aerospace Capital Forum, being held at the Guidewell Innovation Center at Lake Nona in Orlando on November 14, 2018.
Ben Patz, head of the event selection committee and managing director of the FAN Fund stated, “The Florida Venture Forum’s first aerospace focused capital conference has generated significant interest from early stage companies that we frequently do not see at other events. While we were limited in the number of companies we could select, we are very excited about the quality of companies and the innovative ideas that will be presented.”
In addition to company presentations and other programming, the conference will provide a total of $100,000 in cash awards presented to three winning companies, courtesy of Space Florida.
Pre-registration for the event is available through Friday, November 9, 2018. Walk-up registration will be available onsite. Conference attendees have the opportunity to listen to pitches from leading companies in the aerospace industry and network with attendees, including leading investors from Florida and across the U.S.
Presenters were selected by a committee of active Florida venture capitalists and investors. Selected companies will present to an audience of investors, other deal professionals and entrepreneurs. The 17 selected presenting companies are listed below, by region:
Central/East Central Florida
Archer First Response Systems, Orlando (www.archerfrs.com), is a suite of integrated components that form an end-to-end solution for immediate small Unmanned Air System (drone) deployment. Currently they are focused on utilizing the deployment system to help prevent cardiac arrest fatalities and other life threatening emergencies (opioid OD, anaphylactic reactions etc.) by transporting AEDs, Narcan, Epipens, and other first response lay-rescuer equipment directly to a victim in need.
Bomax Hydrogen, LLC, Merritt Island (www.bomax-hydrogen.com), formed in 2014 to develop and commercialize a patented photo-biocatalytic system that uses light-activated nanoparticles coupled with bioinorganic molecules to generate 100% clean hydrogen. When paired with a fuel cell generator their system can supply abundant electricity for both residential and commercial needs.
Invisible Interdiction, Inc., Melbourne (www.invisidiction.com), they design and manufacture counter-drone defeat technologies; i.e. jamming systems that break the radio link between the drone and the drone pilot.
Joi Scientific, Merritt Island (www.joiscientific.com), is a clean energy company whose proprietary technology enables the on-demand and onboard production of clean hydrogen gas from seawater, safely and affordably, for aerospace and non-aerospace energy generation and storage.
Micro Aerospace Solutions, Inc., Melbourne (www.micro-a.net), has developed a variety of products in propulsion, avionics, inertial sensors and communications systems for the small satellite industry. Their systems use a variety of innovative technologies such as tridyne augmented gas propulsion which provides twice the performance of standard cold-gas propulsion.
Sensatek Propulsion Technology Inc, Daytona Beach (www.sensatek.com) , is a university technology spinout company formed to wirelessly detect extreme temperature and pressure. Their sensors allow wireless monitoring of harsh environments on application such as rocket motors that is not currently available on the market.
SpacePharma Inc., Exploration Park (www.space4p.com), is committed to increasing research access to the unique environment of microgravity with our remote-controlled, miniaturized, laboratory platforms.
Tomahawk Robotics, Melbourne (www.tomahawkrobotics.com), strives to create useful, safe, and affordable solutions to address their customers’ challenges. Their talented and proven engineering team is driven by the goal to put robotics technology to work in the real world. They will do so by providing extensible and easy to use robotic control software.
Weintraus, Inc., Daytona Beach (www.weintraus.com), is a space exploration and technology company developing a reusable, autonomous, robotic on-orbit servicing vehicle, Hercules Space Tug, capable of repairing, refueling, upgrading, and relocating satellites in low Earth and geosynchronous orbits.
North Florida
General Capacitor, LLC, Tallahassee (www.generalcapacitor.com), is a high-tech start-up company focused on the development and manufacturing of Lithium-ion Capacitors (LICs) and related hybrid ultracapacitor energy storage devices.
Apellix, Jacksonville (www.apellix.com), they have created a patented, computer controlled drone with an articulating robotic arm and hand (end effector) capable of precision flight allowing them to contact a structure to “do work”.
Axion Technologies, LLC. Tallahassee (www.axiontechnologiesllc.com), has patented a high-speed, parallel Truly-Random Number Generator (TRNG or QRNG) based on fundamental Quantum Mechanical principles, achieving speeds of 1-2GHz per stream and providing up to 250 streams per device – competitors currently provide 1-4 streams, mostly in the MHz range.
Southeast Florida
PQSecure Technologies, Boca Raton (www.pqsecurity.com), wants to be the first to market quantum-safe security products for small and resource-constrained devices such as the Internet of Things (IoT).
STRAX Intelligence Group, Boca Raton (www.StraxIntelligence.com ), provides aerial intelligence and real-time situational awareness solutions in one common operating picture for smarter, faster public safety and security decision making and response.
Southwest Florida
Aeromarine LSA, Brandon (www.aeromarine-lsa.com), the company creates new and innovative light aircraft including electric-powered aircraft, UAV, amphibious, and military aircraft.
Outside of Florida:
Spintech, LLC, Xenia, Ohio (www.smarttooling.com), the company is changing how composite parts are manufactured in the Aerospace industry because they simply and eloquently deliver Better, Cheaper, Faster for composite part manufacturing. Spintech manufactures custom Smart Tooling solutions that enable customers to make composite parts better, cheaper, and faster.
Xenesis, Lisle, Illinois (http://www.xenesis.io/), is an Optical Communications company whose mission is to deliver the world’s first commercial service grade Space based optical comms network.
About Space Florida: Space Florida was created to strengthen Florida’s position as the global leader in aerospace research, investment, exploration and commerce. As Florida’s aerospace and spaceport development authority, we are committed to attracting and expanding the next generation of space industry businesses. With its highly trained workforce, proven infrastructure and unparalleled record of achievement, Florida is the ideal location for aerospace businesses to thrive – and Space Florida is the perfect partner to help them succeed. www.spaceflorida.gov.
About The Florida Venture Forum:
The Florida Venture Forum is Florida’s largest statewide support organization for investors and entrepreneurs, helping emerging Florida companies connect with sources of capital from across the country. The organization provides numerous programs statewide throughout the year including the Florida Venture Capital Conference, the Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition and the Early Stage Angel Capital Conference. Please visit http://www.flventure.org for more information.
