Space Florida, Florida Venture Forum Announce Winners of 2021 Aerospace Innovation and Tech Forum

Exploration Park, Miami and Tampa, Fla. (June 10, 2020) – Space Florida and the Florida Venture Forum, Florida’s largest statewide support organization for investors and entrepreneurs, are pleased to announce Miles Space, Inc., ecoSPEARS, Doroni LLC and OptiPulse, Inc., as the winners of the all-virtual 2021 Aerospace Innovation and Tech Forum. Today’s event, the sixth annual aerospace-focused conference hosted in partnership with the Florida Venture Forum, featured a competition of 20 presenting companies.

A panel of judges reviewed each selected company’s presentation and supporting materials. Grand Prize Winner Miles Space will receive $40,000 of Space Florida’s Accelerating Innovation (AI) Award, while 1^st Runner-Up ecoSPEARS will receive $30,000 and joint Second Place winners Doroni LLC and OptiPulse, Inc., will each receive $15,000.

‍Miles Space, Inc., Tampa (www.miles-space.com/), is an Aerospace company that specializes in Signal Processing for Military Passive Radar, SatComs, Drone Detection technology, and our Water Vapor-Based thruster for satellites and space probes.

‍ecoSPEARS, Altamonte Springs (www.ecospears.com/), the company has developed green solutions to eliminate toxins from the environment, so everyone has access to clean water, clean food, and clean air. ecoSPEARS is a cleantech company that obtained an exclusive license to NASA-developed environmental cleanup technologies that can permanently eliminate the world’s most persistent and toxic environmental contaminants from impacted sediment, soil, and groundwater, forever, displacing the need to dredge, landfill and incinerate contaminated media.

‍Doroni LLC., Parkland (www.doroni.io/#home), since 2016, their multi-disciplinary team has been leveraging cutting-edge technologies to develop a revolutionary new eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) platform with semi-autonomous capability that any adult can operate, called the Doroni flying car.

‍OptiPulse Inc., Albuquerque, New Mexico (www.optipulse.com), the company has developed a communications link which could be described as a wireless extension cord for fiber installations. This link uses a new type of wireless NIR photonics chip that has tested at 25Gbps in simple OOK.

“As Florida’s aerospace industry continues to grow and thrive, it is encouraging to see the capital venture ecosystem community continue to support those companies that play a key role in the State’s success in aerospace,” said Space Florida President and CEO Frank DiBello. “Space Florida congratulates Miles Space, ecoSPEARS, Doroni and OptiPulse as the winners of today’s Aerospace Innovation and Tech Forum, and we thank our partners at the Florida Venture Forum for their leadership in the capital formation arena.”

“Connecting companies with capital sources and shining a spotlight on Florida innovation are at the core of the Forum’s mission,” said Kevin Burgoyne, President and CEO of the Florida Venture Forum. “We are so grateful to our members and partners at Space Florida for their leadership and support of one of our state’s most dynamic and important industries. The record attendance and participation in today’s event are great signs that Florida is open for business, and that our work together is making a difference. Congratulations to our winners, and to all our presenters.”

The 20 presenting companies were selected from a pool of more than 84+ applicants by a committee of active Florida venture capital investors. Space Florida provided the Accelerating Innovation prize money totaling $100,000. To date, Space Florida supported capital accelerators have attracted more than $585 million in funding and investments for the participating companies

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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 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 programs statewide throughout the year in addition to hosting the Florida Venture Capital Conference, the Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition and the Early Stage Capital Conference. www.flventure.org.

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