2019 Florida Aerospace Capital Forum - Winners Announced

Space Florida, Florida Venture Forum Announce Winning Companies of 2019 Florida Aerospace Capital Forum

Miami, Exploration Park and Tampa, Fla. (November 6, 2019) – Space Florida and the Florida Venture Forum are pleased to announce Everix, Inc., Synmatter LLC and Censys Technologies Corp., as the top three winners, respectively, of the 2019 Florida Aerospace Capital Forum. Held at the Guidewell Innovation Center in Lake Nona, the event featured 16 presenting companies, four showcase companies and an opportunity to engage with the Florida Venture Forum investment community and aerospace industry leaders.A panel of judges reviewed each selected company’s presentation and supporting materials. Everix, Inc., was named the top company and received $50,000 of Space Florida’s $100,000 Accelerating Innovation Award. Synmatter LLC and Censys Technologies Corp., were awarded the $30,000 and $20,000 cash prizes, respectively.

Everix, Orlando (www.everixopticalfilters.com/) is disrupting the optical filter market with their high-­value and low-­cost-to produce solution. Their process creates high-­‐performance filters that are 5x to 20xhinner and lighter than vacuum coated filters which enables their customers to miniaturize their devices. Everix filters are flexible, so for the first time, they allow for the application of high-­‐performance filters on curved surfaces (LiDAR domes, auto-­glass, AR/VR headsets, specialty eyewear, smart patches, etc.

SynMatter, Merritt Island (www.synmatter.co) provides smart anticorrosion microparticles utilizing its patented platform technology. These Smart Particles have a triggered release mechanism and only release the corrosion inhibitors at the site of corrosion damage. In standardized corrosion testing, the Smart Particles demonstrated increased anticorrosive performance. They exhibited significant reductions in corrosion product, scribe creepage and blistering. They showed no signs of coating delamination in both salt spray and atmospheric exposure testing on steel and aluminum alloys, when compared to both coatings with no inhibitors and coatings with pure inhibitors

Censys Technologies, Daytona Beach (www.censystech.com) is a Florida-­based C-­‐corporation that sells long-range commercial drones, documentation services, mobile operation enters & data processing solutions that help drone service providers and enterprises minimize overhead & headache. Their recurring revenue streams include maintenance services, recurrent training, and data processing.“The Sunshine State has quite an extraordinary aerospace history,” said Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez. “With the goal of making our state the leader in the global space industry, Space Florida is committed to attracting investment, research and high-tech industrial commerce. We look forward to seeing Florida aerospace companies, entrepreneurs and investors at the 2nd Annual Florida Aerospace Capital Forum to ensure our state stays at the forefront of space innovation.”

“Congratulations to today’s winners and presenters at our second annual Florida Aerospace Capital Forum,” said Frank DiBello, President and CEO of Space Florida. “We’re excited to support not only capital acceleration statewide but promote the legacy, growth and future of the aerospace industry within the State of Florida. Thank you to Florida Venture Forum for the continued partnership in hosting today’s event and to Cherry Bekaert, Haskell, L3Harris, NASA and OneWeb Satellites for their collaboration.”

“Our second Florida Aerospace Capital Forum, in partnership with Space Florida, has been a tremendous success,” said Kevin Burgoyne, President and CEO of the Florida Venture Forum. “Congratulations to our presenters on the opportunity as well as our winning companies. And thanks to Space Florida for its work in continuing to grow and promote the State’s aerospace industry.”

This event was an opportunity to broaden the spectrum of early stage, Florida-based aerospace and aviation companies and entrepreneurs, (as well as non–Florida entities with commitments to relocate), while engaging the industry with private equity, venture capital and angel investors.

Today’s event concluded with an Emerging Technologies and Investments in Aerospace Panel, moderated by Dale Ketcham, Vice President of Government and External Relations for Space Florida. Panelists included Cecily Lavender, Manager of Special Projects for OneWeb Satellites; Spence Wise, Business Development Manager for L3Harris; Richard Godwin, Founding Venture Partner for Starbridge Venture Capital; Dr. Nahid Mojaheri, Technology General Manager for Nitto, Inc.; and Michael Vinje, Small Business Technology ManagerTo date, Space Florida-supported capital accelerators, have attracted more than $303 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 The Florida Venture Forum: The Florida Venture Forum is Florida’s largest statewide support and networking organization for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, helping startup and growth companies connect with the capital sources and business services they need to grow and scale. To date, companies presenting at Forum conferences have gone on to raise over $6 billion in equity capital, and a third-party economic impact study concluded that the Forum has contributed nearly $9 Billion in overall economic value to the State of Florida. The Forum hosts networking and educational programs throughout the year in addition to producing the annual Florida Venture Capital Conference, Florida Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition and Florida Early Stage and Angel Capital Conference. For more information, visit www.flventure.org or mail pat@flventure.org or kevin@flventure.org

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‍Media Contacts:
‍Sara Shell
Space Florida
321-730-5301 ext. 221
sshell@spaceflorida.gov

Pat Schneider
Florida Venture Forum
‍Pat@flventure.org