IEEE Entrepreneurship at EUtop50 and G-STIC 2018

Photo: IEEE Entrepreneurship Director Randi Sumner and 2015 IEEE Entrepreneurship Initiative Chiar Ken Stauffer recognizing representatives from Bioseco, Drone Hopper, Genomic Expression and Pharem Biotech as IEEE N3XT® Stars

By Thomas Monaco

Late last year, members of the IEEE Entrepreneurship staff and community attended the EUtop50 pitch competition at the 10th European Innovation Summit in Brussels, Belgium.

Located in the European Parliament this event addressed hot topics currently in emerging technologies and policy crucial for Europe.

Founders and CEO’s from all over the region congregated to speak with investors, government officials, mentors, and more on topics such as the digital transformation of industry, materials for sustainability, clean energy, healthcare, mobility, artificial intelligence and the internet of things.

Pitches and discussions were held across two days and our judges Marious Antoniou, Andreas Neumeier, and Ken Stauffer spoke and evaluated over 20 tech startups for a for a chance to become an IEEE N3XT® Star.

The IEEE N3XT® Star Program recognizes the best hard tech startups globally.  Early-stage companies are selected by a distinguished panel of entrepreneurs and investors from the IEEE community, in acknowledgment of their progress and potential in bringing engineering-driven innovations to market in emerging areas of technology.

Our judges awarded the title of IEEE N3XT® Star to the following companies:

Bioseco is a team of IT engineers, optical, radar and computer specialists who work closely with ornithologists, chiropterologists, aviation experts and high security installation specialists to develop, refine and optimise an innovative and cost-effective system that protects birds and reduce costs at the airports (during takeoff and landing, thereby increasing air passenger safety and reducing aircraft repair costs and bird mortality) and wind farms.

 

Drone Hopper is a Spanish start-up created to design, manufacture and operate heavy-duty, multi-rotor unmanned drones. We also innovate drone technology to empower and protect communities while filling the substantial gap in the mid-scale drone market. The drones are intended to be used mainly on wildfire firefighting and agricultural operations. We have 16 highly experienced team members with multidisciplinary profiles, including over 12 years experience in aeronautical engineering at Airbus.  

 

Genomic Expression is finding the best drug for the patient and the best patient for the drug by sequencing RNA. Analyzing RNA is able to tell if the tumor will respond to the new immune therapies, which is the only kind of therapy that is a potential cure.

 

 

Pharem Biotech was founded 2013 in Uppsala, Sweden. The company has since established itself as an innovative and burgeoning company within the fields of water treatment and biotechnology.

 

 

 

In addition to attending the EU Top 50, our team also attended G-STIC – The Global Sustainable Technology & Innovation Conference at Tour in Taxis in Brussels, Belgium.  

G-STIC facilitates the co-design and co-production of knowledge and solutions that are needed to implement sustainable development goals, by fostering collaboration among sustainable technology & innovation communities.

The following companies received IEEE N3XT® Star recognition at G-STIC:

Meet re:3D – a Texas-based startup pushing the limits of 3D printing worldwide. Gigabot, our flagship product, is the world’s most affordable large-scale, industrial-grade 3D printer. With a build envelope of 8 cubic feet, Gigabot can print items 30x larger by volume than competing desktop models.

 

 

Our team was also excited to recognize Janati Nakimera as an IEEE N3XT® Rising Star for her work developing a solar net metering billing system in rural Uganda.