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Company Developing Technology For Drones Wins $500K In Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition

By Edward Cardenas

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) - An Ann-Arbor based company developing a sophisticated collision-avoidance system for drones  won the grand prize in the two-day Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition.

A total of 54 semifinalists - which are considered to be among Michigan's most promising companies to watch -  took part in the fifth annual competition which awarded more than $1 million in cash prizes along with services, staffing and software.

Sky Specs, LLC, won the $500,000 grand prize, and  second place prize of $100,000 was awarded to Cribspot which aims to revolutionize how college students find and manage their off-campus housing.

"We congratulate all participants this year for demonstrating a highly competitive entrepreneurial spirit," said Martin Dober, Vice President of Invest Detroit, in a release. "Each year we are more and more impressed by the caliber of businesses, ideas and technologies at Accelerate Michigan and they should all be proud of their efforts. This year's competition was truly encouraging as the competitors displayed the utmost dedication in continuing to contribute to Michigan's innovation economy and culture."

The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is an international business competition which showcases the best and brightest businesses to the investment community in order to foster engagement and economic growth, according to organizers. The competition was made possible by grants from the New Economy Initiative and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's 21st Century Jobs Fund along with corporate and community support.

Other sector-specific prizes of $25,000 include:

"As an increasing number of businesses and entrepreneurs continue to invest in the state's economic development, we're excited to see the impact of this year's winners," said Lauren Bigelow, Executive Director of Accelerate Michigan. "For the fifth year in a row, we've brought together the best and brightest in business and innovation we look forward to seeing the participating companies continue to grow and do wonderful things for our state."

Thirteen of the selected semi-finalists received valuable support services from Detroit-based NextEnergy including A2B Bikeshare; ArborWind; Black Pine Engineering; Detroit Materials; Elegus Technologies; Inventev; LogiCoul Solutions; Neuvokas Corporation; Ornicept; Saras, LLC; Shock EngineWorks; SkySpecs; and Solartonic.

NextEnergy is an independent, non-profit launched energy and transportation incubator for the state of Michigan located in midtown Detroit.

"It's rewarding to see so many clients doing well in these competitions after receiving guidance and support from NextEnergy," said NextEnergy President and CEO, Jean Redfield, in a release. "It's a great testament that our model is working and we're proud to be making an impact with Michigan entrepreneurs."

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