Five startup companies connected to Florida State University competed for $85,000 in funding at the third annual Discovery Challenge, held as part of FSU’s Discovery Days. The event took place at the Augustus B. Turnbull III Conference Center and featured presentations from each company about their plans to advance technologies developed with FSU support.
The startups addressed a range of issues, including premature birth prevention, smart sensors for infrastructure and healthcare, chronic wound healing solutions, radioactive material screening in food, and smart controls for the energy industry.
“These companies are going to impact the world and the people in it,” said Stacey Patterson, Vice President for Research at FSU. “With our third annual Discovery Days, everyone at FSU is starting to see the promise of discovery, innovation and creativity that’s coming out of this type of work, how it impacts people, how it impacts Floridians —which is what being an R1 institution is really all about.”
Judges Kathy Chiu (DeepWork Capital), Micheal Kramer (K3 Investments and Super-Holdings Investments), and FSU alumna Christina Larkin (Mobius Care) evaluated each pitch after a six-minute presentation followed by eight minutes of questions.
Joshua Degraff from Feel With Me Tech received both first prize ($50,000) and the audience choice award ($10,000) for developing low-cost smart sensors that can monitor structural health in various settings such as smart cities or telehealth. “Events like Discovery Challenge are really important because it gives researchers an opportunity to show people what we’ve been doing and how our research could push society forward and improve the quality of life for so many people,” Degraff said. “When I explain this research and technology in terms of things that everyone can relate to, it’s a lot easier for people to grasp the impact.”
Rich Meeker from Nhu Energy was awarded second prize ($25,000) for his company’s digital operating technology designed to make clean-energy microgrids more resilient and economical. This technology aims to address aging power grids as well as rising electricity costs.
Other participants included Turner Seay pitching Oxemose Pharmaceuticals’ stem cell-derived exosome treatment shown to heal chronic wounds faster than current methods; Zhonghui Chen with Roentgen Matters’ large area radiation detector intended for food safety screening; and Marcel Botha presenting Prena’s wearable light therapy device aimed at reducing preterm infant complications.
Discovery Challenge is supported by FSU’s IGNITE initiative which helps new tech ventures through business development resources and access to funding. More information on ongoing events can be found on the FSU Discovery Days website.
