Sikorsky Innovations plans to use the center for new entrepreneurial ventures that are developing highly differentiated technology aligned with Sikorsky Aircraft initiatives.

“We are pleased to support the mission of the Stamford Innovation Center and its Foundation through this significant corporate sponsorship,” said Sikorsky Innovations Vice President Chris Van Buiten. “Sikorsky Innovations is committed to identifying and maturing cutting-edge technologies applicable to current and future products of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. We firmly believe that the mission of the Stamford Innovation Center aligns closely with our goals and look forward to working with its team.”

Located at the iconic Old Town Hall in the heart of Stamford, the Stamford Innovation Center is a new hub for entrepreneurship and innovation whose mission is to “Accelerate the Entrepreneur’s Voyage.”

The 16,000-square-foot iCenter will offer dedicated desks, shared “co-working” space and all of the typical business services available in a state-of-the-art office complex. “Most importantly, we will surround our entrepreneurs with a community… a team of individuals and organizations dedicated to their success,” said Patty Meagher, one of the Founders of the Center. “It is an ideal environment in which to work, learn, accelerate, and create the future.”

“The collaboration between Sikorsky and Stamford Innovation highlights the ongoing and exciting entrepreneurial spirit that exists at institutions across our state,” Governor Dannel P. Malloy said. “Connecticut has always had a reputation as the home for innovation, whether we’re talking about companies, technology or our workforce. The partnership announced today will help our state build on that history and continue our efforts to find new ways to compete in a 21st Century economy.”

Along with the sponsorship announcement, Sikorsky Innovations announced plans for an Entrepreneurial Challenge competition to assist in identifying and rewarding those relevant ventures.

The Entrepreneurial Challenge will feature five technical questions posted to the Sikorsky.com web site for two months. Entrepreneurial teams may submit applications to one or more of the questions. Applications will be judged on technical feasibility, value proposition, and team expertise.

Finalists will be chosen from the applicant pool, and will have the opportunity to present their technology to Sikorsky experts. Winning teams will be granted a period of rent-free access to the Stamford Innovation Center, including a portion of the Sikorsky-designated incubation space, shared services within the Center, and participation in the Center’s education and mentorship programs. Sikorsky technical and business mentors will assist the teams in maturing and growing their businesses.

“Competition has been one of the driving forces of innovation in aviation since before Charles Lindbergh claimed the Orteig Prize for his nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic. As a leader in the vertical flight industry, Sikorsky Innovations is continually looking to expand its network of partners, working closely with them to demonstrate differentiating technologies that are relevant to our customers. The Entrepreneurial Challenge represents another facet of that strategy, targeted at those innovators just beginning their entrepreneurial journey,” Van Buiten said. “We look forward to reaching out to the community with our Entrepreneurial Challenge and finding companies with an emerging aerospace technology, or enlightening those companies that didn’t know they had an aerospace application within their technology.”

As part of the sponsorship announcement, Sikorsky Innovations also officially launched the first of the Entrepreneurial Challenges, with a submission deadline of 5 p.m. EDT on March 30. For details or to take the challenge, visit: http://www.sikorsky.com/Innovation

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., based in Stratford, Conn., is a world leader in helicopter design, manufacture, and service. United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford, Conn., provides a broad range of high technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries.

www.stamfordinnovationcenter.com

SOURCE Sikorsky Innovations

While never a dominant part of the venture capital industry, corporate-sponsored venture capital investors (think for example AOL Ventures) have long been an important part of the industry. Entrepreneurs thinking about seeking venture capital should, preferably at the beginning of the quest, consider whether they want to seek, or will even consider, corporate venture capital. For some deals, corporate venture capital is a priority; for most it is an option; and for some, it might be a last resort. Herewith, some of the issues to consider.

Corporate Venture Capital as Deal Validation. Generally, the more technology risk a deal has, the more attractive corporate venture money is, all the more so when the expected amount of pre-revenue capital needed and time to market are greater. Corporate venture capital is often a plus, for example, in biopharma deals, where technology risk, capital needs and time to market are huge. Getting a corporate fund in a deal sends a powerful due diligence signal to all but the highest tier traditional funds (they are as a rule less impressed by third party due diligence) that the science passes the blush test. On the other hand, deals where time to market, technology risk and risk capital requirements are not so great – say, a niche social networking concept – are not likely to get as great a validation enhancer across as broad a range of traditional funds.

Corporate Venture Capital as Lead Investor – Usually Not. As a rule, corporate funds don’t make very good lead investors. First, while a corporate fund can be a nice validator, getting too close to a corporate fund can make doing business deals with companies that compete with the corporate fund’s parent harder to do. If “Competitor A” is your lead investor, “Competitor B” will be understandably more cautious about doing a deal – or even sharing information – with you than if Competitor A is only a follower in the deal. Further, remember that most corporate funds (there are exceptions: ask) are not “pure return” investor, and thus is not in a good position to set the price – which is one of the important things the lead typically, well, takes the lead on. (Traditional funds will – quite correctly – discount an entrepreneur’s assertion that a price agreed to by a corporate fund is a fair price, particularly if the corporate fund is not a pure return investor.)

Corporate Venture Capital: The People Difference. Not to say that there are not exceptions, and not to say that corporate venture capital professionals are not exceptional in their own corporate worlds, corporate venture capitalists are as a general rule not the brightest bulbs in the venture capitalist universe. First, compensation at most corporate venture capital firms is generally not as generous/aggressive as at traditional funds that don’t have to “fit in” to a broader corporate compensation system. If traditional venture capital firms pay more, you would expect they would attract the best people. Second, corporate venture capitalists, while needing, of course, to earn the confidence of senior corporate managers, don’t have to go through the hurdle of successfully selling themselves to a typically fairly large group of sophisticated investors who specialize in evaluating venture capital professionals as traditional venture capitalists do. Finally, most traditional venture capitalists – certainly the stereotypical venture capital professional – are folks with big egos who like to make others fit to their rules rather than vice versa. That’s a personality profile that doesn’t generally fit very well in below C-level jobs in big business management cultures.

Corporate Venture Capital: Here Today, …. Whether considering a relationship with a traditional or corporate venture firm, one criteria, of course, is how long a fund team has been around: generally, fund teams that have managed several funds across several investing cycles are more desirable investors than less experienced funds. While there are notable exceptions, corporate venture capital funds don’t as a rule have the staying power of more traditional funds, as in addition to the performance hurdles all funds must overcome to stay in the business over the long haul, corporate funds have some of their own longevity issues. For example, being pieces (usually small ones at that) of much larger enterprises, corporate funds are subject to the whims of senior management teams that at most companies blow hot and cold on venture capital investing, depending on short-term earnings pressures and more broadly shifting management priorities over the corporate cycle and as senior managers come and go. Entrepreneurs considering venture capital should, to the extent possible, try to focus on corporate funds that have demonstrated both some staying power and some real success (which, of course, are also good criteria for evaluating competing proposals from traditional venture funds, too).

Paul Jones works with emerging technology companies and their investors as part of the Venture Best team at Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. A serial venture-backed technology entrepreneur and institutional venture capital investor, he is also the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the College of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. He can be reached at pajones@michaelbest.com. This post was originally published on his blog at Paul Jones’ Blog.

Reposted from Madison.com

Gov. Scott Walker and Kestrel Aircraft Corp. officials announced Monday that the aircraft manufacturer plans to make Superior the home of its manufacturing facility and headquarters — a move that will bring about 600 jobs to the area by 2016.

The announcement was made at the Richard I. Bong Airport in Superior.

“There were a number of locations that would have worked from a business standpoint,” said Alan Klapmeier, head of Kestrel and co-founder and former chief executive officer of Duluth-based Cirrus Aircraft. “It was really just a matter of working with the different communities and getting together the package that was necessary.”

The Superior Telegram reported the economic downturn made it difficult to get the project going.

Kestrel’s website says it makes 6- and 8-person turboprop planes. Its headquarters and manufacturing operations are currently located in Brunswick, Maine. It also has engineering and design offices in Duluth, Minn.

The announcement did not mention how existing locations and employees would be affected. A message left with the company’s spokeswoman was not immediately returned.

The state has committed more than $100 million to the project, including $30 million in New Market Tax Credits in 2012, $60 million in future allocations, and a $2 million loan through the state’s Small Business Credit Initiative Program through Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is adding $18 million in Enterprise Zone Tax Credits and a $2 million economic development loan to the pot.

“This is a great opportunity for us today,” Walker said. “Obviously this part of the state needs jobs, so the fact that it’s right here in Superior is even more special.”

The financial package also includes $3.1 million in tax increment financing and a $2.4 million low-interest loan through the city of Superior. It also includes the transfer of county owned land adjacent to the Bong Airport and a $500,000 loan through the Douglas County Revolving Loan Fund.

Walker said this is the largest single job creation since he took office. The closest was 469 jobs announced in Sturtevant a couple months ago.

Pipistrel is a Slovenian aviation company that was founded in 1987.  For starting out as making only hang-gliders, this private aircraft producer sure has made electric aviation dreams possible with its continued work and research that could change the future of flight forever.

Team Pipistrel flew its Taurus G4, which is the first fully electric 4-seat aircraft to take flight.  To qualify for the challenge, each competitor needed to be able to fly 200 miles at 100mph in less than 2 hours while using less than 1 gallon of fuel per passenger during the flight. 

The Taurus G4 not only succeeded, but exceeded expectations by completing the flight using only half of a gallon of fuel per passenger!  The future of electronic aircraft is a bright one, and we look forward to seeing what else Pipistrel has in store.

Sonex Aircraft, LLC is excited to announce that the SubSonex jet aircraft prototype, JSX-1, made its maiden flight today, August 10, 2011 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, WI. The SubSonex was piloted by air show performer and owner of Desert Aerospace LLC, Bob Carlton. The flight lasted approximately 14 minutes and focused on exploring the low-end of the aircraft’s speed envelope, including stalls, and a low approach in the landing configuration.

“It’s an exciting day for Sonex,” said SubSonex designer and Sonex Aircraft, LLC President John Monnett. “We have a test flight plan to expand the envelope of the aircraft, and we’ll see where the project takes us from here.”

“It was great – flies like an airplane,” Carlton said after the flight. “The faster I went, the better it felt.” Carlton was selected to fly the aircraft based on his vast experience pioneering light jet aircraft. Bob Carlton is best known for his air show performances with the Super Salto jet sailplane, and is the developer of the Bonus Jet two-seat glider. The engines used on Carlton’s aircraft are the same as that used on the SubSonex: The PBS TJ-100.

More information about the SubSonex jet aircraft can be found on the Sonex Aircraft Hornets’ Nest Research and Development web site at: http://www.sonexaircraft.com/research/subsonex.html

Sonex Aircraft, LLC is a leader in the experimental kit aircraft industry, providing a series of Sport Pilot eligible kit aircraft and producing the AeroConversions line of products which include the AeroVee engine, AeroInjector and ancillary aviation products. Sonex Aircraft’s Sonex and Waiex sport planes, and the Xenos sport motorglider offer outstanding performance in an easy to build, easy to fly kit package that can be purchased and completed with full technical support at an unrivaled price. Sonex and AeroConversions product development is committed to providing simple, elegant and low-cost solutions for sport flying. Simply put, Sonex Aircraft and AeroConversions products provide the best performance per dollar. Check us out at www.SonexAircraft.com and www.AeroConversions.com

This year, AeroInnovate is introducing a Technology Showcase.  Selected companies will be able to share their technology on a table top display in the AeroInnovate Business Center for 1-day during EAA’s AirVenture which attracts over 500,000 people annually.  Interested applicants should send the following information to jaegerm@uwosh.edu no later than July 8, 2011:  Contact information, brief biography, title, one page summary of technology including why it is commercially important, and two options for days they are available during EAA’s AirVenture.

AeroInnovate’s Technology Showcase is a great opportunity for investors and industry leaders to see some new technologies and meet the people behind them.

In addition to submitting application information, aeroinnovators are encouraged to visit www.aeroinnovate.org and profile their company to provide themselves with additional exposure.

AeroInnovate helps aeroinnovators from across the globe who are starting and growing aero-related businesses and bringing new technologies to the marketplace.  AeroInnovate’s services include educating tomorrow’s aeroinnovators, aligning investors and industry leaders with quality opportunities, exposing new aero-related technologies to the world, and providing valuable networking opportunities for all involved through its business center. 

For more information on AeroInnovate, please visit their website at www.AeroInnovate.org.

Captured on video by TVNZ’s SUNDAY programme Video of Mile High Soar, this incredible flight high above Pudding Hill in Canterbury, New Zealand is a major step towards commercial production of the world’s first practical Jetpack being developed by New Zealand’s Martin Aircraft Company. “This successful test brings the future another step closer,” said the Jetpack’s Inventor, Glenn Martin.

The record‐breaking flight is part of an intensive period of flight‐testing for the Jetpack as the Martin Aircraft Company works through the final development phase of the Jetpack’s technologies with the aim to have first deliveries of both the manned and unmanned (UAV) versions to key customers within the next 18 months.

Named one of Time Magazines’ top 50 inventions for 2010, the Martin Jetpack has the ability to fly for half an hour or more, climb more than 1000ft per minute and to cruise at 100 km/h. “In this test we limited the jetpack to 800 ft/min climb so the chase helicopters could keep up,” said Martin.

Another first during the high flight was the world first test of the Jetpack’s Ballistic Parachute safety system. While this test was a verification of the safety system using an off the shelf version; Martin Aircraft believes that with the purpose built Ballistic Parachute they are developing, unlike helicopters, the Jetpack’s avoidance curve can be removed entirely – meaning that with the Martin safety systems there is no height where a catastrophic failure needs to lead to significant injury.

For this high altitude flight the company tested the UAV unmanned version using a weighted dummy simulating a pilot’s weight to demonstrate the Jetpack’s ability to fly high.

“This test also validated our flight model, proved thrust to weight ratio and proved our ability to fly a Jetpack as an unmanned aerial vehicle, which will be key to some of the Jetpack’s future emergency/search & rescue and military applications,” said Martin.

The earliest Martin Jetpack customers are expected to be in the military and emergency response sectors around the world. Unmanned Jetpacks could be used for delivery, observation and extraction in areas and situations too dangerous for people and other aircraft to get to.

Martin Aircraft CEO, Richard Lauder said the Christchurch based company is now in an intensive testing period to refine technology in the areas of safety (the Ballistic Parachute), engine performance over extended and continuous hours of operation, and high speed flight stability.

He said all the technologies tested during the high flight performed well and technicians are already working on the next test to push new boundaries of the flight envelope.

Lauder says: “this latest successful high flight was a complex aviation event requiring approval from the Civil Aviation Authority, and took several months to coordinate.

From a company point of view, the high flight shows Martin Aircraft’s development over the past two years and its expertise in coordinating and running a sophisticated and complex aviation event of this nature.

“In the past two years we’ve gone from unveiling a world leading invention to a company on the verge of international commercialisation of both the manned and unmanned versions of the Jetpack.”

Since the public unveiling of the Jetpack at Oshkosh in the US (the world’s biggest aviation show), Martin Aircraft has received substantial interest from governments, military and emergency services around the world, along with many in the general aviation sector who are interested in being one of the first to own a jetpack.

Based on customer demand and international interest in the development of the Jetpack for a range of uses, the Martin Aircraft Company believes the Jetpack has the potential to become a significant international export earner for New Zealand. 

The Martin Aircraft Company are the developers of the Martin Jetpack based in Christchurch, New Zealand. 

Originally posted at www.martinjetpack.com.

In addition to the six (6) elevator pitches, AeroInnovate’s Pitch & Mingle event provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs, investors and advisors to mingle, network and enjoy learning about up & coming technology and businesses in the industry.

New Berlin, WI, USA (March, 2011) – EMTEQ has developed a Modulated Rotor Tip Light (MRTL) system as the Phase I preliminary design concept for a U.S. Navy Small Business Innovative Research grant (SBIR).

Position lights for rotary-wing aircraft can be made more visible and effective by using rotor tip mounted lights. Similar to fixed-wing aircraft that use wing tip mounted lights; rotor tip mounted lights add increased lateral separation. By sequentially flashing the appropriate color LED tip light at the appropriate rotor positions of the rotating blade; red, green and white position lighting sector illumination can be achieved. EMTEQ is a leading innovator in aircraft exterior lights supplying over 18,000 aircraft exterior lighting units used on more than 30 rotary and fixed-wing aircraft.

The benefits of MRTL position lighting include greatly enhanced visibility as the tip light path appears to be long stripes of light rather than individual beacons; LED technology offers higher intensity light output in addition to minimal weight and installation footprint; and lateral separation between red and green lights can be as large as the rotor diameter, approximately five times larger than the fuselage width. A MRTL system can also contribute significantly to mission safety by making the rotor tip path highly visible to ground crews and shipboard personnel during taxi, takeoff, and landings and other aircraft during formation flights.

EMTEQ is currently validating design concepts in a dedicated testing facility and is striving for DoD SBIR Phase 2 approval later this year. Only those firms that were awarded Phase I contracts are eligible to participate in Phases II and III based on results of the Phase I effort and the scientific, technical, and commercial merit of the Phase II proposal. Phase II involves partnering with an OEM to fabricating a full-scale version of the system to demonstrate the applicability of the system. Phase III transitions to a flight-qualified technology that the small business may offer to aircraft manufacturers for incorporation in experimental and/or production aircraft.

Source: http://www.amtonline.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=12919