BEDFORD, Ind. (July 1, 2022) — A Loogootee-based start-up, Kupros, won first place in the third-annual Crane IP Defense Innovation Pitch Competition on Tuesday, June 28.   

Radius Indiana sponsored the virtual competition in coordination with Elevate Ventures, Naval Surface Warfare Center-Crane Division (NSWC Crane), Indiana Innovation Institute (IN3), the Indiana Small Business Development Center (ISBDC), and The Mill. Judges included southwestern Indiana defense and business leaders who had previous experience with pitch competitions and knowledge of NSWC Crane. 

The top three contestants shared cash prizes totaling $12,000. 

1. Kupros: ($6,000 prize): Kupros manufactures an all-metal copper filament that revolutionizes the 3D printed antenna and electronics market and is led by Ian Ramsdell. This unique filament is 80 times more conductive than anything currently available and can be used successfully with low-cost, commercial-grade FFF/FDM printers, offering a more cost-effective, versatile, and efficient printing process than any other existing solution. 
2. Blazing Audio ($4,000 prize): Blazing Audio, a deep tech consumer company pioneering a new style of immersive sensory interaction for real-world and virtual applications, is led by David Charlot. The company pitched building Hardware as a service (HaaS) Extended Reality (XR) solutions to provide responsive and interactive remote virtual training to billions around the world currently without access.
3. HG ASEAN Invest ($2,000 prize): HG ASEAN Invest, led by Hubert Goodman, offers an automated data preprocessing tool that can create value from raw data to enhance an organization’s capability with modern data. Goodman’s Information Consulting will help organizations turn data into information that generates a return on investments. 

“The Crane IP Defense Innovation Pitch start-up competition was a well structured and challenging event with a high caliber field of start-up businesses,” said Ramsdell. “Kupros Inc is honored to have been selected as the winning entry and we thank the competition organizers Radius Indiana for this award.”

Radius Indiana created the royalty-free IP pitch competition as an opportunity for interested businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurs to take advantage of NSWC Crane’s Rapid Response Licensing Program, which launched in Spring 2020 in response to COVID-19. The competition offered royalty-free access for those who seek to commercialize patented technologies and concepts developed at NSWC Crane. 

“NSWC CRANE is a rock star location for new innovation. Radius Indiana helps amplify this by fostering a startup-friendly environment,” said Charlot. “I found the judges’ questions and advice for Blazing Audio to have commercial success insightful and will use the wisdom shared to navigate the fun journey ahead. I really appreciate the opportunity to participate in the wonderful forum Radius Indiana has created to showcase startups bringing Crane IP to the commercial marketplace.”

This event was the fifth pitch competition hosted by Radius since 2019. These competitions have included pitch opportunities for high school students, adults, startups, and established businesses or products and ideas. 

“Participating in the NSWC Crane ecosystem through the Mill and sharing how our business will leverage the IP tech with Radius was a great experience and I’m grateful for the opportunity,” said Goodman. 

Radius plans to host additional pitch competitions in 2022. More information will be announced in the coming months.

“Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s pitch competition,” said Blaine Parker, director of entrepreneurship and small business support for Radius Indiana. “We are looking forward to seeing great things happen with the businesses that pitched for us, and Radius is here to help facilitate growing relationships with NSWC Crane.”

To view NSWC Crane’s entire IP portfolio, please visit www.techlinkcenter.org.

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About Radius Indiana: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of Southwest Central Indiana to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.

About NSWC Crane: NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory and a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) with mission areas in Expeditionary Warfare, Strategic Missions and Electronic Warfare. The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi-spectral, full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability to today’s Warfighter.

About Elevate Ventures: Elevate Ventures is a private venture development organization that nurtures and develops emerging and existing high-growth businesses into high-performing, Indiana-based companies. Elevate Ventures accomplishes this by providing access to capital, rigorous business analysis and robust advisory services that connect companies with the right mix of resources businesses need to succeed long term. To learn more about Elevate Ventures, visit elevateventures.com.

About Indiana Small Business Development Center: The Indiana SBDC creates a positive and measurable impact on the formation, growth, and sustainability of Indiana’s small businesses by providing entrepreneurs expert guidance and a comprehensive network of resources.

About Indiana Innovation Institute: IN3 (Indiana Innovation Institute) works with academia, industry, and government to create a hub of national security innovation that helps solve critical defense priorities. IN3 connects regional, state and national partners through a variety of means including convening research and business teams to solve emerging technical challenges for the U.S. Department of Defense. IN3 is focused on hypersonics, cyber-physical systems, trusted microelectronics and artificial intelligence. Learn more at www.in3indiana.com.

About The Mill: The Mill is the heart of southern Indiana’s startup ecosystem and its largest coworking space. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit center for entrepreneurship in Bloomington, funded by membership and event space fees, as well as by generous donations from corporate sponsors and angel investors from south-central Indiana.