Calling Entrepreneurs to the Sikorsky Innovations Entrepreneurial Challenge

To the Entrepreneurial and Investor Communities:
On February 2, Sikorsky Innovations, the technology development organization of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, launched its first Entrepreneurial Challenge competition. The competition is designed to identify and accelerate the development of emerging, revolutionary technologies in aerospace and beyond. The Challenge is open to any small company with revenue under $5M, including newly formed and pre-revenue entities.

The contest centers on five Challenge Questions posted on the Sikorsky Innovations website (http://www.sikorsky.com/Innovation). The questions, which will remain on the website through March 30, target the aerospace market as an initial customer but have significantly broader applications. A subset of the applicants that apply to the Challenge will be invited to participate in a Final Round at Sikorsky’s headquarters in Stratford, CT. None, one or more entrepreneurial entities will be selected as the winner(s) per competition.

Every winning team will receive one year rent-free space utilization within the new Stamford Innovation Center (http://www.stamfordinnovationcenter.com/), which is a new, state-of-the-art incubator located in Stamford, CT. While in the Stamford iCenter, teams will have access to all services and programs offered by the Center at no additional charge. In addition, each team will participate in a 3-month long Sikorsky education program, designed to provide both targeted technical and business strategy guidance. Each winning entity will be assigned a technical mentor and be given access to the full body of Sikorsky technical experts and business professionals.

Upon completion of a maturation cycle in the incubator, each team will also benefit from an investment evaluation in which judging criteria will focus on technical and business maturity.

The current Challenge Questions target key technologies at the intersection of aerospace and high-growth industry verticals including cleantech, life sciences and mobile communications:

1. How can we make an aircraft more intelligent with wireless sensing?

2. Which adaptive signature control and active survivability technologies can make aircraft operations safer?

3. How do we create and distribute robust, certifiable transportation ‘Apps’?

4. What is the next high power/density energy storage technology?

5. How do we cool future avionic and sensor systems?

For more information on the Challenge Questions, as well as the full list of application guidelines, contest rules and judging guidelines, please visit the Entrepreneurial Challenge website. We encourage all those within the Entrepreneurial community to apply and wish everyone the best of luck. The Application deadline for the first Entrepreneurial Challenge is 5:00pm Eastern time on March 30th.

The mission of Sikorsky Innovations is to develop and mature the technologies, products and processes that will redefine the future of vertical flight. The organization builds on Sikorsky’s nearly 90 years of innovation, and seeks to expand collaborative partnerships, including those with entrepreneurial businesses.