It's safe to say that NASA, with a 2016 budget of over $19 billion, has a few more resources than your typical startup. Fortunately, the organization is well aware of this, which is why it launched the Space Race Challenge, a global initiative aimed at encouraging students and entrepreneurs to harness NASA-created technology.
The Challenge incentivizes startups to incorporate federally-funded technologies into their projects and, in return, NASA is waving all up-front licensing fees for those that do. This way, startups can deploy NASA's next-gen resources, without breaking the bank. And outside of helping startups, NASA is also hoping that the Challenge will cultivate new ideas on how to commercialize their technologies.
This week, NASA announced the 15 winners and finalists for the Challenge, with a team from Northern Illinois University being named a finalist.
Seniors Kyle Bodie and David Frey, two mechanical engineering students, pitched Maverick Drones, a startup that proposes to use NASA drone technology to help promote STEM education. The startup would have children, grades 5 through 12, build and program their own drones that would then compete in challenges designed to help develop analytical skills and an interest in STEM. (Check out their 2-minute pitch video here).
Bodie and Frey teamed up with entrepreneur Chris Sorensen on the project, who they've worked with before on Maker Research Labs, another organization focused on getting high school students interested in STEM.
“Usually, it’s hard for startups to get technology licenses because they have no resources to pay for licensing fees,” Sorensen told the NIU newsroom. “This competition turned the regular process on its head. The startup gets the license first, and then can seek venture capital funding, which makes more sense.”
Now that Maverick Drones has been named a finalist, the team can now officially begin pitching their idea to investors, with licensing approval. According to NASA, the winning entrepreneurs were selected based on 10-page business plans, financial models, and 20-minute “live pitches” to a panel of expert judges.
Explained David Makufka, Manager, Technology Transfer & Partnerships at NASA Kennedy Space Center, "The SPACE RACE Startup Challenge has provided NASA with the unique opportunity to engage with bright minds and entrepreneurs from around the country and assist them in forming new companies to commercialize NASA technology. We’re very excited to continue our relationships with these high-energy startups and help guide them through the finish line of successful commercialization."
