Syracuse’s Dropcopter drone company wins $500K in Grow-NY competition

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Dropcopter, a Syracuse-based startup that uses drones to pollinate orchards, won $500,000 in the Grow-NY food and agriculture business competition Wednesday.

The company was one of two second-place winners chosen by a panel of judges following a two-day summit in Rochester.

RealEats America, a meal subscription service based in Geneva, won the $1 million grand prize. The other winners were:

  • $500,000 Winner - Tiliter. Based in Munich, Germany, the company makes a device that uses artificial intelligence to detect any fruit or vegetable placed in front of it, making the checkout process at grocery stores faster and reducing plastic waste.
  • $250,000 Winner - Capro-X. Based in Ithaca, Capro-X is an agritech spinoff from Cornell University. Its whey treatment technology uses naturally occurring microbes to upgrade dairy farm waste streams into clean water and natural bio-oils.
  • $250,000 Winner - Combplex. Based in Ithaca, the company builds electronic and chemical-free miticide that specifically targets Varroa mites to protect bee colonies.
  • $250,000 Winner - The Perfect Granola. Based in Victor, the company produces allergy-free, locally sourced, single-serve granola for New York schools.
  • $250,000 Winner - Whole Healthy Food. Based in Ithaca, it creates therapeutic food ingredients and is currently focused on producing a white kidney bean protein that can be added to foods and beverages.

Administered by Cornell University, the state-funded competition is focused on growing a food and agriculture “innovation cluster” in Central New York, the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier regions. Winners must commit to operating in one of the three regions for at least one year.

This is the first of three annual rounds that will each offer a total of $3 million in funding to companies that demonstrate they are innovative and have the potential for high growth.

Nearly 200 food and agriculture startups from around the world applied for the competition this spring. Seventeen finalists were chosen to pitch their businesses to a panel of judges during the summit and Rochester Tuesday and Wednesday.

Dropcopter was started in California by Adam Fine and Matt Koball and came to Syracuse to compete in Genius NY, a state-funded competition for start-up companies focused on the growing unmanned aerial systems industry. Dropcopter did not win the top prize of $1 million in the Genius NY competition, but it did take home a $250,000 prize.

The company uses drones to spread pollen on orchards where natural bee populations are not enough to get the job done.

