Silas makes clean sweep of investor, audience awards at TechLaunch BullPen 12

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TechLaunch BullPen’s Tuesday evening event at Rutgers University was filled with a standing-room-only, capacity crowd of investors, mentors, academia, students and business people hearing investor pitches from a select group of presenting companies representing a broad swath of business models. When the votes in the room were tallied, Silas emerged as the clear winner of both the coveted Investor Panel Award and the popular Audience Award, both of which in answer to the question, “Which company is the most fundable?”

Silas, with support from the National Science Foundation, is a first of its kind browser-based software in which students and teachers engage in social scenes using video and audio game controllers to command and track their own 3D avatars.

“It was an honor to have been chosen to pitch and then win at the BullPen,” CEO Chris Dudick, who presented at BullPen 12, remarked. “My mentor, Ratan Agarwal, really set my pitch deck up for success.  I am extremely excited to now work with Mario Casabona and the TechLaunch team on bringing Silas to the next level.”

The other companies vying for panel and audience recognition included the following:

OnGo Energy – an efficient energy supplement packing the highest concentration of natural caffeine in a sugar-free, liquid spray formula, called OnGo Energy Spray. The product is endorsed by two Olympians.

Scanifly – a drone-based software for solar installers that automates the development and maintenance process with the goal of centralizing the solar industry onto a singular platform. Scanifly, according to TechLaunch, reduces surveying time by 90 percent while enhancing system accuracy and worker safety.

Aersys – Representing the undergraduate student slot at Rutgers University, Aersys is a logistics startup developing a network of AI-powered infrastructure to support multi-leg delivery utilizing drones, rovers, traditional vehicles and other technologies.

BullPen 12 was co-hosted by Alfred Blake, assistant director of undergraduate entrepreneurship at Rutgers University, along with the entrepreneurial community group Scarlet Startups.

BullPen 13 will be held at Stevens Institute of Technology on April 24.