Investments
PILOT funded the development of the Application Program Interface (API) that enables apps to “talk to” and control the FM chip that is already available in virtually every smart phone. This work helped to lay the foundation for the NextRadio service.
PILOT has invested in Haystack TV, a California-based startup that aggregates content from a variety of sources for a continuous stream of tailored news. The videos can be viewed on mobile devices, as well as on connected TVs. NAB’s CTO, Sam Matheny, is an advisor to Haystack TV.
PILOT made a strategic investment in Syncbak, an over-the-top (OTT) media technology company serving the U.S. broadcast industry. Its technologies are used by TV networks and television stations to distribute live content to mobile devices. Syncbak is a privately held company founded in 2009 by broadcast media entrepreneur Jack Perry.
PILOT invested in VoxFrontera and supported development work in speech recognition technology. The goal of this research for broadcast applications is to enable automatic captioning and obscenity filtering.
PILOT invested in Yet Analytics, a Baltimore-based startup that leverages open source technologies using methods originally developed within the U.S. Department of Defense. Yet Analytics provides cutting-edge platforms for the multi-source collection and analysis of human and machine performance data within Fortune 500 companies and other large organizations.
Partnerships
PILOT is a member of The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. The Dingman Center helps the investing community reach out to regional start-up companies seeking early-stage funding. It also provides workshops, seminars and training programs for the regional entrepreneurial community. The Dingman Center is the recipient of the prestigious 2014 NASDAQ Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.