Cade Prize selects six finalists   

Judges selected six teams to advance to the final round of the 13^th annual Cade Prize for Innovation competition. 

The finalists’ rankings will be revealed at the Cade Prize Awards Dinner taking place on Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Cade Museum in Gainesville. The chosen teams will compete for $67,000 in cash prizes. 

“The field of this year’s competition was exceptional,” said Richard Miles, Cade Prize committee chair, in a press release. “We are excited to announce the winners and watch how their groundbreaking innovations could change the world in the years to come.” 

The Cade Prize is a capstone initiative of the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville. Both are named after Dr. Robert Cade, who worked as a physician and UF professor of medicine and is best known for inventing Gatorade in 1965. The museum’s mission is to transform communities by inspiring and equipping future inventors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries. 

If there is inclement weather, the event will be moved to Oct. 6.  

Typically, five teams make the finals, but this year two teams are tied for one position. The top 21 teams were announced in August. 

The final six teams are as follows:  

• Company name: Ambulero, Inc., Miami, Fla. 
  Innovation: A gene therapy for rare vascular diseases 

• Company name: Ilika Geospatial, Orlando, Fla. 
  Innovation: Earth Observation Indices, transforming raw satellite data into simple metrics 

• Company name: NEPTUNYA Ocean Power, Boca Raton, Fla. 
  Innovation: OCTOPODZ, a technology to unlock offshore renewable energy 

• Company name: Polymer Solutions Inc., Atlanta, Ga. 
  Innovation: Transient, Self-Immolative Polymers 

• Company name: SG Endocrine Research, LLC, Athens, Ga. 
  Innovation: Nanoparticles for non-surgical spaying and neutering 

• Company Name: Sustainable Landfill Solutions LLC, Newberry, Fla. 
  Innovation: RO BOX – A Modular On-site Landfill Leachate Treatment System 

Last year,  SPKL, LLC of Tampa won the 12th annual Cade Prize with its new rbSEE blood flow monitor out a field of 21 entries. Two Gainesville companies took third and fourth place. Aurita won $8,000 for a three-dimensional tool designed to help fight cancer and Versatile Sensor Technology received $5,000 for a rapid COVID-19 test that can detect the virus in saliva.