MakerCon’s Launch Pad competition culminated Tuesday in a grand prize awarded to Brooklyn-based startup BotFactory and their desktop circuit printer Squink.
With Squink, BotFactory is hoping to simplify and streamline electronic prototyping by offering a single machine capable of printing circuit traces with conductive ink and gluing, picking, and placing small surface mount components automatically.
Squink squeezed past nine other Launch Pad finalists, ranging from a semi-autonomous farming ATV, to a centrifugal coffee maker.
A panel of judges ranked the finalists based on four criteria, including application to real world problems, commercial viability, originality, and pitch quality. The judges included Joanne Domeniconi (The Grommet), Nick Pinkston (Plethora), Rafe Needleman (Yahoo Tech), Gareth Keane (Qualcomm Ventures), and Ann Miura-Ko (Floodgate).
The Launch Pad grand prize includes bragging rights, a $5,000 check presented by Maker Media founder and Executive Chairman Dale Dougherty, and free booth space at Maker Faire.
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