NEXA Capital Partners Joins With The Drone User Group Network to Expand Drone Social Innovation Award

Washington DC – NEXA Capital Partners is joining the Drone User Group Network (DUGN) to put on the Drone Social Innovation Award, a cash prize for the most socially beneficial, documented use of a low cost drone. Through this initiative, the DUGN hopes to spur innovation, investment, and attention for the positive role that civilian drone technology can play in society. With NEXA Capital Partners’ support, the grand prize is worth $10,000.

“We think drones are a revolutionary technology with tremendous potential to make the world a better place, and we wanted to focus our prize on low cost drones to highlight the fact that this technology is cheap and accessible enough that ordinary people and community groups can drive innovation and do new things with them,” said Timothy Reuter, founder of the Drone User Group Network. “NEXA shares our passion for the field of aerial robotics and our appreciation for the way new technologies can be used to help people. With their sponsorship, we hope to be able attract more entries and investment into socially beneficial applications.”

As examples, he cited hobbyists using their systems to map coldwater refuges to help restore native fish species in West Virginia, tracking the progress of wildfires in Oregon and helping park officials in the Washington,D.C. areastudy changing patterns in the growth of vegetation.

“When Timothy approached us, we saw this award as an opportunity to help demonstrate the socially meaningful applications of unmanned aerial systems. We see that there is a growing grassroots social movement that wants to play a part in the development of this technology, and we want to support that,” stated Michael Dyment, NEXA Capital Partners Founder and Managing Partner.

The deadline to submit an entry for the prize is June 20, 2014. “We have already received notice from groups around the world that plan to use their systems for STEM education for youth with autism, wildlife tracking, and medical applications. We are very excited to see the range of creative and meaningful applications people are working on and look forward to all of their final submissions.”

The Drone User Group Network is an association of community organizations dedicated to teaching people how to build and operate their own drones and that seeks to promote the use of civilian drone technology for the benefit of humanity. More information about the network and prize can be found at dugn.org/prizes.

NEXA Capital Partners provides advisory and banking services to companies in the aerospace and infrastructure sector and makes strategic investments in high growth opportunities in these sectors. More information about NEXA can be found at www.nexacapital.com.