Building on previous years, Tampa Deep Sea Xplorers hit a series of important milestones during 2022, which has created a solid foundation for planned expansion and ramping up of product deliveries of our game-changing Barracuda AUV™ in 2023.
Just some of the key 2022 achievements include:
- January: Sample data collection conducted at Crystal River for Phase 1 Lidar development for NOAA SBIR.
- February: Incorporated as a C-corp in Delaware. Collaborated with Marine Arresting Technologies on a Phase 1 SBIR proposal for DHS.
- March: Completed Phase 1 SBIR for NOAA. Submitted Phase 2 SBIR proposal to NOAA. SBIR Phase 1 was joint collaboration between TDSX, Beam Sea Associates, and SEE Monster Vision Solutions. Joined Blue+ Accelerator Spring Cohort run by Braid Theory in Los Angeles. 8 week accelerator program.
- April: Pressure tested Barracuda AUV to 800 psi at University of South Florida Marine Sciences.
- May: Completed Blue + Accelerator. Attended Inspire22 event in Los Angeles California. Delivered 4 minute pitch to potential investors. Onboarded USF intern.
- June: Attended Embedded Technology Exposition in Las Vegas. Began Phase 1 SBIR collaboration with Marine Arresting Technologies for DHS.
- August: Began Phase 2 SBIR for NOAA in collaboration with Beam Sea Associates and SEE Monster Vision Solutions.
- September: Attended Gala for Ocean Builders in Panama City, Panama. Displayed Barracuda AUV.
- October: Began Phase 1 STTR collaboration with Certus Group and University of South Florida for collaborative swarms of AUVs. Named Semi-finalist team for Pepperdine University’s Most Fundable Companies of 2022. One of 8 finalist teams in the Impact22 pitch competition. Completed Phase 1 SBIR collaboration with Marine Arresting Technology. Attended “Discovering Global Markets Conference” at Portsmouth RI.
- November: Attended Orlando Maker Faire. Attended TMA Blue Tech Week in San Diego. TDSX was selected as a Hello Tomorrow Deep Tech Pioneer. Attended “Florida Coastal Mapping Summit” in St. Petersburg.
On the SBIR front. We were granted a phase 1 SBIR with NOAA and completed that in March. We then applied for a phase 2 and that was granted and we are 2 months into that one. Our compact underwater Lidar development for that is looking very good. We expect that will become one of our major products. We also collaborated with another company on a phase 1 SBIR for DHS. That was for a non-lethal crowd control barrier. We completed phase 1 and have submitted an application for phase 2, but we won’t know that outcome until early 2023. We are also collaborating on a phase 1 STTR with another company and the University of South Florida for collaborative swarms of underwater drones. We are not the principal in that grant but are furnishing the vehicles and providing technical assistance. We plan to submit a phase 1 SBIR to National Science Foundation soon and others TBD.
We attended the Inspire22 show that Braid Theory sponsored in May. We also attended the Embedded Technology show in Las Vegas in June. We made several good contacts there and are now working on an advanced battery design with a couple of companies that we met there. We will be attended the Orlando Maker Faire. I will also be attending the Blue Tech Expo in San Diego Nov. 15-18. We are being featured at this show as one of the NOAA SBIR companies. NOAA wants to show off a few of the successful SBIR companies as a public outreach thing. We are also being featured in the NOAA newsletter twice this month, one for the SBIR and one for being a veteran run business.
We are planning to attend a couple of ocean related trade shows in early 2023.
We were featured in the Impact 22 pitch competition as one of 8 finalist teams there. We did not win, but we got some good exposure there. We were also semi-finalists in the Pepperdine University “Most Fundable Companies of 2022” competition. We were mentioned on their website as one of the 60 or so semi-finalist teams.
We are now getting ready for a crowd funding campaign with Start Engine. Which we hope will be successful in raising 1 million dollars to allow us to expand and do even more cool stuff.