Product of the Year finalists usher new technology into the everyday

Every fall, the NH Tech Alliance gathers a group of New Hampshire business leaders, tasked with the ever-challenging duty of judging new technology products with the goal of crowning one as Product of the Year.

This year, I once again had the privilege to sit on that judging panel — this time alongside NH Business Review Editor Mike Cote — to help choose the five finalists for the 18th annual competition.

These finalists will go on to compete at a live event on Dec. 11, from 4 to 6:30 p.m., at the Bank of NH Stage in Concord, and will be livestreamed from the NH Tech Alliance’s YouTube channel. Each of the final companies will have the chance to relay a seven-minute pitch to a live audience, showcasing an innovative product that’s been produced or upgraded within the past year, with New Hampshire ties in the technology or advanced manufacturing sectors.

To choose the winner, audience members, and those watching at home, will have the chance to vote for their favorite product or service, and will have the honor of watching in real time as the NH Tech Alliance crowns yet another pioneering company as the 2024 Product of the Year recipient.

In years past, winning products included medical devices, space exploration modules, smart sensors, life support systems, communications tech, plasma cutters, visualization monitors to detect breast cancer, and more.

The 2023 recipient was Geophysical Survey Systems’ Flex NX, a ground-penetrating radar device for use in concrete inspection, utility mapping, road and bridge deck evaluation, geophysics and archeology.

Judges Photo (Sunrise labs logo): The 2024 Product of the Year judges include, from left: Alex Horton, NH Tech Alliance; Mike Cote, NH Business Review; Amanda Andrews, NH Business Review; Jeremy Stanizzi, NH Business Finance Authority; Eric Soederberg, Sunrise Labs; Matt Harris, Geophysical Survey Systems; Tom Daly, Big Network; and Product of the Year Committee member Lisa King, Cross Insurance.

Geophysical Survey Systems Director of Product Design Matt Harris joined the judging panel this year to help choose this year’s finalists.

The five finalists sparing for the title next month are SportsVisio, Sequel Medical Technologies, Atmospheric G2, Pirouette Medical and Driver Technologies.

1. SportsVisio Volleyball

Presented by CEO and co-founder Jason Syversen, SportsVisio is a B2B SaaS company based in Suncook that uses artificial intelligence and computer vision to automatically create stats, analytics and video highlights for sports like basketball, volleyball and baseball. In 2023, Sports-Visio was on stage at the Product of the Year competition to feature its basketball product, but for 2024, volleyball is the latest sport to get AI’s attention.

Using a smartphone, players, coaches or others can capture video of a volleyball game and upload it to SportsVisio’s cloud using its integrated app software. Stats and highlight reels are generated from these videos, using AI technology to track players’ movements that produce easy-to-read data points.

Performance-based players can benefit from seeing their stats to track their progress, and to review clips and share highlights quickly over social media or sending to scouts.

2. Sequel Medical Technologies’ Twiist

Manchester-based Sequel Medical Technologies has produced an automated insulin delivery system for people with type 1 diabetes ages 6 and up. Twiist is the first drug-delivery system that directly measures the volume of insulin delivered with every microdose, with four checkpoints to ensure accurate delivery into the user.

According to the company’s website, Sequel Medical Technologies was cofounded by NH visionary Dean Kamen, serial entrepreneur Pablo Legorreta, seasoned medical device executive Bill Doyle and health care leader Alan Lotvin, M.D. Kamen’s DEKA Research & Development Corp. partnered with Sequel to deliver this insulin aid technology that can automatically adjust the level of insulin delivered based on continuous glucose monitor readings and predicted glucose levels using the company’s iiSure Technology.

3. Atmospheric G2’s AG2 Trader

Based in Manchester since 2021, Atmospheric G2 provides seasonal forecasting data and power grid insights on a global scale in a user-friendly, customizable platform called the AG2 Trader. Its weather data gives energy producers, commodity traders and consumers first-to-market, actionable data, allowing them to better allocate resources to save their consumers money.

For over 20 years, Atmospheric G2 was part of The Weather Company in Andover, Mass., which was acquired by IBM in 2023. Atmospheric G2 uses machine learning and deep learning to test AI forecast models in its platform. Through the company’s AG2 Trader, users also have direct access to in-house meteorologists that can help decode weather data for clients to optimize energy management, reduce operational risks, and meet regulatory and market demands.

4. Pirouette Medical’s Naloxone HCI Auto-injector

Presented by co-founder and CEO Conor R. Cullinane, Ph.D., Pirouette Medical is a pharmaceutical company in Portsmouth that has designed an affordable, stress-free auto-injector that’s as easy as pushing a button.

The device is a small, cylindrical disc that can easily be concealed in a jacket or handbag, that uses a “Twist-Push-Hold” method for foolproof delivery of emergency medicine, with no fear of accidental needlesticks or other user errors.

Pirouette’s new product will primarily focus on emergency treatments for severe allergic reactions and opioid overdoses to start, but the company envisions a future of assisting in the delivery of other medicines.

5. Driver Technologies’ Driver App

Driver Technologies, led by co-founder and COO Marcus Newbury in Newmarket, has developed a mobile app that turns a driver’s smartphone into a dashcam to capture video in real time as a way to reinforce safe driving.

With the Driver App, fleet managers, family members, insurance companies and law enforcement can view historical driving data, including video, and share driving behavior and events, regardless of the vehicle’s age or manufacturer. Using this technology, drivers can capture data such as speed, mileage, engine state, tire state, power, etc. and upload it to the Driver Cloud for easy access later on.

Driver Technologies has also partnered with several major car brands to offer an embedded version into their vehicles with Android Automotive OS (AAOS).

The NH Tech Alliance welcomes all interested parties to attend the 18th annual Product of the Year event on Dec. 11 to witness which of these five finalists will take home the title. (NH Business Review is one of the event sponsors.)

“The Product of the Year competition consistently showcases the finest innovations from New Hampshire, with each year’s entries stretching the limits of what’s achievable,” said Julie Demers, executive director of the NH Tech Alliance.

“We are proud to present the groundbreaking work of New Hampshire’s innovators to thousands of viewers both in the U.S. and globally.”