Eatontown Tech Firm, Oceanport Drone Company Get State Grants

EATONTOWN, NJ — An Eatontown engineering firm received a $25,000 grant from the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology (CSIT), which gave out a total of $450,000 in grants to 16 New Jersey companies this winter.

The Eatontown firm is SunRay Scientific, LLC. A drone company in Oceanport, Drone Go Home, LLC, also received a $25,000 grant as did Mgenuity Corporation in Lincroft. Mgenuity makes hologram technology, which the company says is used by NASA.

The grants were given out as part of Gov. Murphy's strategic plan to turn New Jersey into a nationwide leader in job sectors that are seen as high wage and high growth: technology, life sciences, clean energy and advanced manufacturing.

The awardees do not have to spend the funding in a particular way.

The companies were all identified as "early-stage" firms that the state hopes will "enhance the state’s innovation economy by strengthening the competitiveness of Garden State businesses."

To date, CSIT has awarded a total of $825,000 to 29 New Jersey companies during the program’s two funding rounds. Nearly a third of the companies given grants in this most recent round are owned by women.

“New Jersey’s emerging businesses are generating an abundance of innovation and supporting them as they tap into the federal SBIR/STTR programs will have lasting economic effects at both local and global levels,” said CSIT Chairman Gunjan Doshi.

Awardees hail from 10 different counties within the Garden State and more than two-thirds of companies have an affiliation with New Jersey universities.

“Participants in this program run the gamut from drug-discovery companies to a business creating a drone detection system to one that develops an augmented/mixed-reality medical and surgical assist system for astronauts of exploration-class space missions,” said Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips. “The work they are doing is both critical and far reaching. We are proud to support them in their endeavors.”

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