The InnoVision Awards board of directors announced Aug. 25 it has selected five Upstate honorees as finalists for the 2025 InnoVision Awards ceremony Nov. 13 at the Palmetto Club in Columbia.
The awards recognize individuals, businesses and organizations that are driving impactful innovations developed in South Carolina within the past 18 months.
The Upstate finalists are SynergyMill FabLab, Blue Ridge Surgical Innovations, SkilRedi, Performance Enhanced Delivery and Drobot.
SynergyMill FabLab is a nonprofit founded to expand public access to tools and technology by empowering creativity, collaboration and entrepreneurship by helping makers turn ideas into innovation across the Upstate.
Blue Ridge Surgical Innovations of Greenville developed the OrthoTract System, a modular under-limb retractor that works to enhance safety, visibility and efficiency in hand and wrist surgeries.
SkilRedi is an AI-powered, immersive learning platform born at Clemson University and a SCRA member company that works to deliver personalized, industry-aligned training to build a future-ready, high-tech workforce.
Performance Enhanced Delivery of more is an agricultural company offering hemp-based solutions that combine plant nutrition and pest control.
Drobot is a Greenville hardware startup founded by Stijn Van de Velde, Ankit Verma, and Joseph Etris. It is developing AI-powered, on-demand collaborative mobile robots that navigate dynamic environments, respond to human prompts, and help small and mid-sized manufacturers boost productivity by automating repetitive fetch-and-carry tasks without replacing human workers.
The 2025 finalists are:
Community Service
- SynergyMill FabLab of the Upstate
- The student-led Robotics Program at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science & Mathematics
- Shared City of Charleston
Education
- Figment Learning Labs of Mount Pleasant’s Palmetto Innovative Education
- STEM U of Columbia
- CardioEducator, developed by USC College of Nursing
Small Business
- Blue Ridge Surgical Innovations of Greenville’s OrthoTract System
- SkilRedi, a learning platform born at Clemson University
- Ripple Two LLC of Charleston
Sustainability
- Performance Enhanced Delivery of Moore
- Advent Innovations of Columbia
- Sustain Cities Network
Technology Integration
- PulManage of Columbia
- Querri of Mount Pleasant
- Shaw Circle of Charleston
Technology Development
- Drobot of Greenville
- CuffWay of Elgin
- OncoBLAZE of Charleston
The InnoVision Awards will also present a Young Innovator Award and the Dr. Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award at its Nov. 13 ceremony. For more information, visit innovisionawards.org.
