Governor’s Giant Vision award winners announced Staff

Six startups and five student innovations have been honored with the 2026 Governor’s Giant Vision awards.

The awards are presented by the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry following a preliminary judging process that narrowed the field to a group of finalists.

“This year’s Giant Vision Competition showcased the extraordinary depth of entrepreneurial talent across South Dakota,” said Ryan Budmayr, South Dakota Chamber CEO.

“From students still in the classroom to established innovators bringing new solutions to market, these competitors represent exactly the kind of bold thinking that will drive our state’s economy forward. We are grateful to our sponsors, judges and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development for making this event possible.”

It’s the 22nd annual competition for businesses. This year’s winners are:

First place, $20,000: Carbon Lock 12.0
Carbon Lock has developed a technology that can economically remove and sequester carbon dioxide from industrial flue gases. It produces a carbonated byproduct that can be used to strengthen concrete, providing additional economic benefit. This technology has the potential of turning fossil fuel power plants into “green” energy, and the initial target market will be coal-fired power plants. Owned by Tanvi Govil and Merle Symes of Rapid City.

Second place, $10,000: AgTag
AgTag is a QR-based equipment and infrastructure management software designed to help agricultural operations track and organize their machinery and assets. The platform centralizes maintenance logs, operating procedures and service records to ensure that critical documentation is easily accessible in the field and to help reduce equipment downtime. Owned by Jonah Olson of Brookings.

Third place, $5,000: AdvancedCarbonX
AdvancedCarbonX produces high-performance, graphitized carbon electrode materials for use in supercapacitors from corn stover, or agricultural residues. It has developed novel synthesis processes to improve capacitor efficiency and reduce production costs without environmental impact. Owned by Bharathkiran Maddipudi of Rapid City.

Fourth place, $3,000: Hyaluropsy
Hyaluropsy is a cutting-edge biopsy and diagnostic tool utilizing hyaluronic acid-based technology to improve the precision and comfort of tissue sampling procedures, with applications in oncology and dermatology. Owned by Tugba Ozdemir of Rapid City.

Fifth place, $2,000: Dakota Motion Labs
Dakota Motion Labs provides clinical movement assessments with a marker-less motion capture system that integrates wide-angle cameras and a human pose estimation algorithm, enabling broader clinical adoption and improving rehabilitation outcomes. Owned by Ryan Rykhus and Lisa MacFadden of Sioux Falls.

Sixth place, $1,000: StarrGuidance
StarrGuidance offers complete, ready-to-install autosteer hardware kits built on the AgOpenGPS platform. The system delivers sub-inch real-time kinematic accuracy, enabling precision steering that reduces operator fatigue, improves field efficiency and unlocks modern precision practices. Owned by Davis Thompson of Brookings.

This marks the 20th year for the student competition. Entries were received from colleges and universities across South Dakota.

Winners are:
First place, $5,000: Devana Videre, a medical imaging solution leveraging advanced computer vision technology designed to enhance diagnostic accuracy and accessibility for clinical providers. Parker Pombrio, David Pienta and Jeremy Friedrichsen, South Dakota Mines.

Second place, $4,000: Fidelis Vascular, an innovative vascular device designed to improve patient outcomes and procedural efficiency in vascular intervention. Avery Del Grosso, University of South Dakota.

Third place, $3,000: MedSum, an AI-powered online platform revolutionizing the medical summarization process for Social Security disability lawyers. Clive Uy, South Dakota Mines.

Fourth place, $2,000: SlumpScan, a technology-driven solution using data analytics and sensing technology to detect and prevent structural slumping in infrastructure and construction applications. Joseph Tunge, South Dakota Mines.

Fifth place, $1,000: Ranger Drones, an autonomous drone platform engineered for agricultural and land management applications, providing real-time aerial data collection and analysis. Quintin Steindl, Michael Jackley, Shane Stone, Holden Peterson and Coleman Haiar, South Dakota State University.