Pitch the Press Winners Named at Commercial UAV Expo 2026

Harris Aerial, Skyline Nav AI, and UtopiaCompression were named the three winners of the annual “Pitch the Press” competition at Commercial UAV Expo, the international trade show and conference focused on commercial drone technology.

Each year, Commercial UAV Expo hosts “Pitch the Press,” an opportunity for exhibitors to present their products to a group of editors and reporters looking for new technology showcased at the event. Fourteen exhibitors were selected from a large pool of applicants to share their new product or service during the one-hour event. Each exhibitor gave a two-minute elevator pitch to members of the media, followed by a short Q&A.

This year’s judges included David Oakes, Editor at US Drone Review, Haye Kesteloo, Owner of DroneXL.CO, and Patrick Egan, CEO of sUAS News USA. During “Pitch the Press,” the judges listened to two-minute pitches from company representatives. They then evaluated the presentations, looking for innovation and potential for ROI, to select the top three.

The 2026 winners were:

• Harris Aerial
• Skyline Nav AI
• UtopiaCompression Corporation

Matt Collins, Content Manager with Commercial UAV News, who served as the moderator for the event, commented, “The presentations, and the buzz around them, at this year’s Pitch the Press was one of the highlights of the day. In particular, the technology showcased by the three winning companies were solutions filling real needs in the current market. It is inspiring to see where the technology is today, putting the entire industry in a position to thrive both in the present and into the future.”

What stood out to the judges most was Harris Aerial’s humble beginnings and current commitment to stateside manufacturing, noting that this represents a huge shift in the market. They also appreciated that the product was a complete system. The company presented its newest product, the H4C Quad, which was scheduled to reach the market later in 2026. The compact, medium-lift drone is NDAA compliant, payload agnostic, and designed to be available at an affordable price.

The judges also pointed to the importance of the mission behind Skyline Nav AI’s Pathfinder Edge. The lightweight, plug-and-play hardware box provides precise, GPS-independent navigation for drones using advanced computer navigation and is intended to support public safety missions.

UtopiaCompression’s Aero Vision Detect also stood out to the judges for its potential value to wider industry innovation, with aircraft detection becoming increasingly important as the amount of drone traffic increases.

Below is a complete list of companies that took part in Pitch the Press:

• Amazon
• EagleNXT
• EVBots
• GeoCue
• Infinite Electronics
• RIEGL
• TENSAR
• ThinkOrbital
• UAS Sentry
• Unmanned Safety Institute
• WEFLO
• Flyguys