Luminate Finals lit up the stage at Arbor Midtown in downtown Rochester, drawing over 250 in-person attendees and hundreds more online to see the next wave of startup innovation powered by optics, photonics, and imaging (OPI).
The event marked the culmination of seven months of intensive work for cohort 8—teams transforming industries from healthcare and manufacturing to quantum communications and space exploration. Finals was a time to celebrate their progress and showcase how far science-driven innovation can go with the right mix of mentorship, funding, and community support.
If you missed the event, check out the recording.
This year’s winners
Company of the Year: Pensievision (San Diego, CA)
Awarded $1 million in follow-on funding for its compact 3D imaging system that combines AI and astronomy-inspired optics to deliver precise insights in confined or complex environments. The technology has broad potential across diagnostics, manufacturing, and space applications.
“Luminate gave us unmatched access to optics expertise, precision manufacturers, and advisors who helped shape our business model and customer acquisition strategy,” said Pensievision president, Tal Almog. “It has fast-tracked our ability to validate use cases, secure pilots, and prepare for institutional funding. This follow-on funding will help us to reinforce Rochester’s role as a global hub for optics and photonics innovation.”
Outstanding Graduate: amPICQ (Hyderabad, India)
Received $500,000 to scale its photonic integrated circuits (PICs) that enable quantum-safe communication. The company’s platform makes secure data transmission more practical for telecommunications and data networks.
Distinguished Graduates
Three companies took home $200,000 each:
- Oblate Optics (San Diego, CA) — Developing ultra-thin lenses that keep laser beams in perfect focus on curved or uneven surfaces.
- Pixel Photonics (Münster, Germany) — Removing barriers to the widespread use of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) with its waveguide-integrating design (WI-SNSPDs).
- SNOChip (Princeton, NJ): Designing on-chip optical components like microlens arrays and metasurfaces that integrate seamlessly with semiconductor lasers and sensors.
Oblate Optics was also recognized by the American Precision Optics Manufacturers Association (APOMA) at Finals. The team received the first ever Optics Innovator Award for outstanding contributions to the advancement of optical design and fabrication.
Audience Choice: LirOptic (Dublin, Ireland)
Voted the crowd favorite and awarded $10,000 cash for its adjustable solid-state lens technology that delivers precise, tunable optics without moving parts. Born from research at University College Dublin (UCD), its innovation enables compact, high-performance imaging for devices from smartphones to space systems.
“Our participation in [Luminate] has plugged LirOptic directly into the global optics ecosystem, in a way that would otherwise have been impossible,” said Simon Forsyth, CEO and co-founder of LirOptic, in an interview with UCD.
The achievements of cohort 8 underscore Luminate’s growing impact as a launchpad for OPI startups worldwide. The accelerator, funded by Empire State Development’s Finger Lakes Forward initiative, has now supported more than 80 companies working to commercialize technologies that improve how we live, work, and understand our world.
Special thanks to our panelists—Luminate alumni, Francisco Aguilar (Bounce Imaging, cohort 1), Chuck Gershman (Owl Autonomous Imaging, cohort 4), and Dr. Juniyali Nauriyal (Photonect Interconnect Solutions, cohort 6)—for sharing where they are now. And to SPIE, our Finals sponsor, for making this year’s celebration possible.
Read the Governor’s press release for more on this year’s winners and New York State’s growing OPI ecosystem.
Applications now open for cohort 9
Inspired by what you saw at Luminate Finals 2025? Applications are now open for cohort 9 of the world’s largest accelerator for startups leveraging OPI technologies.
Selected companies receive $100,000 at the start of the program, plus access to industry leaders, investors, and the resources needed to scale. Up to $2 million in follow-on funding will be awarded at next year’s Finals in total.
Want to learn more? Join us for a virtual info session to see how Luminate can help bring your innovation to market. The first one is coming up on November 13 at 1:00 PM EST.
Cohort 8 in the news
The Rochester Business Journal rounded out its series on cohort 8 ahead of Finals. Check out the latest articles to learn more about this year’s teams.
Perfect focus, any surface: Oblate Optics revolutionizes laser manufacturing
Metahelios reinvents camera chip manufacturing with next-gen color filter tech
LirOptic’s shape-shifting, tunable optics lenses promises industry transformation (pictured here)
SNOChip turns metasurface nanostructures into next-generation lenses
amPICQ secures the future of data with quantum-safe photonic chips
Portfolio wins
Stratio, Inc. launched its latest product, the LS SWIR SDK, a robust, Germanium-based SWIR spectral sensor. Now available for purchase, the SDK offers advanced spectral sensing capabilities for integration into a range of commercial and industrial applications.
Rubitection won the $10K grand prize at CharmHealth’s fifth annual Innovation Challenge in Berkeley, CA.
iLoF’s COO and co-founder, Mehak Mumtaz, was awarded a prestigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship—one of the UK’s leading honors recognizing emerging innovators tackling global challenges.
Photosynthetic and iLoF were selected among the top 60 global startups to compete at SLINGSHOT 2025 in Singapore, chosen from more than 6,800 applicants across 150+ markets. Photosynthetic is competing in the Manufacturing, Trade & Connectivity category, while iLoF is pitching in Health & Biomedical.
Metahelios Ltd secured an Innovate UK grant under the theme of developing semiconductor hardware for critical technologies.
Labby CEO and co-founder, Julia Somerdin, spoke at the Animal AgTech Innovation Summit in Amsterdam, where leaders in science, innovation, and business gathered to advance sustainable, data-driven animal agriculture. (Pictured below)
Qunnect has been awarded an 18-month contract with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to refine its Carina quantum networking suite for secure communications over conventional fiber. The project builds on Qunnect’s proven success in deploying metro-scale quantum networks using existing infrastructure in real-world environments.
CEO, Noel Goddard, recently joined Fierce Network’s podcast to discuss how quantum networking is moving from lab-based research to operational use, and its growing impact on defense and telecom sectors.
Pensievision was contracted as the technology partner in a new collaboration between the College of Charleston, SCRA: South Carolina Research Authority, and industry partners Mercedes-Benz Vans and IFA Group to advance smart manufacturing (Industry 4.0). The company’s 3D precision imaging system, InspecTRIO™, will be deployed in pilot demonstrations to enhance automation, quality, and efficiency through AI-driven analysis.
VoxelSensors formed a strategic R&D and commercial partnership with Summer Robotics to integrate its LYRA sensors, which use single photon active event sensors (SPAES) technology, with Summer Robotics’ Kortx AI vision streaming system. The collaboration aims to deliver faster, low-power perception systems for next-generation robotics.
IRIDESENSE was named one of 13 global winners of the Construction Startup Competition 2025, hosted by Cemex Ventures and partners. The company will advance to Pitch Day, held November 10-12 at the Trimble Dimensions User Conference in Las Vegas, and the European Pitch Day on November 18 at Recotech in Helsinki.
Andluca CEO and co-founder, Nick Davy (pictured here), was named the 2025 Entrepreneur of the Year by the Rochester Section of the American Chemical Society. The award recognizes Davy’s leadership in developing Andluca’s UV-harvesting smart glass technology, which powers self-sustaining, wireless window systems to improve building energy efficiency, comfort, and security.
Dottir Labs was named a Neptune Award finalist at the 2025 Ocean Exchange Awards in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The recognition highlights the company’s real-time water quality monitoring technology for the aquaculture industry, advancing sustainable practices within the blue economy.
Luminate staff making an impact
From local conferences to global summits, the Luminate team has been out in the field sharing knowledge and advancing the conversation on OPI.
Veronica LoCurcio, Director of Operations, recently represented Luminate as a judge at the Mountain West Photonics & Quantum Pitch Event in Bozeman, Montana. The event spotlighted startups pioneering breakthroughs in quantum and photonics with applications spanning computing, defense, healthcare, and environmental monitoring.
Dr. Damon Diehl, Director of Technology Integration, took the stage at TEDxBerkshires 2025 at the Berkshire Innovation Center to deliver his talk, “Time Is Your Only Currency.” In his session, Damon explored how founders can view time as their most valuable resource—shaping how they prioritize, make decisions, and measure progress—both in startups and in life.
Dr. Sujatha Ramanujan, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer, is invited to speak on the panel, “Scaling Journeys: Growing Photonics Startups into Global Players,” at PIC Summit Europe 2025. The discussion will bring together founders, investors, and industry leaders to share lessons on raising growth capital, forming strategic partnerships, and scaling operations in the global photonics ecosystem.