ROCHESTER, N.Y., Jan. 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- There are only four days left to apply for cohort 8 of Luminate NY—the global, competitive accelerator offered by NextCorps specifically for early-stage companies working on solutions enabled by optics, photonics, or imaging (OPI). For participating companies, the support can put them on a faster track to investment and technology commercialization.

Applications are due by 11:59 PM EST on January 10, 2025. Participation in the Rochester, NY based accelerator is primarily remote, with select weeks in person for instructional workshops and pitches to investor groups.

Regardless of location or industry, all startups are encouraged to apply if their product leverages some aspect of OPI. Examples of past participants include those in augmented reality/virtual reality, autonomous vehicles, biotech/life sciences, climate tech, communications, defense, entertainment, quantum computing, security, wound analysis, and more. Luminate also has a partnership with Silicon Catalyst, which allows startups innovating in the global semiconductor market to participate in both accelerators at the same time.

Upon acceptance to the seven-month program, an immediate investment of $100,000 is awarded to each company in the cohort. Luminate then provides significant support, including expert mentorship, connections to investors, access to lab facilities, and comprehensive curriculum. Once the program concludes, companies compete for a portion of $2 million in follow-on funding provided through Empire State Development’s Finger Lakes Forward Upstate Revitalization Initiative. All teams that win follow-on funding must commit to doing some aspect of their business operations or manufacturing in the region for at least 18 months.

“This is not an MBA textbook program,” said Johannes Peeters, CEO of VoxelSensors and member of Luminate’s cohort 7. “It’s really indepth, providing access to people who have a lot of invaluable experience—in building a company, scaling a company, and manufacturing devices that include the complex integration of OPI elements. It’s really focused on ensuring a company completes the due diligence necessary for investor consideration.”

Marketplace connections also are key. “We wanted to explore the possibilities of optics applications within the ecosystem to better understand market opportunities for our microfabrication offering. What we found was amazing,” said Magdalena Kurzyp, PhD, and Chief Business Officer at Photosynthetic (Luminate cohort 7 member). “The experience and the expertise of people connected to the program helped us accomplish useful research and more effectively match our technology with customer needs.”

“In addition to getting deep tech expertise to further our product development, founders and their teams graduate knowing how to run a business well,” said Jan Kischkat, cofounder and CEO of  Quantune Technologies GmbH (Luminate cohort 6 member). “We left with a clear understanding of the value we bring to potential customers, how to reach them, how to set up our sales organization, and how to strategize for growth, including what we need to actually enter the US market and establish a portion of our manufacturing here to tap new markets.”

Luminate guides startups through business planning that is focused on commercializing and scaling their businesses. Participants also benefit from working with peer OPI startups in the program and benchmark regional resources within the optics capital of the world, to leverage best practices and help each other toward success.

“Although most startups working on tech today have a solid technical background, they lack the strong business framework that’s critical to commercializing their offering and scaling their companies,” said Sujatha Ramanujan, PhD, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer, Luminate. “The Luminate program addresses that gap by helping entrepreneurs complete all that’s essential to setting up a business, reducing risks and wasted resources, and attracting investors who can help them speed their products to market.”

To apply to Luminate, startups must have at least two people working full time on the business, be incorporated, and should have proven their core technology, preferably having developed a working prototype. Luminate will select a total of 10 to 12 companies from the applicant pool for cohort 8, which begins in April 2025 and concludes in October.

“It’s that element of experience and guidance from real life examples that makes Luminate so special,” added Peeters. “We did not make these types of connections before joining the program. We specifically made them during the program to benefit immensely.”

To apply to Luminate, visit luminate.org/apply.

To register for the final informational session about Luminate NY on Jan. 7, 2025 at 1:00PM EST or to watch a recorded session, go to https://luminate.org/cohort-8-info-sessions/

For more information about Luminate NY, visit luminate.org.

For additional information about NextCorps, go to NextCorps.org.

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Shannon Wojcik
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A video accompanying this press release is available at  https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0c8c341f-9193-44d5-a0bd-142d6b109f0e