Global innovators head to Rochester for Luminate NY cohort

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Empire State Development has announced the 10 startups selected for the ninth cohort of Luminate NY. 

Chosen from a competitive pool of 138 applicants spanning 33 countries, the selected companies represent industries including life sciences, augmented and virtual reality, advanced manufacturing, and sensing technologies. 

The 2026 cohort will begin the six-month program on April 13 in Rochester, each receiving an initial $100,000 investment to support growth and commercialization efforts. At the program’s conclusion on September 30, the startups will compete for up to $2 million in follow-on funding. 

Administered by NextCorps and supported through the Finger Lakes Forward Upstate Revitalization Initiative, Luminate NY is designed to accelerate commercialization by connecting founders with the region’s deep technical expertise, supply chain resources and industry partners. 

The selected startups reflect the growing breadth of OPI-enabled applications. Companies in this year’s cohort are developing technologies ranging from advanced pulsed lasers and CMOS-compatible light sources to AI-driven medical devices, diamond-based materials platforms, and next-generation additive manufacturing systems. Other innovations include ultrathin fiber-based microscopes, real-time biomolecular sensing platforms, and new approaches to augmented reality display and optical lens design. 

“This cohort underscores Luminate NY’s position as a premier global destination for deep-tech innovation,” said Sujatha Ramanujan, managing director of Luminate NY. “By connecting visionary founders with the Finger Lakes region’s unmatched optics and photonics ecosystem, we are accelerating the commercialization of transformative technologies while strengthening the region’s leadership in this critical industry.” 

The 10 selected startups include: 

• AB Photonics (Guilford, Connecticut)—Developing advanced pulsed laser technology that combines affordability with intuitive operation for end-users. 
• Brightlight Photonics (Cambridge, Massachusetts)—Revolutionizing CMOS-compatible laser sources for biomedicine, metrology, and quantum technologies. 
• Ciconia Medical (San Diego, California)—Improving women’s childbirth experiences and outcomes through the first AI-based medical device for vaginal exams. 
• Diamond Quanta (Mountain View, California)—Building the first scalable engineered-diamond platform, enabling coatings, substrates, and active devices across consumer, automotive, aerospace/defense, and quantum photonics. 
• Gekko Photonics (Wroclaw, Poland)—Improving product quality with non-invasive tools that use Raman spectroscopy to monitor chemical reactions in real time. 
• HyperVision LTD (Haifa, Israel)—Resolving Virtual Reality/Mixed Reality human vision related challenges through proprietary, very-wide-view pancake lens architecture. 
• Manifest Technologies Global (Boulder, Colorado)—Solving the problems that are holding advanced manufacturing back through Parallax Volumetric Additive Manufacturing technology, a breakthrough platform that fabricates complex parts in a single, continuous step. 
• Modendo (Boulder, Colorado)— Offering ultrathin microscopes that comprise a single optical fiber and provide high-resolution imaging for industrial and medical applications. 
• Phlotonics (Rochester)—Empowering advanced biomanufacturing and drug discovery through advanced photonic sensor platforms that provide real-time, label-free biomolecular analysis, and
• Smith Displays Limited (Southampton, United Kingdom)— Transforming Augmented Reality (AR) displays with a completely new approach using nonlinear wavemixing technology. 

Since its inception, Luminate NY has invested $23 million in 85 startups. Those companies have collectively gone on to raise an additional $497 million and now represent an estimated $725 million in combined value.  

The program has also played a key role in attracting companies to establish U.S. operations and expand research and manufacturing in the Rochester region. 

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