SPIE Reveals 2023 Startup Challenge Finalists

Ten early-stage startup companies from six countries have been selected to compete for a top prize of $10,000 at the 13th annual SPIE Startup Challenge, to be held during Photonics West Jan. 31, 2023.

Finalists for the entrepreneurial-pitch competition for new businesses that use optics and photonics to create innovative products, applications, and technologies include companies showcasing health care and deep tech innovations in medical diagnostics, medical imaging, food safety, and display technology.

The SPIE Startup Challenge is supported by founding partner Jenoptik; lead sponsors Edmund Optics, Hamamatsu, MKS Instruments, and Thorlabs; and supporting sponsors NextCorps Luminate and Photonics Media. Judges include venture capitalists and business-development experts who vet the applicants for their business case, financial case, and competitive advantages.

Light-based technologies enable developments in a proliferating number of areas, from health care and high-speed communications to quantum computing, AR/VR/MR, and self-driving vehicles. Startup Challenge winners include Cellino Biotech, Circle Optics, C. Light Technologies, Double Helix Optics, In A Blink, and PhotoniCare.

The 2023 SPIE Startup Challenge finalists are:

Actoprobe, with a nonspectroscopy probe for advanced manufacturing and life science.

FlulDect GmbH, with sensor technology combining the effects of whispering-gallery modes (WGM) with functionalized fluorescent beads to detect pathogens in applications including food safety.

KostaCLOUD Inc., with a cloud-based optical design and simulation tool enabling real-time, optical-mechanical design collaboration, dramatically improving design-optimization times

Lighthanded Enterprises, with LasEar Laser Otoscope, to improve diagnosis of common causes of childhood-hearing loss.

PatenSee, with an innovative combination of machine learning and imaging technology for dialysis patients.

PhoMedics Limited, with a histological imaging microscope offering real-time status during cancer surgery.

Phosio, with nanoimprintable, high-refractive index transparent coatings, a critical tool for expanding optical designs in AR.

PhosPrint P.C., with a novel technology that repairs in vivo human tissue during surgery.

QART Medical, using biophotonics and data for 3D analysis of sperm cells during IVF.

Swave Photonics, enabling display-makers and content-creators with immersive holographic displays.

In addition, four companies currently in the process of early-stage fundraising — Scinvivo, Comptek Solutions, Scantinel Photonics, and Nicslab — will present their new technologies to prospective investors during the event.

For more information and to register for SPIE Photonics West, visit www.spie.org/pw.