Finalists Announced for 2025 SPIE Startup Challenge, Showcasing Innovative, Investment-ready Optics and Photonics Technologies and Applications

The annual pitch competition final will be held at SPIE Photonics West

Seven early-stage startup companies have been selected to compete for a top prize of $10,000 at the 15th annual SPIE Startup Challenge at Photonics West on 28 January.

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Jenoptik’s Ralf Kuschnereit, TRAQC's Benjamin Dringoli, and 2024 SPIE President Jennifer Barton at the 2024 SPIE Startup Challenge. (Photo: Business Wire)

The SPIE Startup Challenge is a competitive entrepreneurial platform for new businesses that utilize optics and photonics for innovative products or applications. Participating teams are competing for sponsored prizes, in addition to gaining increased visibility with potential investors and exposure to potential collaborators or partners. Cash prizes of $10,000, $5,000, and $2,500, provided by Startup Challenge Founding Partner Jenoptik, will be awarded to the top three finalists. The SPIE Startup Challenge is also supported by Lead Sponsor Hamamatsu and Supporting Sponsor Luminate.

“This is a completely focused crowd that we wouldn't have access to anywhere else,” said 2024 SPIE Challenge Startup winner TRAQC Co-Founder and COO Benjamin Dringoli during that event. “The opportunity to pitch in front of these industry leaders and get their feedback live, the mentorship session prior to the finals, and having people coming up to me and say, ‘Hey, if you need help, let me know.’ This is great!”

Competition judges include venture capitalists and business-development experts from the photonics industry who will vet applicants for their business case, financial case, and competitive advantages. Teams competing in the Startup Challenge will get feedback on their business and pitch from business-development experts and investors.

This year's products encompass innovations in medical applications, photovoltaic technology, and manufacturing. The seven 2025 SPIE Startup Challenge finalists and their technologies are:

• Atzeyo Biosensors, Inc.: Photonic Resonance Absorption Microscopy. The first molecular diagnostic platform for the physician’s office addressing cancer care.
• Max-IR Labs: AquaCarbon Monitor. Empowering carbon credits with precise CO₂ monitoring in water systems.
• Photosynthetic B.V.: Volumetric Micro-Lithography. Enabling the rapid production of complex 3D devices with submicron features.
• OptiCardio: OptiCardio. A spectroscopy-enabled device for real-time guidance to reduce the recurrence rate of ablation procedures for atrial fibrillation.
• iSLight: Surface-Emitting SLED (Superluminescent LED). iSLight supplies superior lighting solutions to manufacturers of industrial quality-control systems, smart glasses, and imaging instruments.
• SureVision: SureVision. A method that evaluates refractive error in the human eye, with a disruptive, flicker-minimization method that is five times faster and two times more precise than the current gold-standard method.
• Modendo, Inc.: NeuroVu. Ultra-thin endoscopes for deep-brain imaging.

More information about the SPIE Startup Challenge can be found here.

Light-based technologies enable developments in a proliferating number of areas, from healthcare and high-speed communications to quantum computing, AR/VR/MR, and self-driving vehicles. The annual SPIE Startup Challenge provides a distinctive and vibrant platform for optics and photonics startups that are creating novel products, applications, and technologies. Startup Challenge winners that have gone on to wider commercial success include Cellino Biotech, Double Helix Optics, PhotoniCare, C. Light Technologies, Circle Optics, and In A Blink.

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

About SPIE

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, brings engineers, scientists, students, and business professionals together to advance light-based science and technology. The Society, founded in 1955, connects and engages with our global constituency through industry-leading conferences and exhibitions; publications of conference proceedings, books, and journals in the SPIE Digital Library; and career-building opportunities. Over the past five years, we have invested more than $25 million in the international optics community through our advocacy and support, including scholarships, educational resources, travel grants, endowed gifts, and public-policy development. www.spie.org.

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