SPIE Startup Challenge 2023 accepting applications

Applications are now open for the 2023 SPIE Startup Challenge; the annual entrepreneurial pitch competition is held by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, as part of SPIE Photonics West. In 2023, Photonics West will be held on 28 January to 2 February in San Francisco’s Moscone Center, with the SPIE Startup Challenge finals to be held on 31 January. Participants with an optics or photonics technology or application as the basis for a viable business are encouraged to apply.

The SPIE Startup Challenge is a competitive platform for new businesses that utilise optics and photonics for innovative products or applications. Participating teams compete for sponsored prizes, in addition to gaining increased visibility with potential investors. 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. The SPIE Startup Challenge — now in its 13th year — provides a platform for optics and photonics startups that are creating innovative 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.

The industry-judged competition will hear from teams pitching new products in photonics-enabled health care and deep tech, culling the original applicants down to 10 finalists. 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 applying for the Startup Challenge will get feedback on their business and pitch from business-development experts and investors. The SPIE Startup Challenge application deadline is 20 October. To learn more about the competition and apply, click here.

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