Pensievision Wins Luminate NY OPI Accelerator Competition

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced last week that Pensievision emerged as the winner of the eighth cohort of the Luminate NY Optics, Photonics, and Imaging (OPI) Startup Accelerator Competition. The San Diego, California-based company was honored as the “Company of the Year” at the Luminate NY 2025 Finals held in Rochester on October 22. The finals were part of SPIE Optifab, the annual conference and exhibition on optical manufacturing technologies.

Pensievision is to receive $1 million in investment from New York State through the Finger Lakes Forward Upstate Revitalization Initiative. The company said it would use the follow-on funding “to anchor its growth in the region by engaging with local supply chains, hiring engineering talent from area universities, and partnering with Rochester-based design and manufacturing firms”.

Luminate NY, which is administered by NextCorps, is the world’s largest business accelerator for emerging companies that have technologies enabled by optics, photonics, and imaging.

Pensievision wins “Company of the Year” at Luminate Finals 2025

Pensievision has developed a 3D imaging approach for demanding environments, from medical diagnostics and factory floors to orbital missions. Its technology combines a miniaturized single-lens setup, AI, and “astronomy-inspired” optics to enable high-precision insights in tight or complex environments where bulky, multi-lens or laser-based systems cannot operate.

Pensievision President Tal Almog said, “Luminate gave us unmatched access to optics expertise, precision manufacturers, and advisors who helped shape our business model and customer acquisition strategy. This follow-on funding will help us to reinforce Rochester’s role as a global hub for optics and photonics innovation.”

Other Luminate winners

amPICQ, originally from Hyderabad, India, and now located in Rochester, NY, was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Award and $500,000 in follow-on funding. Its team is designing and developing photonic integrated circuits to make quantum-safe security both practical and accessible across the quantumcom, datacom, and telecom industries.

For the first time, three companies were tied for the Distinguished Graduate Award, with each being awarded $200,000. Oblate Optics, from San Diego, makes ultra-thin lenses to keep laser beams in perfect focus—even on curved or uneven surfaces—without the need to move or refocus the optics.

Münster, Germany based Pixel Photonics is enabling the widespread use of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors with its waveguide-integrating design to support OEM integration across quantum communications, microscopy, medical diagnostics, and advanced sensing. SNOChip, from Princeton, NJ, is developing on-chip optical components, such as microlens arrays, computer-generated holograms, and metasurfaces, designed for seamless integration with semiconductor lasers and sensor chips.

Event attendees voted LirOptic as the Audience Choice, earning $10,000 in follow-on funding. The investments were presented after a panel of judges from the OPI industry and venture capital community scored the participating companies based on their business pitches during the seven-month accelerator program.

The Finals event marks the completion of the eighth year of the cohort-based program, which now includes more than 80 companies in its portfolio, with an estimated combined market value of $700 million. As required by the award, all winners of the competition will commit to establishing operations in the region for at least the next 18 months.

Since its inception, Luminate NY has invested $21 million in 85 startups. Collectively, they have created more than 210 jobs in New York State and spent $21.6 million on more than 140 projects with regional design, manufacturing and supply chain companies.

Applications are now being accepted for Round Nine through January 12, 2026. Teams will receive $100,000 in funding upon program start, with the expectation that $50,000 will be used to engage resources in the Finger Lakes region. Teams are expected to come to Rochester for select weeks and to also participate virtually during their time in the accelerator.