Swave Photonics, QART Medical, and PhosPrint win big at 2023 SPIE Startup Challenge
Yesterday, at a ceremony during SPIE Photonics West, Swave Photonics – with their Holographic eXtended Reality chips based on proprietary diffractive photonics technology – was announced the winner of the $10,000 top prize at the 13th annual SPIE Startup Challenge.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230201005834/en/
Jenoptik’s Ralf Kuschnereit, far left, Swave Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer Theo Marescaux, Swave CEO Mike Noonen, and 2023 SPIE Vice President Peter de Groot. Credit: Joey Cobbs.
QART Medical, utilizing biophotonics and data for 3D analysis of sperm cells during IVF, received $5,000 for second place. PhosPrint came in third, winning $2,500, with their novel bioprinting technology that repairs in vivo human tissue during surgery. All cash prizes are provided by SPIE Startup Challenge Founding Partner Jenoptik.
The SPIE Startup Challenge, a pitch competition held annually by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, showcases new businesses, products, and technologies that address critical needs by utilizing photonics in the areas of healthcare and deep tech. This year’s finalists included innovations in medical diagnostics, medical imaging, food safety, and display technology.
“It’s a privilege just to present to a such distinguished audience,” says Swave Photonics CEO Mike Noonen. “Participating at the Startup Challenge was an award in itself, but to actually win first-place recognition, well, our team is very excited. We really want to thank the sponsors and SPIE and Photonics West for the opportunity.”
“It's very nice to get the acknowledgement,” notes QART Medical CEO and Co-Founder Alon Shalev. “The judges were very supportive, and they gave us good insights yesterday in the preparation session. I think SPIE Photonics West is a wonderful, wonderful event, and a great opportunity to see and meet people. Being acknowledged is always nice, and this feels like a real achievement.”
“It was a great experience for me,” adds Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of PhosPrint Ioanna Zergioti. “It was exciting for us to have the opportunity to present our startup at the SPIE Startup Challenge. It was especially great to work with the judges, and to get feedback from senior investors in the field.”
The 2023 SPIE Startup Challenge was supported by Founding Partner Jenoptik; Lead Sponsors Edmund Optics, Hamamatsu, MKS Instruments, and Thorlabs; and Supporting Sponsors NextCorps Luminate and Photonics Media. The competition judges who vetted the applicants for their business models, financial cases, and competitive advantages included Jenoptik’s Kristin Holzhey, MKS Instruments’ Marc D. Himel, Edmund Optics' Agnes Hübscher, NextCorps Luminate’s Sujatha Ramanujan, Hamamatsu Ventures’ Richard Oberreiter, and Thorlabs’ Garrett Cole.
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 SPIE Startup Challenge is an annual entrepreneurial pitch competition for new businesses that utilize optics and photonics to create 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.
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, SPIE has contributed more than $22 million to the international optics community through our advocacy and support, including scholarships, educational resources, travel grants, endowed gifts, and public-policy development. www.spie.org.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230201005834/en/
Contact information
Daneet Steffens
Public Relations Manager
daneets@spie.org
+1 360 685 5478
@SPIEtweets
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Hyundai Motor Company and Advent Technologies Sign Joint Development Agreement Following Successful Fuel Cell Technology Assessment23.3.2023 03:25:00 EET | Press release
Hyundai Motor Company today announced a successful technology assessment with Advent Technologies Holdings, Inc. (“Advent”), an innovation-driven leader in the fuel cell and hydrogen technology sectors. The assessment evaluated Advent's proprietary Membrane Electrode Assembly (“MEA”) technology for supplying Hyundai’s high-temperature fuel cell needs, and following its success, the two companies have entered into a Joint Development Agreement (“JDA”). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230322005788/en/ From left to right: Seung Hyun Hong, Ph.D. (Vice President, Materials Research & Engineering Center, Hyundai), Jim Coffey (Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel, Advent Technologies) (Photo: Business Wire) The signing ceremony took place on March 22, 2023, at Advent’s headquarters in Charlestown, Massachusetts, and included senior executives from both companies. Under the agreement, Hyundai and Advent will work
Bentley Systems Announces Strategic Agreement with Worldsensing22.3.2023 23:01:00 EET | Press release
Bentley Systems, Incorporated (Nasdaq: BSY), the infrastructure engineering software company, today announced it has entered into a non-exclusive commercial agreement to strategically accelerate the adoption of Infrastructure IoT, further unlocking value for infrastructure designers, constructors, and owner-operators in their use of infrastructure digital twins. To this end, Worldsensing is acquiring from Bentley sensemetrics’ Thread connectivity device business to expand its hardware portfolio offerings. Bentley also becomes the lead investor in Worldsensing’s Series D capital raise. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230322005676/en/ Worldsensing’s Connectivity Devices fully integrated with Bentley’s sensemetrics software and iTwin IoT cloud services. Image courtesy of Worldsensing. Worldsensing’s acquisition of the Thread connectivity device business will offer new options to its customers where adaptive senso
Incyte Announces FDA Approval of Zynyz™ (retifanlimab-dlwr) for the Treatment of Metastatic or Recurrent Locally Advanced Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC)22.3.2023 20:14:00 EET | Press release
Incyte (Nasdaq:INCY) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Zynyz™ (retifanlimab-dlwr), a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1), for the treatment of adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). The Biologics License Application (BLA) for Zynyz for this indication has been approved under accelerated approval by the U.S. FDA based on tumor response rate and duration of response (DOR). Continued approval of Zynyz for this indication may be contingent on verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. MCC is a rare and aggressive type of skin cancer that frequently appears as a single, painless, reddish-purple skin nodule on the head, neck and arms in skin exposed to sunlight1. MCC tends to grow quickly and has a high rate of metastatic disease, leading to a poor prognosis2,3. The estimated five-year overall survival (OS) rate is 14% in patients with MC
Mary Kay Highlights the Importance of Women’s Leadership and Private Sector Engagement in Conservation at the World Ocean Summit 2023 Hosted by Economist Impact22.3.2023 19:02:00 EET | Press release
Mary Kay Inc., a global advocate for corporate sustainability and signatory to the UN Global Compact Sustainable Ocean Principles, continues to play an important role in ocean conservation. In February, the beauty brand launched a groundbreaking, user-friendly platform offering valuable guidance, decision-support tools, and practical knowledge for marine practitioners. Following the announcement, Mary Kay recently participated at the 10th World Ocean Summit and Expo 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal, organized by Economist Impact. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230322005544/en/ Sandra Silva, Mary Kay Portugal’s General Manager participates on a panel on the topic of "Putting Coral Reef Restoration at the Heart of Ocean Conservation Action" at the World Ocean Summit in Lisbon, Portugal (Credit: Mary Kay Inc.). The World Ocean Summit is an annual global event that brings together the widest cross-section of the ocean co
17 Innovators Highlight Investment to Solve Global Water Challenges22.3.2023 18:15:00 EET | Press release
Seventeen organizations have joined forces to support the United Nations (UN) Water Action Agenda, pledging to invest $11 billion in water innovation over the next five years. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230322005481/en/ Innovators highlight investment to solve global water challenges (Photo: Business Wire) The collective commitment will be announced later today at an event organized by water technology company Xylem (NYSE: XYL) and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, convened during the UN 2023 Water Conference. The pledges will be included in the Water Action Agenda, a collection of all water-related commitments to accelerate progress on UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 targeting Water and Sanitation. Executives from Xylem, Veolia, XPV, Hydraloop International, and Hansgrohe will be joined by several nonprofit organizations, to pledge their commitment to invest in innovative water solutions. The funds will
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom