Lidrotec Receives $1 Million in Investment; Four Additional Companies Secure Follow-on Investments
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NYS Investment Complements "Finger Lakes Forward" - the Region's Comprehensive Strategy to Revitalize Communities and Grow the Economy
Photo of Luminate NY Winner Available Here
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced Lidrotec as the winner of Round 5 of the Luminate NY optics, photonics, and imaging startup accelerator competition. The Bochum, Germany-based Lidrotec received the "Company of the Year" award at Luminate Finals 2022, which was held live during Optica's Frontiers in Optics + Laser Science conference in Rochester. The company will receive $1 million in investment from New York State through the Finger Lakes Forward Upstate Revitalization Initiative. 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. Through Luminate NY, Lidrotec was introduced to AIM Photonics. This collaboration is helping Lidrotec build the infrastructure for developing the next iteration of its technology and execute on its plans to establish US operations. Luminate NY, which is administered by NextCorps, is the world's largest business accelerator for emerging companies that have optics, photonics, and imaging enabled technologies. The Finals event marks the completion of the fifth year of the cohort-based program. Earlier this year, Governor Hochul included funding for Luminate NY in the New State budget for four more consecutive years.
"New York is on the cutting edge of technological research, as we continue to welcome great talent and opportunities here through our Luminate NY competition," Governor Hochul said. "We are adding another chapter to the Finger Lakes Region's unparalleled history in imaging and optics by bringing the most promising companies here to speed the commercialization of groundbreaking technologies. Today's winners will be able to take advantage of the nation's most robust, sophisticated, and highly integrated optics, photonics and imaging supply chain that exists here to scale their businesses, leading to their growth as well as New York State's economy."