The 2018 SPIE Startup Challenge is seeking entrepreneur applicants who are working in light-based technologies and products to vie for $85,000 in cash and prizes. SPIE, an international society advancing an interdisciplinary approach to the science and application of light, has been honoring the best in its field since 1959.
Challenge participants will pitch their ideas and business plan to a panel of venture capitalists and corporate development experts, with the grand prize winner receiving $10,000 in cash along with $5,000 in products from Edmund Optics.
“When we applied, we didn’t even have a company name,” said Nabiha Saklayen, who won last year’s 2017 Startup Challenge with her partner Marinna Madrid. “Eight months after winning, we are raising a seed round of funding and finalizing a development agreement with a leading industry partner. Applying to this competition was the best decision for the future of the company. We encourage other early stage entrepreneurs to do the same without thinking twice.”
Once the application period is closed on November 16th, SPIE selects twenty semifinalists that receive time to demonstrate their product at the SPIE Photonics West exhibition and feedback on their ideas, with two semifinalists potentially receiving Early-Stage Travel Awards worth $2,500 and conference registration at Photonics West. From the initial twenty, six finalists advance to the live pitching round, where the judges decide the top three pitches and announce the winners.
Second and third place award $5,000 and $2,500 respectively, and all three winners additionally receive tickets to the PRISM awards gala and promotion on social media and SPIE.org. Eligible applicants must have a technology or product in photonics or optics, or an application for a viable business, and be pre-revenue.
