March 18, 2026, ROCHESTER, NY—Empire State Development (ESD) today announced the 10 startups chosen for round nine of the New York State supported Luminate NY accelerator, investment fund, and competition. Selected by a panel of industry experts for their transformative work in OPI-enabled technologies, these startups were identified from a pool of 138 applicants from 33 different countries. The 2026 cohort will begin their time in Rochester on April 13, utilizing an initial $100,000 investment to continue to scale their businesses leveraging New York’s ecosystem. At the accelerator graduation on September 30, they will vie for up to $2 million in follow-on funding to help commercialize their next-generation manufacturing, medical, and sensing solutions.
