BOULDER, Colo., July 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Double Helix Optics , a 3D nano-imaging company, was recognized as the most promising optics, photonics, and imaging (OPI) startup, taking home $1 million in investment funding from Luminate. The company’s patented Light Engineering™ technology turns 2D imaging into 3D information capture, allowing scientists to see structures in their entirety to accelerate disease discovery and research, drug development, industrial inspection, and beyond. Already, the technology is in use at leading research laboratories in the U.S. and Europe.

Double Helix Optics was awarded Luminate’s grand prize after more than 125 companies participated in multiple rounds of competition.

As 3D information is increasingly incorporated into real-world applications, a major challenge has been integrating depth information with increased resolution. Double Helix Optics’ technology overcomes these limitations, providing unparalleled depth and precision imaging and sensing solutions for life sciences, pharma/biotech and material sciences. The company’s SPINDLE ® 3D nano-imaging module seamlessly integrates with existing microscopes, cameras, and other optical instruments to turn 2D imaging into 3D information capture. This implementation allows for super-resolution 3D imaging and tracking at the individual molecular level. This technology is extensible to precision 3D imaging and sensing for object capture applications including robotics, inspection and machine vision.

The Double Helix Light Engineering platform technology was originally developed at the lab of company Co-founder Dr. Rafael Piestun at the University of Colorado, Boulder.  Double Helix applied to the Luminate program in order to scale its operations and further extend its reach into life sciences, drug discovery and machine vision markets.

“The Luminate program has been extremely valuable to the growth of our company. This follow-on funding will allow us to expand our market reach, and further validate the need for precision 3D imaging in a multitude of applications,” said Leslie Kimerling, co-founder and CEO of Double Helix Optics. “It will also enable us to accelerate our product delivery and to serve more markets more quickly.”

“Luminate is focused on advancing the way optics, photonics and imaging are applied to solve unique challenges. Companies like Double Helix Optics have the potential to revolutionize current technology, making it vitally important to help them build a strong ecosystem for scaling their innovations,” said Dr. Sujatha Ramanujan, Managing Director, Luminate NY.

The SPINDLE module, matching engineered phase masks and 3DTRAX™ software are available now, and come in both standard and customized packages to match customers’ existing setups and imaging requirements. To inquire, contact: imaging@doublehelixoptics.com

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About Double Helix Optics Double Helix Optics of Boulder, CO is a team of top talent from a range of fields coming together to advance discovery and research in precision 3D nano-imaging. Our Double Helix Light Engineering™ technology is enabling visualization and data capture of objects of the smallest size.  The SPINDLE module, engineered phase masks, and 3DTRAX™ software are currently in use by globally recognized scientists, allowing for new discoveries at the molecular level. For more information, visit http://doublehelixoptics.com .

About Luminate Luminate is the only international startup accelerator focused solely on next-generation optics, photonics and imaging (OPI) . Located in the world capital of imaging—Rochester, New York—Luminate is bringing visionary entrepreneurs from around the globe together with OPI pioneers and qualified investors to speed innovation and time to market. It’s also providing early-stage companies with the capital necessary to further develop their technologies. Luminate is a program of NextCorps. For more information, visit http://luminate.org .

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