March 18, 2026, ROCHESTER, NY鈥擡mpire State Development (ESD) today announced the 10 startups chosen for round nine of the New York State supported聽聽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鈥檚 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.
