For OWiC Technologies, a client of the Praxis Center for Venture Development, a series of recent funding milestones is giving the Ithaca-based semiconductor technology company the runway to focus on what comes next. The company develops optoelectronic devices and instruments that combine optics, electronics and sensing, while also providing engineering and manufacturing services for next-generation optoelectronic systems.
With new non-dilutive funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, alongside revenue from paying customers, OWiC now has sufficient runway to operate through 2028 without needing to raise additional capital.
“Having enough non-dilutive funding to support the company for the next couple of years changes what we get to optimize for,” said Alejandro Cortese, founder and CEO of OWiC Technologies. “Instead of spending a large fraction of our time fundraising, we can focus on the engineering, manufacturing, and customer work that moves the company forward and keeps us focused on solving real, customer-driven problems. Our goal is to use that runway to reach the point where OWiC is sustained by revenue from its own products and engineering services, and where future financing can be used strategically to more rapidly scale products that have demonstrated clear product-market fit.” The latest milestone came in late summer, when OWiC received its NIH Phase II Notice of Award for a project focused on developing high-throughput electrosynthesis for drug discovery using light-powered smart microelectronics. The award provides $1.23 million in currently obligated funding, with an additional $690,000 recommended for the following budget year. The project runs through July 2028 and is a collaboration with Stanford University Professor Song Lin.
The NIH funding will support the development of OWiC’s SPECS platform, including wafer-scale manufacturing, reader and software development, electrode integration and pilot demonstrations. SPECS, one of the company’s own product platforms, is designed to bring light-powered smart microelectronics into high-throughput experimentation for pharmaceutical researchers.
OWiC also recently received a $499,991 NSF Phase IIB supplement following its previous NSF SBIR Phase II award. The funding extends the project through August 2028 and will support the scale-up and commercialization of OWiC’s microLINK technology, including wafer-scale manufacturing, increased optical output, and longer-range communication.
The company’s recent federal support also includes its work with the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Regional Network, Mid Atlantic (AFRL-RNMA), a Cornell-based program. OWiC has a $100,000 AFRL-RNMA program currently underway, and a $200,000 follow-on Phase II proposal has been selected for funding. The follow-on project will focus on applying OWiC’s sensing technology to thermoset and epoxy processing, using higher-temperature SENSE systems and embedded microscale sensors to monitor curing and manufacturing processes. Because the follow-on award is still being finalized, the company describes it as selected for funding rather than fully contracted.
These federal awards build on other recent support for OWiC’s technology development. In February, the company was awarded a $250,000 NY THRIVE Innovation Voucher to help expand manufacturing of its SPECS technology through work with the Cornell NanoScale Science & Technology Facility.
Together, the funding supports several sides of OWiC’s business, from pharmaceutical research and microscale sensing to optical communications and advanced manufacturing.
With this growing base of non-dilutive support and revenue from customers, OWiC is entering its next stage with the resources to keep developing its technology, expanding manufacturing and working toward greater commercialization without making another fundraising round an immediate priority.