Access to talent, industry partnerships and lower costs of doing business have attracted a new company to the region’s optics, photonics and imaging cluster.
VPIphotonics of Berlin, Germany, this week said it has relocated its U.S. office from Boston to Rochester. Housed at Sibley Square downtown, the company has seven employees in the United States and roughly 50 worldwide.
“Cost of doing business is much cheaper and our employees can enjoy lower cost of living,” says Chris Maloney, managing director of the firm’s U.S. operations, who also points to tapping talent at Rochester Institute of Technology’s MicroE/Communications programs and University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics.
A photonic design automation software business, VPIphotonics provides professional simulation software for integrated photonics, optoelectronics, and fiber optics applications, and for optical transmission systems and optical fiber network applications. The company’s customized and off-the-shelf solutions are used in research and development and by product design and marketing teams.
In addition, academic institutions—more than 160 so far—participate in the VPIphotonics University Program.
“We play a key role in the photonics ecosystem giving researchers, universities and companies access to software tools to design photonic integrated circuits for submission to photonic foundries like AIM Photonics or Infinera,” Maloney says.
With the move to Rochester, VPIphotonics can also collaborate with NextCorps and the Luminate NY accelerator program.
“We hope to establish partnerships with companies that are part of those programs,” Maloney says.
Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor. The Beacon welcomes comments from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name.
Seven employees in the U.S. and its relocation is news in the Rochester business world. The individuals who are employed will be moving here and how many will it add over the years? There was a day when big industry was based in the Rochester area. Some of the buildings are still standing while others have been demolished. The parking lots that served those companies are slowly decaying and the weeds now dominate the pavement. With Universities, colleges and the specialized RIT in the immediate area, you would think that Rochester would be a hub of high tech industry and a matching job opportunity. Yet today an announcement of a company relocating to the area with 7 employees,….and it makes the news. Kinda sad.
I see what you’re saying, but information heavy jobs are not going to have all their employees in one location. Those days are gone. I suspect companies like this have mostly remote employees who can work from anywhere.