Recently, in Berlin, during the Falling Walls Science Summit 2025, Lumai – which joined the LIFTT portfolio at the end of 2024 – won the title of Science Breakthrough of the Year in the Science Start-ups category thanks to its project “Breaking the Wall of Inefficient AI Computation.”
Pierluigi Freni, Project Manager at LIFTT, presented the start-up on stage, introducing one of the most promising innovations in the field of artificial intelligence.
Lumai is an Anglo-Saxon deep tech start-up founded with an ambitious goal: to radically change the way AI processes data. Its technology develops a revolutionary optical computing system capable of overcoming the energy and performance limitations of traditional electronic processors. By using light to perform complex operations, Lumai aims to make AI models faster, extremely efficient, and much less energy-intensive, helping to reduce the environmental impact of digital infrastructure and enable highly computationally intensive applications. A fusion of pioneering vision and advanced scientific research that perfectly embodies what deep tech can mean for the future of AI: more powerful, more sustainable, and more accessible technology.
The award received in Berlin recognizes not only Lumai’s technical excellence, but also the team’s entrepreneurial ability to imagine new paradigms in the field of artificial intelligence. The title of Science Breakthrough of the Year is awarded to companies capable of “breaking down barriers,” opening new avenues and pushing the boundaries of science with a potential global impact. Lumai thus joins an international community of innovators who are rewriting the future through research, vision, and technology.
This victory adds to a tradition of success: RandomPower and Spectō Photonics, also part of the LIFTT portfolio, had already been selected in previous editions of Falling Walls Venture. This result confirms our deepest conviction: deep tech is not just about developing technology, but about breaking down barriers, imagining radical solutions, and contributing to progress that has a real impact on society.
We are always excited to accompany start-ups like Lumai on their journey and to support those who, with courage and vision, continue to break down walls and build the future of innovation.
