Apurva Jain’s journey with optics began during his undergraduate studies at McGill University, where a single course opened his eyes, quite literally, to the world of light. That moment sparked a passion that would guide his academic and professional trajectory for decades. Originally from India, Apurva pursued his PhD in Florida, diving deep into the complexities of optical technologies: telecom, OCT, head-mounted displays, holography, high-power lasers, his PhD was a mosaic of the most advanced technologies in optics. But he always knew he didn’t want to stay in academia. His mission was to commercialize innovation and bring meaningful technologies into the real world.
In 2012, the optics industry began to rebound after the recession. At a defense and security conference in Baltimore, Apurva’s career took a sharp turn when a stranger handed him a website and said, “We’ll hire you.” That led him to Avo Photonics, at the time a small design & prototyping company in Horsham, Pennsylvania, that quickly became a hub for onshore optical manufacturing. Over six years, Apurva became part of the leadership team helping scale the company from 16 to 200 employees, transitioning from design to full-scale production. It was a defining experience.
Next Apurva wanted to be part of building something from the ground up. He began searching for early-stage startups near the Canadian border and eventually found his way to Lumotive in Seattle. A fresh out of incubator startup backed by seed funding from Bill Gates, Lumotive was developing a groundbreaking optical semiconductor platform that felt like something out of science fiction. To Apurva, it was a chance to be part of a seismic shift in optics, similar to how the transistor revolutionized computing.
Lumotive is on a mission to fundamentally change how optical systems are built. By etching nanostructures, aka metasurfaces, on the surface of silicon using established CMOS foundries , the company is delivering flat, programmable, and scalable optical semiconductors with broad applications in areas like 3D sensing, datacenter switches and optical communications. With backing from top-tier investors like Bill Gates and Samsung, Lumotive has grown its presence in Redmond, San Jose, and most recently, Canada.
Apurva played a key role in establishing Lumotive’s Canadian footprint, founding the office in Burnaby, BC. His decision was influenced both by personal values and strategic business considerations. Canada’s immigration laws emphasize keeping families together, something important to Apurva as an immigrant himself. Canada offered a more cost-effective and talent-rich alternative to Seattle’s tight hiring market, while remaining in the same time zone. In just under 18 months, Lumotive’s Canadian office has assembled a highly skilled team and is on track to evolve from an engineering services center to a full product and revenue-generating hub with Canadian IP at its core.
Apurva’s journey with Lumotive in Canada gained momentum through a strategic partnership with ventureLAB. Although Lumotive wasn’t a typical early-stage company, Apurva’s visit sparked an immediate connection. He recalls being told, “Let’s get you into ventureLAB so we can start helping you build out connections within the Canadian ecosystem.” Since then, ventureLAB has played a key role in supporting Lumotive’s growth, connecting the company with ecosystem partners, identifying Canadian use cases, and unlocking opportunities aligned with the country’s push toward semiconductor and AI leadership.
As an active participant in the Hardware Catalyst Initiative, Lumotive has benefited from ventureLAB’s support in mapping out opportunities and forming key partnerships. With guidance from leaders like Avinash Persaud and Ravi Gananathan, the company is exploring how to bring its technology onshore and contribute to major national projects. Apurva and his team are now positioning Lumotive to reach its next level of success in Canada and beyond.
That global vision now extends beyond Canada. Lumotive is growing in the Gulf region, bringing its foundational optical semiconductor to power the region’s technology ambitions through local partnerships. From Canada to Saudi Arabia, Lumotive is offering its platform as the building blocks for the next generation of optical systems and Apurva is leading that charge.
But there’s another side to Apurva’s story, one that blends purpose with personal passion. After moving to Canada, he launched a social venture called CCoffee.ca, driven by a simple but powerful idea: every pound of coffee supports one child’s education for a month. Rather than rely on charitable donations, CCoffee is a self-sustaining, for-profit model where 100% of profits fund long-term support for children until they reach independence. Working directly with farms in Indonesia and Brazil, the coffee is roasted in Canada and distributed to offices and universities. In just six months, CCoffee has already committed to 1,800 months of education and that’s 150 years of schooling!
For Apurva, whether it’s scaling a global optics company or serving up a cup of purpose-driven coffee, the mission is the same: build something that lasts and makes life better.
