TOP 100 Startup Award 2015: First place with a better light
17.09.2015
Three years after it was founded, the cleantech startup from Lausanne is on the verge of industrial production. The doors to a host of different markets and millions of consumers are now wide open.
 L.E.S.S. and their new light technology (photo: Tina Sturzenegger)
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Fewer LED lighting in the future, more L.E.S.S. Lighting. This is the objective of the Lausanne-based startup in a nutshell. The enterprise has developed an entirely new lighting technology called ‘Light Efficient SystemS’ or L.E.S.S. for short. This technology is far superior in many respects to the LED lights that have supplanted conventional light bulbs in the market. If the startup prevails, it might spell lights out for LED lighting before too long. “Our aim is to replace LEDs with L.E.S.S.,” explains CEO Yann Tissot at the company headquarters, located at the EPFL Innovation Park in Ecublens. It might sound ambitious, but it could succeed due to the disadvantages of LED lighting: LED lights require a relatively large amount of space and do not illuminate areas evenly. And although they are more energy-efficient than light bulbs, they still leave much to be desired: 60 percent of the electrical power is converted into heat rather than light.
The alternative which L.E.S.S. has now developed is based on the dissertations of Tissot and Simon Rivier, founders and heads of research and development at the startup. As a doctoral candidate, Tissot carried out research into photonics, while Rivier focused on non-linear optics. The consolidation of their research ultimately resulted in the development of the new technology: optical fibers based on nano-structured glass fibers, which generate light that is much stronger and more evenly distributed than LED solutions and requires much less space. As a way of visualizing the concept, Tissot compares the fibers with neon pipes that are “thinner than a single hair but serve as a brighter and more homogeneous light source.” He places one of the company’s earliest products, a ring-shaped illumination system about the size of a small lamp, on the table, puts a coin underneath it and asks: “Shadows? Do you see any shadows?” In fact, it is possible to spin and rotate the two-franc piece anywhere under the lighting ring without seeing even the merest hint of shadow.
What does this mean? The lighting innovation is here and it works. All that is left to do is to put it into series production and devise a successful marketing campaign. This constitutes a major challenge for the small startup, which is now working to gradually develop practical applications and products for its new lighting concept. Tissot and Rivier have already found the company’s first customers. Their L.E.S.S. light will be installed in ‘inspection lamps’ used for quality control purposes in the precision engineering and electronics sector. The homogeneous light enables a more thorough inspection to be made with microscopes, video cameras and special software. Several Swiss watch manufacturers are now turning to the new optical fibers from Lausanne, as are companies from Germany and Japan that produce quality control systems for use in the electronics, medical technology and automotive sectors. As a supplier of system integrators, L.E.S.S. is serving something of a niche market for the time being. “However, the volume is much greater than we first envisaged,” says Tissot.
The company director does not want to give away anything more about this second area of application just yet, other than the fact that it involves a large-scale order for a German car producer. “All I can say at the moment is that our optical fibers will revolutionize an important component of the car,” he says mysteriously.
The third area of application on the horizon for the optical fibers is perhaps the most lucrative and promising of them all. The focus here is on a mass market rather than on customized solutions for special applications. What sort of market? Screens of the type used in laptops, tablets, smart phones and so on. It appears clear that if the LED lights currently used for background illumination (dozens per device) were to be replaced by the optical fibers from Lausanne, the screens would be both brighter and last longer thanks to the reduced power consumption. Not only that, but the use of minuscule fibers would allow for the design and production of extremely flat screens without a frame. These are benefits that beg the question: why are the major display systems and tablet manufacturers not yet clamoring for the startup’s business? “It is not enough to present major companies with a few fibers and, in a best case scenario, a prototype,” Tissot states. For a large-scale operation to even consider doing business with the startup, it would need thousands of L.E.S.S. units for test purposes alone. Until recently, the company did not have enough capital to arrange for a production run of this magnitude.
Now the situation has changed completely. In spring 2015, L.E.S.S. successfully completed an initial round of financing totaling CHF 3 million – primarily from prominent venturelab business angels. “The money will be used to set up an initial industrial production run,” reveals Tissot. Further developments are necessary for this. However, the switch from manual to automatic production is set to be completed soon. If everything goes according to plan, the first production line will be in operation by the end of the year. The aim is to gradually ramp up production in a 250 m2 space recently rented by the company. Next year’s production forecast is set at 10,000 units, followed by 100,000 in 2017 and then at least one million in 2018. It will be a race against time, states Tissot, “as demand for the optical fibers is already outstripping supply.”
Is this the sort of problem a startup wants to have, or is it more a source of stress? “Both,” admits the CEO. As a former top swimmer, he is more than familiar with racing against time. It is forecast that over CHF 1 million will be generated in revenue just this year. L.E.S.S. wants to break even by 2017 at the latest. Tissot and Rivier estimate that in five years’ time they will employ around 200 people and achieve a sales volume in the mid-doubledigit million range. The company headquarters is set to remain in Lausanne; offices in Asia and the USA are planned for marketing purposes. The primary market on which L.E.S.S. is setting its sights is currently worth over CHF 12 billion.
A great help from Venture Kick and other programs
L.E.S.S. won the Venture Kick final in 2012. The EPFL spin-off is also a venture leader and flew to Boston, New York, Shanghai and Beijing in 2012 and 2014, to better understand their potential on the market. L.E.S.S. also won the >>venture>> competition in 2014 and the Strategis Prize of 2014.
The alternative which L.E.S.S. has now developed is based on the dissertations of Tissot and Simon Rivier, founders and heads of research and development at the startup. As a doctoral candidate, Tissot carried out research into photonics, while Rivier focused on non-linear optics. The consolidation of their research ultimately resulted in the development of the new technology: optical fibers based on nano-structured glass fibers, which generate light that is much stronger and more evenly distributed than LED solutions and requires much less space. As a way of visualizing the concept, Tissot compares the fibers with neon pipes that are “thinner than a single hair but serve as a brighter and more homogeneous light source.” He places one of the company’s earliest products, a ring-shaped illumination system about the size of a small lamp, on the table, puts a coin underneath it and asks: “Shadows? Do you see any shadows?” In fact, it is possible to spin and rotate the two-franc piece anywhere under the lighting ring without seeing even the merest hint of shadow.
What does this mean? The lighting innovation is here and it works. All that is left to do is to put it into series production and devise a successful marketing campaign. This constitutes a major challenge for the small startup, which is now working to gradually develop practical applications and products for its new lighting concept. Tissot and Rivier have already found the company’s first customers. Their L.E.S.S. light will be installed in ‘inspection lamps’ used for quality control purposes in the precision engineering and electronics sector. The homogeneous light enables a more thorough inspection to be made with microscopes, video cameras and special software. Several Swiss watch manufacturers are now turning to the new optical fibers from Lausanne, as are companies from Germany and Japan that produce quality control systems for use in the electronics, medical technology and automotive sectors. As a supplier of system integrators, L.E.S.S. is serving something of a niche market for the time being. “However, the volume is much greater than we first envisaged,” says Tissot.
The company director does not want to give away anything more about this second area of application just yet, other than the fact that it involves a large-scale order for a German car producer. “All I can say at the moment is that our optical fibers will revolutionize an important component of the car,” he says mysteriously.
The third area of application on the horizon for the optical fibers is perhaps the most lucrative and promising of them all. The focus here is on a mass market rather than on customized solutions for special applications. What sort of market? Screens of the type used in laptops, tablets, smart phones and so on. It appears clear that if the LED lights currently used for background illumination (dozens per device) were to be replaced by the optical fibers from Lausanne, the screens would be both brighter and last longer thanks to the reduced power consumption. Not only that, but the use of minuscule fibers would allow for the design and production of extremely flat screens without a frame. These are benefits that beg the question: why are the major display systems and tablet manufacturers not yet clamoring for the startup’s business? “It is not enough to present major companies with a few fibers and, in a best case scenario, a prototype,” Tissot states. For a large-scale operation to even consider doing business with the startup, it would need thousands of L.E.S.S. units for test purposes alone. Until recently, the company did not have enough capital to arrange for a production run of this magnitude.
Now the situation has changed completely. In spring 2015, L.E.S.S. successfully completed an initial round of financing totaling CHF 3 million – primarily from prominent venturelab business angels. “The money will be used to set up an initial industrial production run,” reveals Tissot. Further developments are necessary for this. However, the switch from manual to automatic production is set to be completed soon. If everything goes according to plan, the first production line will be in operation by the end of the year. The aim is to gradually ramp up production in a 250 m2 space recently rented by the company. Next year’s production forecast is set at 10,000 units, followed by 100,000 in 2017 and then at least one million in 2018. It will be a race against time, states Tissot, “as demand for the optical fibers is already outstripping supply.”
Is this the sort of problem a startup wants to have, or is it more a source of stress? “Both,” admits the CEO. As a former top swimmer, he is more than familiar with racing against time. It is forecast that over CHF 1 million will be generated in revenue just this year. L.E.S.S. wants to break even by 2017 at the latest. Tissot and Rivier estimate that in five years’ time they will employ around 200 people and achieve a sales volume in the mid-doubledigit million range. The company headquarters is set to remain in Lausanne; offices in Asia and the USA are planned for marketing purposes. The primary market on which L.E.S.S. is setting its sights is currently worth over CHF 12 billion.
A great help from Venture Kick and other programs
L.E.S.S. won the Venture Kick final in 2012. The EPFL spin-off is also a venture leader and flew to Boston, New York, Shanghai and Beijing in 2012 and 2014, to better understand their potential on the market. L.E.S.S. also won the >>venture>> competition in 2014 and the Strategis Prize of 2014.