Startup Nanoleaf Builds Eco-Friendly IoT Light Bulbs and Modular Systems

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nanoleaf-logo-toronto-canada-startup-lighting-ledNanoleaf is a green tech innovator, concentrating on maximizing energy-efficiency in lighting solutions without sacrificing style in the process. They were founded in 2012 by Christian Yan, Gimmy Chu and Tom Rodinger in Toronto, Canada. They have positioned their production and logistics in Shenzhen and another office in Hong Kong.

I don’t need to explain you how important it is to save power from both economic and ecological angles. The world deserves that we are at least trying to transform the technology and consumer culture into a more sustainable state. Companies like Nanoleaf make this cause their vision statement. Plus, they have some really good ideas on how to go about it.

Nanoleaf builds LED lightbulbs that are a little different. The design of the Smart Gem (planned for 2017) or Smart Ivy is absolutely arguable. Some might fall in love with their design and others might be happy if they disappear within a lamp and can’t be seen much. Fair enough. What counts is that they emit light just as well, or better as, traditional competition and for a fraction of the energy consumption.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJTbMKbjIgO/?taken-by=nanoleaf&hl=en
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Smart Ivy lighting solution specifications

  • Power: 7.5W
  • Equivalent: 60W
  • Lumens: 800 Lm
  • Efficacy: >105 Lm/W
  • Color Temperature: 3000K Warm White
  • CRI: >80
  • Power Factor: >0.9
  • Voltage: 120V-240V
  • Bulb Base: E26, E27
  • Life Span: 27 years
  • What’s in the Smart Kit: 1 Nanoleaf Hub, 2 Nanoleaf Smart Ivy bulbs, cables & accessories
  • Price: $100

Next to their dominant products, they also have a range of other light bulb types. If you enjoy curiously fresh design, feel free to check those out too at their shop.

IoT FTW

In addition to that Nanoleaf is also on the innovation front and enabling their devices to be able to work with smart home systems such as the Apple HomeKit. Using Siri to control your lighting in a smart way, that’s certainly a neat function.

Working with APIs in general is a good idea if they want to sell their solution to enterprise-sized companies. The solution also works with other cloud-aided IoT smart home suites such as Google Weave, Amazon Alexa, IFTTT, Zigbee and the Nanoleaf Cloud. Android OS compatibility was planned for Summer 2016, but no confirmation was to be found.

christian-yan-gimmy-chu-tom-rodinger-nanoleaf-led-startup

Nanoleaf Aurora

They also recently announced a new type of lighting solution called Aurora, which allows for beautiful installations due to the modularity of the product. Each of the panels can be stacked into another panel to form a cluster of atmospheric lighting. Further the panels can be controlled and programmed via app.

The Nanoleaf Aurora Smarter Kit, with nine Panels is available for preorder for about $200. If that’s not enough for you, you can opt for the expansion pack with another three panels, priced at $60. They currently have a special gig running to get 20% discount if you order before the end of August. The preorder deliveries are estimated to be completed in early October of 2016.Truly beautiful, if the solution will work as demonstrated in the promotion videos.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ3WjRpDdZx/?taken-by=nanoleaf&hl=en
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The specifications of the Aurora panels are…

  • Luminous Flux: 100 Lm (per panel)
  • Color Temperature: 2200K – 5000K
  • Max Power per Panel: 2W
  • Max Power Supply Power: 60W
  • Max Panels per PSU: 30
  • Dimmable: Yes (via App or Voice Control)
  • Control Framework: Apple HomeKit, Android, Amazon Alexa
  • Color Rendering Index (CRI): 80
  • Power Factor: 0.7
  • Voltage: 100vac – 240vac (universal)
  • Color Channel Configuration: RGBW
  • Communication Protocol: WiFi (2.4GHz b/g/n)
  • Lifetime: 25,000 Hours
  • Max Colors: 16.7 million

Leadership insight

CEO and Co-Founder Gimmy Chu says, “We don’t believe that people should have to compromise style to save the planet. With our products, you can live in style and saving the planet just happens naturally in the background.” A good and noble vision.

They have also received a lot of interest from Chinese business magnate Sir Li Ka-shing. In case you don’t know him, he is the owner of companies, that own companies, that own companies that you know. The Standard quoted him talking about the Nanoleaf light bulbs during a press conference, stating this product is “most power-saving light bulb in the world”. Next to Li Ka-shing’s investments there is a total of $3M funding placed with the young startup.
liangpupuStory pitched by news scout Pupu Liang.
Thanks for that!

YouTube: Nanoleaf Aurora: It’s Not Light, It’s Living Paint

Photo credit: Nanoleaf
Source: Crunchbase / Leah Rae (LEDinside) / Nanoleaf website

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Christopher Isak
Christopher Isakhttps://techacute.com
Hi there and thanks for reading my article! I'm Chris the founder of TechAcute. I write about technology news and share experiences from my life in the enterprise world. Drop by on Twitter and say 'hi' sometime. ;)
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