Xicato® Announces 43% Year on Year Growth, Secures 49 New Patents And Sets Sights on Lighting 2.0
San Jose, CA (PRWEB) February 27, 2014 -- Xicato, enablers of the Internet of Lights, today revealed that it grew its year-on-year revenues by 43% in 2013. The venture-backed company, which develops and sells LED modules to global lighting manufacturers, also saw its lighting technology installed in thousands more retailers, art museums and hotels last year. Continuing its commitment to being an innovator in this space, Xicato was awarded 49 new patents in the 12 months.
“We had a banner year in 2013, in large part driven by the growing recognition that the LED modules we develop are second to none when it comes to light quality and consistency,” said Menko de Roos, CEO, Xicato. “Last year we expanded the number of OEM partners we work with to over 100, launched our Vibrant Series™ of light for retailers and introduced the industry’s first color consistency and lumen maintenance warranty,” said de Roos.
Growth in retail segment
Just as museum curators have long understood the importance of light in bringing works of art to life and showing the key details the artist intended to convey, retailers too are realizing the value of light in communicating the essence of their brand to customers. Luxury retailers, from Harrods to Rolex, have been among the first to use luminaires built on Xicato’s technology and now mainstream consumer brands like Bose and the UK’s clothing giant, Next, are tapping into the benefits of using the best available light to enhance the retail environment and show-off their merchandise to its best advantage. According to McKinsey & Company, in professional indoor LED lighting, retail will be the fastest growing segment for quality, efficient light in the coming years.
Patents Boost Innovation Credentials
Led by Gerard Harbers, Xicato’s CTO, the company has now been awarded 97 patents for the advanced technologies it has developed to ensure its LED modules offer the best light available, as efficiently as possible. 49 of those patents were awarded in the last year for technology advancements in areas including color consistency, spectral quality and diagnostics.
“Lighting 2.0 is finally bringing light from the analog era into the digital age and we’re proud of our part in driving the industry forward,” said Gerard Harbers, CTO, Xicato. “However, in the race to bring controls, connectivity and sensors to lighting, many of our competitors have overlooked two crucial aspects: delivering the best possible light to the end user and integrating the electronics to achieve a single, open source platform. We’ve built our core IP and technology around these and believe they are crucial to the future of Lighting 2.0,” said Harbers.
Industry’s Only Warranty For Color and Consistency
While lighting designers and building managers have long wanted to give up the unpleasant side-effects, such as mood-killing light to light that changes color over time, that come with conventional sources, including fluorescent and ceramic metal halide, they have been reluctant to venture into the world of LED lighting. It was this dilemma that Xicato set out to solve with its patented technology. Today, Xicato is the only company in the world to offer a five year warranty, backed by insurer, Munich Re, for the color consistency and light output produced by its LED module
US-based manufacturing
Founded in California, last year Xicato expanded its operations in San Jose, CA to house its headquarters and first US manufacturing facility where it’s preparing to launch the industry’s next generation of intelligent modules. The company will add approximately 20 people this year to support the new manufacturing and expansion.
Xicato is gearing up for what will be another breakout year and will be making a series of key announcements at Light and Building in Frankfurt, Germany, in April.
About Xicato
Xicato is enabling the Internet of Lights and empowering architects, designers and building managers to create beautiful, smart spaces people love to live and work in. We design and build intelligent LED modules that integrate the best quality and most efficient light with software, sensors and connectivity. With Xicato, spaces and buildings can be simply managed from anywhere, using any device. For further information visit: http://www.xicato.com.
Xicato’s headquarters and manufacturing is based in Silicon Valley and the company has offices in China, Japan and throughout Europe. Founded in 2007, Xicato’s focus on high quality light and reliability has won praise from the lighting community and end-users alike and was recently recognized as “Best Industrial Partner by the Professional Lighting Design community. Installations using Xicato range from retail and museums to restaurants and hotels. A gallery of installations can be found here.
Steve Landau, Xicato, http://www.xicato.com, +1 408-582-2891, [email protected]
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