Digital Lumens CEO: LED light systems break new ground (Boston)

When Tom Pincince joined advanced lighting firm Digital Lumens Inc. as CEO more than a year ago, he expected to spend the first two years in "evangelical mode."

That’s because Digital Lumens, based in Boston, is offering a first-of-its-kind product, according to Pincince. The company’s lighting system combines LED technology with networking and software, to create a super-efficient lighting system that can be easily controlled wirelessly, he said.

"I thought we would have this sort of fight to create a category and create interest," Pincince said. "That’s absolutely not happening."

In January, Digital Lumens began shipping its first smart lighting systems to industrial customers (who are not currently being named by the company). Founded in 2008, the company has been backed by $11.3 million in venture capital from Flybridge Capital Partners, Stata Venture Partners and Black Coral Capital.

Pincince and Digital Lumens marketing director Allison Parker recently sat down for an interview with Mass High Tech. What follows is a portion of that discussion.

Mass High Tech: What market opportunity are you seeking to take advantage of?

Pincince: Our customer base is industrial customers – warehouse, manufacturing, heavy production. Lighting is 15 to 35 percent of their overall energy profile. They are using 30- to 50-year-old technology, so they are ripe for a change in the way they think about that energy profile ... Our customers are spending about $1 per square foot per year just on lighting. So for our customers that have a quarter million, to a half million square feet to a million square feet under a single roof – that’s a lot of money.

Read the rest of the interview in Mass High Tech.