LEDs Magazine has received an advance announcement from intellectual property advisors at Hilco Streambank regarding the sale of IP and additional assets of Forest, Va.-based LED lighting manufacturer LiteSheet Solutions.
Founded in 2012, LiteSheet has gathered initial seed funding, additional series funding from investors, and debt financing totaling just over $4 million over the past 11 years, according to Crunchbase. The company’s foundational IP is its patented BriteCor AC Direct module technology that utilizes all solid-state components for lighting and power management, and eliminates the use of conventional DC drivers for power conversion, which rely upon failure-prone electrolytic capacitors.
Hilco Streambank’s release indicates that LiteSheet will seek interested buyers for “an internationally registered patent portfolio, domain names, and trademarks as well as an operational 20,000 square-foot production facility located in Virginia.”
LiteSheet’s LED light engines and control modules are certified under the Buy American Act and manufactured in the Virginia facility, which provides SMT production, final assembly, test, inspection, and order fulfillment services.
OEM buyer could expand opportunities
LEDs Magazine reached out to LiteSheet CEO Roger Whyte for comment about the motivation and timing for the IP sale.
“LiteSheet is a technology company that was born out of the premise that there was a better way to more efficiently and reliably drive LEDs,” Whyte explained. “LiteSheet has developed, tested, validated, certified, and commercially proven the next-generation LED light engine that eliminates the failure-prone DC power supply.”
He continued, “LiteSheet is being sold now simply because it’s time to get the technology into the hands of a major OEM to leverage the technology and scale it.”
Hilco Streambank CEO Gabe Fried said, “This is a great opportunity for an acquirer of these assets; LiteSheet has already done all of the work to bring these products to market, including validating the technology, securing UL certification, proven it can cost-effectively manufacture in the U.S., and that customers love these products.”
We asked whether LiteSheet’s 2020 launch of an ultraviolet disinfection cabinet was included in the IP portfolio; Whyte responded that “the UV-C cabinet [was] spun out into a separate company called PureWorks,” which is not a part of this transaction.
Illuminating potential of harsh-environment applications
Currently, LiteSheet’s website lists a number of ruggedized luminaires in form factors such as high bays; wall, pendant, and ceiling mount versions; linear lights; and retrofit options, in addition to the available OEM light engines.
“All LiteSheet products last for over 230,000 lumen lifetime hours compared to 70,000 hours delivered by standard LED lights,” Fried said. “This means LiteSheet technology is particularly valuable in installations where the cost of maintenance and replacement are high.”
Whyte expanded, saying that the low total cost of ownership (TCO) and long warranty for BriteCor technology “makes it perfect for hard to reach, high-maintenance-cost locations like tunnels, high-bay applications where lifts are required, area lighting, etc.” The IP firm’s release cites a 40–80% reduction in TCO compared to DC-driven LED solutions.
Fried also noted that “a testament to the quality of these products are the established relationships and signed distribution contracts with major industrial supply companies Grainger and Applied Industrial.” The acquisition opportunity notes specify that these distributors have already launched products to market in 2022 with trained representatives.
Hilco Streambank will accept inquiries regarding the acquisition process online. Indications of interest are due by Feb. 23, 2023.
CARRIE MEADOWS is managing editor of LEDs Magazine, with 20+ years’ experience in business-to-business publishing across technology markets including solid-state technology manufacturing, fiberoptic communications, machine vision, lasers and photonics, and LEDs and lighting.
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