The family split up after their journey with the Lighting Science Group, and each went his own way. My brother Wim moved to Indonesia to create a Nanotechnology company, whereas my cousin Richard found his challenge in 3D printing incredibly transparent lenses. I had a lot of experience in lighting development and didn't want to throw that knowledge away.
It seemed obvious to me that I wanted to restart my lighting business. LED was still relatively new in 2009, and with the experience gained, it was now critical to establish the appropriate collection. The first "Circlelamp" concept was a 50mm LED lamp with built-in capabilities such as a camera, speaker, and motion sensor. This project was exceedingly ambitious, possibly overly so, as the electronics development proved to be more complex than anticipated. Because money had to be made, the beacons were altered, and the Fluxe 75 high-voltage lamp was released to the public at the end of 2011.
In addition to the high-voltage spots, we formed a collaboration with an American LED supplier (Cree), who provided us with LED modules which were far ahead of the market. We expanded to a turnover of more than 8 million euros in four years, and it seemed natural. To finance the component stocks, money had to be invested, and two investment funds were brought on board. Because we made a lot of money in 2015, I was encouraged to develop quicker than intended. We expanded from 15 to 34 personnel in six months, which turned out to be too huge a step in retrospect.
We had a five-person management staff at the time to oversee future expansion. In the end, it turned out that we were more interested with formulating strategic plans and meeting than with accomplishing actual work. We lost contact with the consumer and returned to 5 million turnover. There was no other option than to reorganise ourselves with the assistance of Ben Brevet, which we did in 2019. We reduced our workforce to 24 individuals, and we have seen steady growth since then, with a record-breaking outcome in 2021.
The collection and production are up to date, and there are enormous opportunities for rapid growth. As a result, in the coming years, we will make additional efforts to strengthen the sales and marketing departments.
