June 11, 2007Woburn, Massachusetts – Luminus Devices, Inc. today announced that it has received a $2.5 million development loan from the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency’s Emerging Technology Fund (ETF). The company will use the financing to expand its manufacturing operations and help meet increased demand from customers as its PhlatLight LED technology becomes more widely adopted.
Luminus Devices has gained a strong foothold in the consumer electronics market, due to the expanding adoption of its PhlatLight products by some of the world’s leading TV manufacturers. This adoption, as well as its more recent expansion into new applications, has driven a stream of new hires. In the last four years, Luminus has created 175 local jobs and will continue to expand its workforce throughout the term of the agreement. The funds from MassDevelopment are allotted for capital and leasehold improvements and will help Luminus’ creation of many more new jobs in Massachusetts over the next five years. New growth is expected to come from Luminus’ expansion into a variety of new applications, including LCD TV, one of the fastest growing segments in HDTV.
"This project is another great example of how the Emerging Technology Fund helps convince cutting-edge businesses like Luminus to site or expand manufacturing operations in the Commonwealth by providing a modest, targeted investment in equipment and facilities," said Robert L. Culver, MassDevelopment president/CEO. "Like Bristol-Myers Squibb in Devens, Luminus' decision to create high-tech jobs in the Bay State is a testament to the fact that Massachusetts has the workforce, real estate and commitment to business development that makes manufacturing -- in addition to research and development -- both a realistic and attractive option for firms that are here now, as well as those looking to expand in this part of the country."
“We are encouraged by the State’s support of our business and we are pleased to be giving back to the local economy by maintaining our Massachusetts roots and continuing to create new jobs,” said Luminus Devices’ CEO Udi Meirav. “The loan from MassDevelopment will help continue the expansion of our manufacturing operations and contribute to the mass commercialization of our PhlatLight products as we enter into new applications and ramp up production of our existing products for our consumer electronics customer base.”
Founded in 2002, Luminus Devices originated from research at MIT by company CTO and founder Alexei Erchak. The company’s patented PhlatLight LED technology is the light source currently featured in Samsung Electronics’ new line of Slim LED DLP® TVs, which are on shelves at national retailers, including Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears, and Tweeter. The new sets all use Luminus' environmentally-friendly PhlatLight illumination products in place of the hazardous mercury lamps found in traditional projection TVs. PhlatLight technology is also in commercial use in projection TVs from NuVision, as well as in a compact new pocket projector from LG Electronics. The only commercially available solid state light sources powerful enough to illuminate microdisplay-based projection TVs, PhlatLight LEDs enable displays with brilliant image quality with a wider color gamut, a longer lifetime, lower power consumption, and outstanding reliability.
Poised to capitalize on the rapidly growing LCD TV market, Luminus, in partnership with Global Lighting Technologies (GLT), recently demonstrated a prototype 52-inch LCD backlight unit during industry tradeshow SID 2007 (the Society for Information Display’s 2007 International Symposium & Exhibition). The co-developed backlighting unit needs only 10 PhlatLight chipsets for illumination, compared to many thousands, using conventional LEDs. Luminus was awarded SID’s 2007 Display Component of the Year Silver Award, the industry’s highest honor, for its PhlatLight LED technology at the show.
MassDevelopment’s Emerging Technology Fund supports innovation and growth in Massachusetts by providing loans and guarantees for technology-based manufacturing facilities and equipment. To date, 15 companies have received more than $23 million in ETF financing and millions more in follow-on investment.
About Luminus Devices
Luminus Devices, Inc. develops and manufactures high performance solid state light sources customized for a variety of applications, including high definition TVs, video projectors, avionics displays, and lighting systems. Its PhlatLight™ (Photonic Lattice) LED products are the brightest and most versatile solid state light sources available today and are enabling innovative products and applications never before possible. Luminus Devices’ headquarters and primary manufacturing facilities are located in Woburn, Massachusetts, U.S.A. For more information, visit www.luminus.com and www.phlatlight.com.
About MassDevelopment
MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development authority, works with businesses, financial institutions and local officials to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. Between FY2004 and FY2006, MassDevelopment financed or managed 589 projects statewide representing an investment of more than $4 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are supporting the creation of 5,505 housing units and more than 23,000 jobs: 12,381 permanent and 10,679 construction-related.
For more information, contact:
Bree Clidence or Jill Colna
SVM Public Relations
760-940-9025 or 401-490-9700
bree.clidence@svmpr.com or jill.colna@svmpr.com
Note to editors: PhlatLight is a trademark of Luminus Devices.
