Lightricity
Lightricity is a UK-based photovoltaic energy harvesting company that designs ultra-high-efficiency indoor PV cells and battery-free IoT systems (beacons, sensors, BLE asset-tracking tags) for enterprise customers in building automation, logistics, healthcare, industrial, and space applications, selling hardware and design-in services direct via custom quotation.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersOxford, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Lightricity does
Lightricity Ltd is a UK-based photovoltaic energy harvesting company founded in 2017 and headquartered at Oxford Science Park, Oxford. The company develops ultra-high-efficiency indoor photovoltaic (PV) cells and reference designs that harvest energy from ambient indoor light at illumination levels as low as 50 lux, enabling battery-free, maintenance-free IoT devices such as beacons, environmental sensors, and BLE asset-tracking tags. Technology originated from SHARP Laboratories of Europe, and the co-founders (Managing Director Matthias Kauer and Technical Director Mathieu Bellanger) and advisory board retain deep optoelectronics and thin-film expertise, supported by 42 patent applications and 39 journal publications associated with the leadership team. The product portfolio spans High-Efficiency Indoor PV Components, Autonomous IoT Systems (including the Nordic-enabled 4EverTrack tag), Indoor PV Power Sub-Systems (4EverLast), test and measurement tools (LightBox simulator, reference cells, universal multiplexer), Space Solar Cells for CubeSats, and Design-in Services for customer integration.
The company generates revenue through direct hardware sales of components, sub-systems, and complete IoT systems, supplemented by professional design-in and technology development services priced on a custom quotation basis with multi-year contracts. Go-to-market is enterprise B2B, with sales driven by contact-form inquiries, dedicated design-in engineering support, technology partner embedding (Nordic, Renesas, Ilika, NGK, NICHICON, e-peas, ISMOsys), trade-show presence (CES, Electronica, Embedded World, SIDO, IDTechEx), and accelerator participation (Digital Catapult, IOT Tribe). Target segments include building automation, logistics and supply chain, healthcare (NHS hospitals, Royal Surrey County Hospital), railway infrastructure (SPECTRAIL), industrial monitoring, and space/aerospace. To date the company has been predominantly funded through non-dilutive grants and awards (Innovate UK, EU Horizon H2020, UK Space Agency, OxLEP, SME Instrument), with cumulative grant funding disclosed in the low single-digit millions of pounds; commercial revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.
The company's competitive positioning rests on claimed best-in-class indoor PV efficiency and low-light performance, a deep patent and publication portfolio inherited from SHARP Labs R&D, and an expanding ecosystem of silicon and component partners that reference Lightricity harvesters in their own IoT reference designs. Distribution remains primarily direct, with ISMOsys representing the only disclosed third-party channel partner, and the customer base is diversified across multiple verticals but small in absolute scale given the 1-10 employee headcount.
Lightricity firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lightricity
- Legal name
- Lightricity Ltd
- Website
- https://lightricity.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Lightricity is a UK-based photovoltaic energy harvesting company that designs ultra-high-efficiency indoor PV cells and battery-free IoT systems (beacons, sensors, BLE asset-tracking tags) for enterprise customers in building automation, logistics, healthcare, industrial, and space applications, selling hardware and design-in services direct via custom quotation.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lightricity industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Photovoltaic Energy Harvesting
- NAICS
- Electric Lamp Bulb and Other Lighting Equipment Manufacturing (335139)
- SIC
- Electronic & Other Electrical Equipment (No Computer Equip) (3600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Solar Inverters, Power Electronics & MLPE (String/Central Inverters, Optimizers, Microinverters) (EUAMABAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Solar Inverters, Power Optimizers & MLPE Manufacturing (EUAMAHAB)
Keywords
Where Lightricity is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oxford
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Lightricity business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Indoor PV Components: Sale of high-efficiency photovoltaic energy harvesting components and solar cells for indoor IoT applications
- Battery-free IoT Systems: Sale of autonomous battery-free IoT systems including beacons, sensors, and asset tracking devices
- Indoor Light Simulators and Test Equipment: Sale of characterization tools including Lightbox indoor light simulators, reference PV cells, and universal multiplexers for testing indoor solar cells
- Design-in Services: Technology development and design-in services to help SMEs and large companies integrate PV energy harvesting technology into their products
- Power Sub-Systems: Sale of integrated power supply sub-systems such as 4EverLast that combine ultra low-power electronics with indoor PV technology
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom quotation-based pricing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Lightricity product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lightricity designs, manufactures, and sells ultra-high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) energy harvesting components and battery-free IoT systems for indoor and low-light ambient environments. Its product line spans individual indoor PV cells/harvesters, integrated power sub-systems (e.g., 4EverLast), autonomous IoT beacons and asset-tracking tags (e.g., 4EverTrack), indoor light simulators and reference PV cells, and high-power solar panels for CubeSat/space missions, complemented by engineering design-in services that help OEMs integrate the technology into their products.
Product overview
Lightricity is a photovoltaic energy harvesting company offering a portfolio of products spanning from components to complete systems. The core offerings include High-Efficiency Indoor PV Components (indoor solar cells/light energy harvesters) and Autonomous IoT Systems (battery-free beacons and sensors like the 4EverTrack tag). These are complemented by Indoor Light Simulators and Reference Indoor PV Cells for testing and characterisation, Power Sub-Systems (such as 4EverLast) that combine PV with power management electronics, and Space Solar Cells for CubeSat applications. Design-in Services support customers integrating the technology. The product line progresses from individual components through integrated sub-systems to complete autonomous solutions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- High-Efficiency Indoor PV Components Ultra-compact and highly efficient indoor photovoltaic light energy harvesters sold as standalone components, designed for indoor applications with best-in-class efficiency and best-in-class low-light performance. Aimed at OEMs and product developers integrating battery-free power into IoT devices and sensors.
- Autonomous IoT Systems Battery-free, autonomous beacons and sensor systems for the ambient IoT, including asset tracking and sensing devices built on standard wireless protocols. Targeted at IoT product developers and system integrators needing maintenance-free wireless nodes.
- Indoor PV Power Sub-Systems Plug-and-play ready-to-use power supply sub-systems that combine Lightricity's ultra-high-efficiency indoor PV with ultra low-power electronics, sold as reference designs for product developers building battery-free devices.
- Space Solar Cells High-power solar panels designed for power-demanding CubeSat missions and other space applications, leveraging Lightricity's PV cell technology for high power density in a compact, space-qualified form factor.
- LightBox Indoor Light Simulator
Quantifiable outcome
- Operates at light levels as low as 50 lux
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Lightricity
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Lightricity technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature5 records
Lightricity partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Renesas ElectronicscoreLightricity joined the Renesas RE MCU eco-system as a selected partner for high-efficiency energy harvesting components. This partnership enables integration of Lightricity's PV technology with Renesas microcontrollers for IoT applications.
- NICHICONcoreLightricity and NICHICON are developing a sustainable, ultra-low power IoT touch switch. This collaboration focuses on creating battery-free touch switch solutions for smart building applications.
- IlikacoreLightricity and Ilika are jointly developing a fully integrated power supply module comprising Ilika's thin film battery and Lightricity energy harvesting technologies. The module is designed to withstand temperatures above 100°C.
- Nordic SemiconductorcoreLightricity's battery-free 4EverTrack micro BLE asset-tracking tag has been enabled by Nordic's nRF52805 SoC, allowing operation powered solely by 50 lux of indoor light.
- ISMOsysminorLightricity is working with ISMOsys, a leading representative of electronic components throughout Europe and overseas, helping customers create maintenance-free, convenient and sustainable products.
- SoftserveminorLightricity announced partnership with Softserve, a leading digital authority and consulting company.
- Gas Sensing SolutionscoreLightricity collaborated with Gas Sensing Solutions on autonomous IoT sensing platforms through Innovate UK projects.
- AlbasensecoreLightricity and University of the West of Scotland spinout company Albasense secured an InnovateUK SMART award for development of a light-powered battery-less sensor for methane gas detection.
- University of the West of ScotlandcoreMultiple collaborations including AMANDA H2020 project and joint development of integrated power supply modules with Ilika.
- Digital CatapultcoreLightricity joined Digital Catapult's Future Networks Lab Accelerator, a 12-week programme providing access to expertise, facilities and commercial connections. Also participated in Freight Innovation Fund.
- IOT TribeminorLightricity participated in IOT Tribe's DecarboniseSY Accelerator programme.
- CERTH (Centre for Research and Technology Hellas)coreCERTH leads the Horizon H2020 AMANDA project where Lightricity is a key technology partner. The 3-year €4M project aims to combine 4 senses in a single sensing platform.
- University of SurreycoreLightricity is jointly developing with University of Surrey, Cheyney Design and Development, and Royal Surrey County Hospital the first self-powered conformal X-ray detector for dosimetry, imaging and radiotherapy applications.
- AP SensingcoreJointly developed SPECTRAIL - an IoT sensing platform for intelligent railway infrastructure monitoring with AP Sensing, Pyreos, CSA Catapult and Lightricity.
- CSA Catapult (Compound Semiconductor Applications)corePartnership in SPECTRAIL project for energy-autonomous railway monitoring system development.
- KymiraminorLightricity, Kymira and NSG awarded phase 1 SBRI contract to develop unique solution for monitoring nuclear decommissioning operators in hazardous environments.
- Advanced OxfordminorLightricity joined Advanced Oxford's membership to support growth and development of Oxfordshire's innovation economy.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Lightricity competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- e-peas: e-peas designs ultra-low-power power management ICs (PMICs) and AEM harvest ICs specifically for ambient energy harvesting in IoT. Like Lightricity, it targets battery-free IoT endpoints and showcases combined PV-plus-PMIC reference designs at CES, making it the closest functional competitor and current partner in joint demonstrators.
- EnOcean: EnOcean is the established market leader in self-powered, battery-less wireless sensors for building automation, using predominantly kinetic/thermal harvesting. It is a direct competitor to Lightricity in the smart-building and asset-tracking use cases where both companies sell maintenance-free wireless sensor solutions.
- Wiliot: Wiliot produces battery-free Bluetooth IoT tags (IoT Pixels) that harvest ambient RF energy. Like Lightricity's 4EverTrack, Wiliot targets ambient-IoT asset tracking and is a direct head-to-head competitor for battery-free BLE tags in retail, supply chain, and inventory applications.
- Atmosic Technologies: Atmosic makes ultra-low-power Bluetooth SoCs with integrated energy harvesting support for battery-free connected devices. It competes with Lightricity's autonomous IoT systems where customers choose Atmosic's BLE+harvesting SoC rather than a discrete indoor PV cell plus external MCU architecture.
- Powercast: Powercast develops RF wireless power and energy harvesting solutions for battery-free IoT sensors and tags. It competes with Lightricity where customers consider RF harvesting as an alternative to indoor photovoltaic harvesting for low-power wireless devices.
Broad incumbents
- Texas Instruments: Texas Instruments has a broad portfolio of energy-harvesting PMICs (e.g., bq25504) and ultra-low-power MCUs that compete with Lightricity's indoor PV plus power-electronics sub-system offering at the component level. As a broad incumbent in industrial and IoT semiconductors, TI offers overlapping capability but not specialized indoor PV cells.
- Analog Devices (Maxim Integrated): Analog Devices, through its Maxim lineage, sells energy-harvesting PMICs and ultra-low-power microcontrollers for IoT endpoints. It is a broad incumbent alternative to Lightricity when customers source a complete energy-harvesting power sub-system from a single major analog vendor.
Emerging players
- Ilika Technologies: Ilika develops solid-state thin-film batteries (including high-temperature variants above 100°C) and is a co-development partner with Lightricity on integrated power supply modules. The relationship is partly complementary (battery + harvester) but Ilika's mm-scale batteries could in some use cases substitute for Lightricity's battery-free approach.
- NGK Insulators (EnerCera): NGK manufactures EnerCera, a semi-solid-state rechargeable battery line designed for IoT and environmental sensors. NGK has publicly demonstrated joint solutions with Lightricity's PV cells at Electronica 2022, making it both a partner and an adjacent enabling technology for battery-assisted (rather than battery-free) IoT.
Others
- CSA Catapult (Compound Semiconductor Applications): CSA Catapult is a UK compound-semiconductor R&D center and Lightricity's project partner on the SPECTRAIL railway monitoring program. While not a commercial competitor, it is a key enabling ecosystem organization that channels UK grants and compound-semiconductor manufacturing expertise to Lightricity and adjacent deep-tech firms.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Lightricity social profiles
Digital presenceLightricity financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lightricity leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Lightricity funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lightricity M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Lightricity
What does Lightricity do?
Lightricity designs, manufactures, and sells ultra-high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) energy harvesting components and battery-free IoT systems for indoor and low-light ambient environments. Its product line spans individual indoor PV cells/harvesters, integrated power sub-systems (e.g., 4EverLast), autonomous IoT beacons and asset-tracking tags (e.g., 4EverTrack), indoor light simulators and reference PV cells, and high-power solar panels for CubeSat/space missions, complemented by engineering design-in services that help OEMs integrate the technology into their products.
Is Lightricity a public or private company?
Lightricity is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Lightricity founded?
Lightricity was founded in 2017. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Lightricity based?
Lightricity is headquartered in Oxford, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Lightricity make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Indoor PV Components are the primary driver. The others are battery-free IoT Systems, indoor Light Simulators and Test Equipment, design-in Services and power Sub-Systems.
Who are Lightricity's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are e-peas, EnOcean, Wiliot, Atmosic Technologies and Powercast. Broad incumbents are Texas Instruments and Analog Devices (Maxim Integrated). Emerging players are Ilika Technologies and NGK Insulators (EnerCera). CSA Catapult (Compound Semiconductor Applications) is listed as an others.
Does Lightricity have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lightricity.
What industry is Lightricity in?
Lightricity's product category is Photovoltaic Energy Harvesting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUAMABAE, Solar Inverters, Power Electronics & MLPE (String/Central Inverters, Optimizers, Microinverters), with a secondary code of EUAMAHAB, Solar Inverters, Power Optimizers & MLPE Manufacturing. Its NAICS code is 335139 and its SIC code is 3600.