What New Star Lighting does

New Star Lighting is a privately held, US-based manufacturer of specialized luminaires serving demanding institutional and industrial environments. Founded in 1971 by Paul Ohadi as a metal fabrication shop and now operating from a vertically integrated, seven-floor factory at 2225 W Pershing Rd in Chicago, the company produces made-to-order lighting fixtures for healthcare, behavioral health, cleanroom and containment, correctional, transportation, high-abuse public, food processing, hazardous location, commercial, and exit-and-emergency applications. The current leadership team, headed by President and Partner John Peña (Ph.D., MBA, joined as President in 2013 after the founder's transition), oversees an organization of 101-250 employees with a sales-led specification go-to-market executed through regional sales managers and a global network of authorized agents and representatives, supported by active participation in 10+ industry trade shows (HCD, Healthcare Facilities Symposium, ASHE, ArchLIGHT Summit, etc.).

The company's product portfolio is organized around dedicated sub-brands — CompleteCare™ Healthcare, DuraCare™ Behavioral Health, StarClean™ Cleanroom, StarSurgical™, Gateway™ High-Abuse, PositiveCare™ Graphic Imagery, and Nova™ Hazardous Location — with technical differentiation anchored in proprietary narrow-spectrum LED technology (amber 570/585-595nm for circadian-friendly fall prevention and pharmaceutical compounding, blue 470nm for antimicrobial cleanroom applications, green 530-540nm for surgical monitor glare reduction, red 630-635nm for nocturnal vivarium observation), patent-pending fall-prevention door-surround systems, tunable-white circadian lighting (2700K-6500K), and integration with hospital nurse-call systems via Curbell Medical low-voltage controllers. Granted U.S. Patent No. 8,277,091 covers the DuraCare StarTile Max impact-deflecting beveled design, while compliance with BAA, BABAA, UL, IEC, NSF2, ISO Class 1-3 cleanroom, IK10, IP65/IP66, and MIL Spec 461G certifications positions the company as a domestic, specification-grade supplier to federal, institutional, and high-abuse markets.

Revenue is generated through B2B specification sales of custom-configured luminaires priced via quotes through authorized agents, with no publicly disclosed pricing. Pricing follows a multi-year project contract cadence typical of institutional lighting procurement. The company holds no disclosed funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no M&A history, and remains independently owned under President John Peña with executive leadership covering sales, operations, engineering, business development, and marketing. Strategic alliances with ACA, ASHE, IES, and AIA reinforce specification-channel depth across the four core verticals.

Name

New Star Lighting

Legal name

New Star Lighting

Website

https://newstarlighting.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Luminaire Sales: New Star Lighting manufactures and sells specialized luminaires (lighting fixtures) designed for challenging environments including healthcare, behavioral health, cleanroom, correctional, transportation, and high-abuse applications. Products are sold through a global network of agents and representatives. Made-to-order manufacturing with custom configurations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

New Star Lighting manufactures specialized luminaires engineered for demanding and challenging environments, including healthcare, behavioral health, cleanroom and containment, correctional, transportation, hazardous location, and high-abuse commercial applications. Products are made-to-order at the company's seven-floor Chicago factory and include patented and patent-pending technologies such as narrow-spectrum LED wavelengths (amber, blue, green, red), tunable white circadian lighting, ligature-resistant designs, and CompleteCare Controls integrated with nurse call systems.

Product overview

New Star Lighting is a manufacturer of specialized luminaires serving healthcare, behavioral health, cleanroom, correctional, transportation, and high-abuse commercial markets. The product portfolio is organized around dedicated product lines including CompleteCare™ Healthcare (patient room, exam, surgical, and general healthcare lighting with infection control features), DuraCare™ Behavioral Health (ligature-resistant luminaires meeting New York state guidelines), StarClean™ (cleanroom and vivarium luminaires meeting ISO standards), Gateway™ (high-abuse vandal-resistant lighting), StarMed and StarSurgical (surgical suite lighting with narrow spectrum technology), and AuraMed (multi-function patient room lighting). Supporting technologies include Narrow Spectrum lighting (Red 630-635nm for vivariums, Green 540nm for surgical, Amber 570nm/585nm for pharmaceutical and fall prevention), Tunable White circadian lighting, and CompleteCare Controls with Curbell Medical Low Voltage Controllers for nurse call integration. Additional offerings include Exit & Emergency systems, Nova hazardous location luminaires, Sculpture architectural sconces, and the PositiveCare™ graphic imagery series for patient distraction.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CompleteCare™: Healthcare lighting solutions including patient rooms, exam rooms, corridors, and fall prevention products
• DuraCare™
• PositiveCare™
• Gateway™
• StarClean™
• StarSurgical™
• AERflo™
• MODex™
• AuraMed™
• Lumanique™
• Sculpture™
• Nova™
• Primo Series
• StarMed™
• ComPro Series

Products and services

• Gateway Wall Pack Series High-abuse, vandal-resistant wall-mounted luminaire for building facades, public areas, and demanding environments, featuring IP65/IK10 ratings, up to 15,000 lumens, and Type II/III/IV optical distributions.
• CompleteCare A-Line Multi-Function Patient and Exam Luminaire Multi-function luminaire providing patient comfort, caregiver-ready performance, and maintenance-friendly serviceability for healthcare patient rooms and exam spaces.
• DuraCare Conical Task Series Compact task luminaire with conical profile for behavioral health and healthcare environments, featuring ligature-resistant construction, IK10 impact and IP65 wet-location ratings, and antimicrobial powder coat finish.
• StarClean Downlight Series Sealed recessed downlight for cleanrooms, vivariums, laboratories, and pharmaceutical manufacturing, available in 4" and 6" round or square apertures, IP66 rated and certified to ISO Class 1 cleanroom standards.
• CompleteCare Surgical Downlight Series Surgical downlight designed for uniform illumination in surgical and hybrid surgical suites, delivering up to 6,000 lumens in a 6" aperture with MIL Spec 461G certification for radiated and conducted emissions.
• StarSurgical Green Series Recessed Recessed surgical luminaire using narrow spectrum green LEDs at 530nm to reduce monitor glare and balance reading, monitor viewing, and operating during laparoscopic procedures.
• CompleteCare Door Surround Series Patent-pending surface-mounted doorway solution providing stability and orientation through amber LED (585-595nm) at low luminance, triggered by an integrated motion sensor, designed for fall prevention in patient bathrooms and corridors without disrupting circadian rhythms.
• DuraCare StarTile Max Series 14-gauge cold rolled steel surface mounted luminaire with beveled edges designed to deflect impact forces, available in 1x1, 1x4, 2x2, and 2x4 sizes with IK10 impact certification for behavioral health environments. Protected by U.S. Patent No. 8,277,091.
• Nova Recessed Series Hazardous location recessed luminaire certified for Class I, Division 2 Groups A, B, C, D environments with operating temperature code T5, available in 1x2, 1x4, 2x2, and 2x4 sizes with overlapping doorframe and triple gasketing.
• Sculpture Sconce Series Architectural vandal-resistant sconce series in triangle, round, and square shapes, available in 1ft-4ft lengths with uplight, downlight, and edgelit illumination options for building facades, public areas, and corridors.
• CompleteCare Undercabinet Ultra-slim (0.35") undercabinet luminaire with touch-free PIR vacancy sensor for infection control, field-selectable CCT options from 2700K to 5000K, 24V low-voltage power supply, antimicrobial powder coat finish, and lengths from 11" to 42".
• CompleteCare Fall Prevention Portfolio Fall Prevention Portfolio of low-glare lighting, night lighting, wayfinding solutions, circadian-friendly luminaires, and adaptive lighting controls engineered to reduce nighttime falls among older adults in healthcare settings.
• PositiveCare Graphic Image Series Graphic image series featuring customizable therapeutic imagery (trees, botanicals, clouds, ocean, landscapes, and pediatric designs) integrated into luminaires to transform clinical spaces into calming environments for patient comfort and positive distraction.
• MODex Exit Sign Series Exit sign series designed for cleanroom installations with a 2" housing depth for shallow wall plenums, available with red or green lettering and certified to IP65, ISO Class 3, and NSF2 splash zones.
• Low Voltage Controller (LV3 and LVD) Factory-set LV3 and LVD low voltage controllers providing lighting control interface to pillow speakers, bedside rails, and nurse call systems with 0-10V dimming, enabling patient room lighting interaction with healthcare communication systems.

Quantifiable outcome

• Visual-cue lighting can reduce nighttime falls among older adults in institutional settings by more than 30%

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Curbell Medical ProductscoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with Curbell Medical Products for Low Voltage Controllers integrated into patient room luminaires. Curbell's controllers allow multi-function luminaires to interact with pillow speakers or bed communication siderails, enabling lighting control through nurse call systems. The LV3 and LVD controllers provide interface to pillow speakers, bedside rail controls, and work with all nurse call systems using normally-open momentary dry contacts.
• American Correctional Association (ACA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic alliance supporting the correctional market segment, providing lighting solutions designed for detention facilities and correctional environments.
• American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership with ASHE supporting healthcare facility engineering professionals with compliant, specialized lighting solutions.
• Illuminating Engineering Society (IES)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the Illuminating Engineering Society supporting industry standards and best practices in lighting design and application.
• American Institute of Architects (AIA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with AIA supporting architects with specification-grade lighting solutions for challenging environments.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Kenall Manufacturing: Manufacturer of specialized luminaires for healthcare, behavioral health, correctional, cleanroom, and high-abuse environments — the closest direct overlap with New Star Lighting's CompleteCare, DuraCare, and StarClean lines.
• Visa Lighting: Specialty lighting manufacturer focused on healthcare, behavioral health, and vandal-resistant architectural luminaires — directly comparable to New Star's healthcare and high-abuse portfolio.
• Axis Lighting: Manufacturer of architectural, cleanroom, and healthcare-grade luminaires including sealed fixtures for healthcare and life-science applications — overlaps with New Star's StarClean and CompleteCare linear/downlight lines.
• Focal Point: Architectural and healthcare lighting manufacturer offering recessed, linear, and behavioral-health-grade luminaires — overlaps with New Star's specification-grade healthcare and DuraCare offerings.
• Healthcare Lighting (a brand of Acuity Brands): Dedicated healthcare lighting brand within Acuity Brands covering patient rooms, surgical suites, and behavioral health — direct competitor to New Star's CompleteCare and StarSurgical product families.

Broad incumbents

• Lithonia Lighting (Acuity Brands): Mass-market commercial and industrial lighting brand under Acuity Brands with broad healthcare and high-abuse offerings — a much larger incumbent competing with New Star on specification bids.
• Hubbell Lighting: Diversified lighting manufacturer with healthcare, industrial, and cleanroom product lines — broader-line competitor that can leverage scale and distribution against New Star's niche specialty portfolio.
• Cooper Lighting Solutions: Large lighting manufacturer (part of Signify) with healthcare, commercial, and industrial offerings — broad incumbent competing on price and breadth against specialty peers like New Star.
• Eaton (Lighting Division): Diversified industrial conglomerate with a lighting division addressing commercial, industrial, and hazardous-location markets — competes with New Star's Nova hazardous-location and industrial SKUs.

Emerging players

• Bartco Lighting: Architectural linear LED lighting manufacturer with specification-grade healthcare and commercial offerings — partial overlap with New Star's CompleteCare Linear Slot and architectural lines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance30 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about New Star Lighting