What Plant Lighting does

Plant Lighting B.V. is a Netherlands-based, privately held applied plant physiology research firm founded in 2011 by Dr. ir. Sander Hogewoning and headquartered in Bunnik. The company conducts commissioned research on how climate variables — light spectrum, intensity, photoperiod, CO2, temperature, and humidity — affect photosynthesis, growth, flowering, and crop development in horticultural crops. Its customers span five verticals: greenhouse horticulture companies (vegetables and ornamentals), plant breeders and seed companies, vertical farms, lighting and climate-equipment suppliers, and government and interest groups. The team comprises 11 full-time staff, including seven PhD-level plant physiologists, a crop modeller, a head grower, and research assistants, most educated at Wageningen University.

The company's core capability rests on proprietary climate chambers equipped with artificial sunlight simulators manufactured by Specialty Lighting Holland, which replicate the ASTM standard for natural daylight and enable year-round seasonal simulation impossible with conventional growth lamps. Research methodology is supported by an advanced measurement suite covering leaf gas exchange (CO2 uptake), chlorophyll fluorescence, stomatal opening, light intensity and spectrum, climate monitoring, infrared leaf and fruit temperature, and plant morphological attributes. Alongside this instrumentation, Plant Lighting has developed the proprietary Hortisensor for continuous greenhouse light-use-efficiency monitoring and, in collaboration with Plant Dynamics B.V., a Softsensor for energy-efficient plant monitoring, plus R-based crop transpiration and growth models that couple greenhouse climate with crop development.

Plant Lighting operates a project-based contract research services business, executing both short exploratory studies and full multi-year research programmes for clients in the Netherlands and (via the Interreg ENERGLIK project launched March 2023) in Flanders, Belgium. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is obtained via quotation requests on the company website; revenue also derives from in-company training programmes, workshops, and publicly funded collaborations with Dutch horticultural research partners such as Delphy's Improvement Centre, Botany and Meterik, EcoCurves, and Wageningen University & Research. Distribution is direct-sales-led with no resellers or e-commerce channel, supported by an extensive scientific publication record — 30+ peer-reviewed international journal articles, 50+ Dutch trade journal pieces, and 90+ practical research reports — that functions as the firm's primary demand-generation mechanism.

Name

Plant Lighting

Legal name

Plant Lighting B.V.

Website

https://plantlighting.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Plant Lighting B.V. is a Netherlands-based applied plant physiology research firm that designs crop-specific lighting and climate strategies for greenhouse growers, plant breeders, vertical farms, and horticultural equipment suppliers using proprietary artificial-sunlight climate chambers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research Services

NAICS

Soil Preparation, Planting, and Cultivating (115112), Greenhouse, Nursery, and Floriculture Production (1114), Food Crops Grown Under Cover (11141)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Controlled Environment Lighting (LED Grow Lights, Controls) (AFAAAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Greenhouse Vegetable Production (Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Leafy Greens) (AFAGAHAA)

Keywords

• Plant physiology research
• Greenhouse horticulture research
• Crop lighting optimization
• Photosynthesis measurement services
• Horticultural contract research

Headquarters

HQ city

Bunnik

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Contract Research Services: Plant Lighting conducts commissioned plant physiology research for greenhouse horticulture companies, plant breeders, vertical farms, suppliers, government, and interest groups. Revenue is generated through project-based research contracts, ranging from short exploratory studies to comprehensive multi-year research programmes. They also deliver in-company training workshops.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Plant Lighting B.V. conducts applied plant physiology research on the effect of climate (light spectrum, intensity, photoperiod, CO2, temperature, humidity) on photosynthesis, growth, flowering, and crop development for greenhouse horticulture companies, plant breeders, vertical farms, and government/interest groups. Research is carried out in their own climate chambers equipped with artificial sunlight simulators, in experimental greenhouses, or at client facilities, ranging from short exploratory studies to full multi-year research projects.

Product overview

Plant Lighting is a research services company specializing in the effect of climate on plant growth and development. The core offering is climate chamber research services with artificial sunlight simulation, supported by in-company training programs and workshop/lecture services. The company operates climate chambers equipped with artificial sunlight systems to enable year-round research across different seasons and crop types for greenhouse horticulture companies, plant breeders, and vertical farms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Climate Chamber Research Services Commissioned research services using climate chambers equipped with artificial sunlight simulators (manufactured by Specialty Lighting Holland) that replicate the natural daylight spectrum of any season year-round (ASTM standard). Research covers photosynthesis measurements (CO2 uptake and chlorophyll fluorescence), stomatal opening, light spectrum and intensity, climate monitoring, leaf and fruit temperature (infrared sensors), and plant characteristics. Offered to greenhouse horticulture companies (vegetables and ornamentals), plant breeders, vertical farms, lighting and climate equipment suppliers, and government/interest groups.
• In-Company Training Programs Customized training programs delivered at client facilities covering photosynthesis and lighting innovations, providing access to the latest scientific insights in plant physiology and climate-controlled cultivation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Energy savings of up to 30-40% achievable in lily bulb forcing through optimised LED and CO2 strategies (Leliebroei op weg naar fossielvrij, 2020)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• ENERGLIK (Interreg project)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2023Plant Lighting participates in the Interreg ENERGLIK project (launched 1 March 2023), a collaboration across the Netherlands-Flanders border focused on four greenhouse horticulture innovations: CO2 capture from flue gases, insulating day/night screens, energy-efficient dehumidification, and spore pressure monitoring sensors. Plant Lighting contributes photosynthesis measurements, assimilate production calculations, and optimisation of CO2 and lighting resource deployment for tomato, paprika, and cucumber crops. The project is co-funded by the European Fund for Regional Development (EFRD) and the Knowledge in your Kas programme.
• Specialty Lighting HollandcoreTechnology or IntegrationSpecialty Lighting Holland manufactures the artificial sunlight simulators (kunstmatig zonlicht) used in Plant Lighting's climate chambers. These simulators replicate the ASTM standard for natural sunlight, enabling year-round seasonal daylight simulation. This equipment is central to Plant Lighting's research methodology.
• Improvement Centre BV (Delphy IC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlant Lighting collaborates with Delphy's Improvement Centre on joint research projects including paprika cultivation under LED lighting and year-round profitable pepper production. The collaboration combines Delphy's horticultural expertise with Plant Lighting's plant physiology measurements.
• Botany and MeterikmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint research projects on cucumber cultivation with minimal energy consumption (Komkommer jaarrond in balans met minimaal energieverbruik, seasons 2022/23 and 2023/24), combining Plant Lighting's plant physiology expertise with Botany's agricultural research capabilities.
• EcoCurvesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcoCurves (Haren) collaborated with Plant Lighting on modelling energy-saving opportunities in Lisianthus cultivation using virtual greenhouse models (EcoCurves Report 33, 2022) and on a feasibility study for fossil-free freesia cultivation (EcoCurves Report 29, 2019).
• Wageningen University & Research (WUR)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple collaborative publications and research projects with WUR researchers dating back to 2007, including work on artificial sunlight spectra, LED lighting, and crop development. Some WUR publications cite Plant Lighting data and methodologies.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Proeftuin Zwaagdijk: Proeftuin Zwaagdijk is an applied research centre for greenhouse horticulture that runs contract trials for growers and breeders, mirroring Plant Lighting's project-based research services on overlapping crops.
• Wageningen University & Research (WUR) - Greenhouse Horticulture: WUR's Greenhouse Horticulture unit performs applied plant-physiology and lighting research on the same crops and with overlapping methods; it is Plant Lighting's primary academic counterpart and an occasional collaboration partner.
• Delphy: Delphy is the largest Dutch horticulture consultancy and runs the Improvement Centre that Plant Lighting already collaborates with; it serves overlapping greenhouse, breeding, and vertical farm clients with applied cultivation advice and applied research.
• Botany (onderzoeksbedrijf): Botany is a Dutch applied horticulture research firm that runs field and greenhouse trials and has co-published with Plant Lighting; it is a direct competitor for contract research with vegetable and ornamental growers.

Broad incumbents

• Signify (Philips Lighting) - Horticulture LED Solutions: Signify's Philips horticulture lighting business both commissions Plant Lighting-type research and competes with it by offering in-house agronomy services to growers, making it a buyer-adjacent incumbent in the same research domain.
• Fluence by OSRAM: Fluence (an OSRAM business) produces horticultural LED lighting and supports it with agronomy research; it competes for both lighting supplier research budgets and grower mind-share in the same crop spectrum.
• Royal Brinkman: Royal Brinkman is a broad greenhouse supplier and knowledge partner to Dutch horticulture; it channels applied research and training to growers that overlaps with Plant Lighting's training and applied-research offerings.

Emerging players

• Sollum Technologies: Sollum develops dynamic LED fixtures for greenhouses and produces its own plant-science research, placing it at the supplier-cum-research boundary that Plant Lighting serves.
• Heliospectra: Heliospectra is a Swedish horticultural LED and lighting-control vendor that conducts and publishes applied plant-physiology research to differentiate its products, overlapping with Plant Lighting's light-spectrum research remit.
• Valoya: Valoya is a Finnish horticultural LED manufacturer that publishes spectrum-specific plant research and sells fixtures to greenhouse and vertical farm customers overlapping Plant Lighting's served markets.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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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 Plant Lighting