NoctaBene

What NoctaBene does

NoctaBene is a privately held French lighting design and consulting firm founded in 2003 and headquartered in Ballan-Miré (Tours), in the Loire Valley. The firm provides professional lighting design services covering urban master plans, heritage site illumination, street lighting audits and diagnostics, daylight studies, luminaire design, and project management assistance. Its primary clients are French municipalities, departmental councils, and national heritage institutions, with notable engagements including the Assemblée Nationale in Paris (2017-2023), the Palais des Papes in Avignon (2014), the Royal Fortress of Chinon (2018), and Albert Kahn's gardens in Boulogne-Billancourt (2019). Operations are led by founder/CEO and lighting designer Christophe Canadell and associate/agency manager Alexis Lippens, supported by a team of approximately 10-12 staff including lighting designers, engineers, GIS-skilled street lighting technicians, and administrative personnel.

The firm maintains two offices: its Loire Valley headquarters in Ballan-Miré and a regional office in Saint-Leu de La Réunion, the latter providing a foothold in the French overseas Indian Ocean market. Service delivery is anchored in established engineering methodologies, including photometric analysis using Mapinfo and AutoCAD, GIS-based street lighting audits, daylight factor and autonomy calculations, and conformance to EN 13201 European lighting standards. In addition to services, NoctaBene has designed a portfolio of proprietary and co-designed luminaires (Leiza, SpringLine, Stanza, Forza, among others) manufactured in partnership with established European lighting producers such as Eclatec, Conimast, and Azuly, as well as conceptual innovations such as the Light Washer, a device conceived to recover and reprocess urban light pollution.

NoctaBene generates revenue primarily through project-based professional services fees tied to public procurement contracts with French government and heritage clients, supplemented by luminaire co-design and licensing arrangements with manufacturers. The firm is a member of the Association des Concepteurs et Eclairagistes (ACE) and the Association Française de l'Eclairage (AFE), and markets primarily through its project portfolio website and organic social channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram). It has no disclosed external funding, parent company, or M&A activity, operating as a founder-led independent practice since inception.

Name

NoctaBene

Legal name

NoctaBene

Website

https://noctabene.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NoctaBene is a French lighting design consultancy founded in 2003 that provides urban, heritage, and architectural lighting design, audits, and luminaire co-design to municipalities, departmental councils, and national heritage institutions across France and La Réunion.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Lighting Design Services

NAICS

Interior Design Services (541410)

SIC

Electric Lighting & Wiring Equipment (3640)

akta.pro primary industry

Lighting Design Services (BPAHAKAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Landscape Lighting Design & Layout (HSAIAHAA), Outdoor & Area Lighting (Street, Roadway, Parking, Flood, Sports/Architectural exterior) (IMAGAIAB)

Keywords

• Lighting design services
• Urban lighting planning
• Heritage illumination
• Luminaire design
• Lighting audit consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Ballan-miré

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Lighting Design Services: Project-based professional services for lighting design including urban lighting master plans, heritage site illumination, street lighting audits, and custom luminaire design. Revenue generated through consulting fees, design contracts, and project management assistance for public and private clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

NoctaBene is a French lighting design agency that delivers end-to-end professional lighting services for urban, architectural, heritage, public-space, landscape, and event projects, including master plans, audit and diagnosis, project management, day-light studies, and custom luminaire design. The firm also maintains a portfolio of named luminaire products (e.g., Leiza, SpringLine, Forza, Stanza, Twelve, Light Washer) developed and commercialized with partner manufacturers.

Product overview

NoctaBene is a lighting design company offering comprehensive services including lighting design, audit and diagnosis, project management, daylight studies, and luminaire design. Their product portfolio includes both proprietary luminaires they've designed (such as Leiza, Baxter, SpringLine, Forza, Stanza, Zapilon, Currant, Moody, Origami, Shoopa, Twelve, Bons baisers d'Anvers, Light Washer, In vino in vitro, December Rains, and In-ground luminaires) as well as service offerings for urban lighting, heritage sites, and event-driven projects. The company creates both artistic lighting master plans for notable sites (such as Palais des Papes, Assemblée Nationale) and designs their own line of luminaires ranging from street lighting to decorative indoor fixtures.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lighting Design Services
• Audit and Diagnosis
• Project Management for Lighting Projects
• Daylight Studies
• Luminaire Design
• Leiza
• SpringLine
• Forza
• Stanza
• Light Washer
• Baxter
• Twelve
• Origami
• Shoopa
• Zapilon
• Currant
• Moody
• Bons baisers d'Anvers
• In vino in vitro
• December Rains
• In-ground Luminaire

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced light pollution through innovative Light Washer technology that recovers and reprocesses unwanted luminous halos
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Association des Concepteurs et Eclairagistes (ACE)minorOthersProfessional membership organization for lighting designers and installers in France. NoctaBene is a member, indicating alignment with industry standards and professional best practices.
• Association Française de l'Eclairage (AFE)minorOthersFrench Association of Lighting professionals. Membership provides access to industry recommendations and standards including European EN 13201 standards for lighting design.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Agence Lumière (concepteur lumière): French lighting design consultancy offering urban lighting master plans, heritage illumination, and architectural lighting design for municipalities and private clients across France — direct comparable in size, geography, and service mix to NoctaBene.
• Les Éclairagistes Associés (LEA): French lighting design firm focused on urban lighting, public space illumination, and architectural lighting for French municipalities — a direct peer in service offering, scale, and public-sector orientation.
• Concepto (Yann Kersalé studio successors): French lighting design agency specialized in artistic and urban lighting, providing lighting master plans and event illumination projects for cities and heritage sites, competing head-to-head on French municipal tenders.
• Lighting in Design (LID): Specialized lighting design firm offering urban lighting master plans, heritage illumination, and street lighting audits — comparable consultancy positioning serving municipalities and cultural institutions.
• ON (Office for Newlight): European lighting design studio providing urban, architectural, and artistic lighting design for public and heritage projects — comparable service mix with a slightly broader geographic footprint than NoctaBene.

Broad incumbents

• Signify (Philips Lighting): Global lighting manufacturer and solutions provider offering turnkey urban lighting, smart city, and heritage illumination services; competes with NoctaBene on larger municipal master plans where manufacturer-affiliated design capacity is favored.
• Schréder: European lighting solutions provider with design, product, and smart-city capabilities for municipalities; competes on larger tenders and offers bundled design-and-product packages that smaller design studios must price against.

Emerging players

• Citilum: Lighting design consultancy offering urban lighting master plans and energy-efficiency audits for municipalities; comparable in service offering though typically active across more European markets than NoctaBene.
• Light Cibles (now part of Eclatec group ecosystem): French lighting design studio with focus on urban lighting and heritage projects; smaller and more recently established than NoctaBene, competing for similar municipal lighting master plans.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/lightintours
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/noctabene
• Instagraminstagram.com/noctabene

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 NoctaBene