‘Human Light Interaction’ company acquires Circadian ZircLight (UPDATED)

A California company that describes itself as a “parent brand” to technology companies and that counts violet LED pioneer Soraa in its stable has acquired a leading outfit in the field of human-centric lighting, Circadian ZircLight Inc.

The acquisition by Los Angeles–based Korrus brings Circadian CEO Martin Moore-Ede into the Korrus fold. Moore-Ede is a respected figure in the field of human-centric lighting who has spoken at several LEDs Magazine conferences and provided insights in LEDs stories over the years on the relationship between light and health.

In a 2017 feature story, for instance, Moore-Ede described the increased chances of contracting breast cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other maladies when humans are exposed to certain frequencies of blue light that then disrupt their normal circadian rhythms.

Moore-Ede, a professor at Harvard Medical School for 23 years until 1998, founded a consulting company called Circadian in 1983 to advise companies on circadian health. He spun off Stoneham, MA–based Circadian ZircLight in 2011, selling luminaires and control systems that adjust lighting intensity and spectral content to suit tasks and human wellbeing. Circadian ZircLight has counted Acuity Brands among its OEM customers.

He will now serve as chief medical advisor at Korrus.

In that capacity, Moore-Ede will presumably coordinate the deployment of different Korrus brands, which include violet-emitter provider Soraa as well as Ecosense, the Los Angeles company that acquired the Soraa brand and assets in March 2020.

Circadian ZircLight itself has been a champion of violet emitters in its light engines to help cut down on blue frequencies. It possibly turned to Soraa as a violet supplier after having parted ways with Plessey Semiconductors in late 2019.

Korrus describes its overarching purpose as addressing “human light interaction” by fostering an ecosystem of light-based products and applications that address human wellness.

“In alignment with our mission to innovate, and provide the world with better, healthier light, the addition of Circadian ZircLight is a strong fit,” said Korrus CEO Mark Reynoso. “As our chief medical advisor, Dr. Moore-Ede will continue in his work to publicly evangelize the values of healthy lighting and aid in our ongoing effort to develop health-optimized products across a wide range of applications.”

Moore-Ede had a similar take.

“I am excited to be joining Korrus at this pivotal moment in the history of light as we harness the power of digital light to optimize health, wellbeing, and human performance,” he said. “It is now possible to spectrally engineer light to reduce the risk of numerous diseases caused by circadian disruption, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.”

The companies did not reveal an acquisition price.

Although Korrus brands include Ecosense and Soraa, it’s not clear whether Korrus owns those companies outright. LEDs Magazine hopes to clarify the relationship in a separate article. Mark Reynoso doubles as the CEO of Ecosense. A blurb on its website states that it is a “parent brand to a portfolio of future-thinking technology companies.”

Soraa was co-founded in 2008 by LED legend and Nobel laureate Shuji Nakamura, who these days seems more focused on laser emitters.

Korrus also lists the Scuva brand on its website. Scuva is an ultraviolet company that appears to use UV-C LEDs. UV-C is a technology that has been proven to deactivate SARs-CoV-2 in certain doses. The Korrus website says Scuva’s target market is ridesharing.

Korrus brand Ecosense itself also counts Scuva on its brand list, which in addition to Soraa includes Lumium, Rise, Trov, and Slim Cove, plus Ecosense control modules and accessories.

MARK HALPER is a contributing editor for LEDs Magazine, and an energy, technology, and business journalist ([email protected]).

*Updated May 25, 2022 11:15 AM for company location.

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