Light!

Lumoza, a new spin-off from the University of Hasselt and IMEC, hits the ground running via a partnership with established screen printer Artist Screen

You may have heard about it, but you’re not likely to have it seen it or held it in your hand. And when you do, you’ll have to acknowledge, it really is quite remarkable. Printed electronics—lighting, sensors, RFID tags, displays, solar cells—but printed on any surface as if it were simply paint. The University of Hasselt’s Materials Research division has a tremendous track record in this type of technology, leading this year to the creation of a new spin-off company, Lumoza. The approach to tech transfer is unique, however, in the sense that it is partnering—from the start—with an established commercial player in the market.

Printed Electronics

Wouter Moons is still finishing off his PhD at the University of Hasselt. His thesis: ‘Development and characterization of nanostructured hybrid solar cells.’ That’s quite a mouthful. And indeed, you don’t want to get him started on the wonders of polymers. But Wouter’s life in academia is coming to a close. As CEO of Lumoza, the University of Hasselt’s most recent spin-off, Wouter is intent on building an innovative and commercially viable business.

The technology is printed electronics. That’s an umbrella term covering various microelectronic technologies that, yes, can be printed on practically any surface. Take a flexible sheet of plastic (the thin, pliable type – bend it, roll it up, wrap it), print several thin layers of special ‘paint’ on the surface, connect it to a current and voila, the entire sheet lights up. A flexible, pliable sheet of light—that in itself is remarkable, but there’s more. Touch the material and you will feel no heat. That is because about 95% of the energy is converted into light; only 5% is converted into heat. The classic light bulb does exactly the opposite.

Applications

The possible applications are mind boggling: light-emitting ceilings, furniture, packaging, billboards, clothing, trailer canvas, etc. It gets really interesting when you start adding other things, like a printed organic solar cell. While this type of solar cell isn’t powerful enough yet to generate much current, it can function as a light sensor and thus serve as a switch (as the sunlight dims, so the coating ‘switches on’). This type of functionality (i.e. thin/large displays, fancy sensors) may seem familiar to most, but it is important to keep in mind that we are talking about a coating here, a type of paint. There are no hard, metallic chips or electronics embedded in the material; the material is the electronic device.

Other technologies being researched by the University of Hasselt include printed RFID tags (instead of an electronic chip, this tag is simply part of the product packaging or coating) and various types of sensors (material that is sensitive to light, electromagnetism or various biological markers). The possible applications obviously are endless. And this is why the University of Hasselt has created a spin-off company to explore the commercial applications of its technology.

Matching science with business

Developing fancy technology is one thing. Commercialising it is another. This is the classic problem with tech transfer, since the scientists or engineers who first develop a particular technology are seldom the right people to commercialise it effectively. Also, it takes time to build a business. Even if the business is well capitalised, it takes time to recruit the right people, to set up production facilities, to organise logistics, to develop a sales and marketing strategy, etc. In the mean time much can happen: new competitors may emerge, the technology could become obsolete, or the organisation may simply implode due to poor management.

Lumoza has solved this puzzle by partnering up-front with an established commercial partner and by focusing initially on two ‘safer’ markets. Artist Screen is a Belgian screen printing company with particular expertise in the printing of PVC materials (e.g. packaging, posters, billboards). As a shareholder in Lumoza (together with the University of Hasselt, IMEC and a number of private investors), Artist Screen offers the start-up immediate production capacity and access to two important markets: packaging and advertising. These two markets are ideal for Lumoza since it is immediately able to apply reasonably simple and mature technology (e.g. animated DVD packaging).

The plan is to get the company operational and cash-generative as quickly as possible. In the mean time the R&D work continues for Lumoza’s next generation of products. The next obvious opportunities are in lighting products for the building industry. But here Lumoza has needed to conduct stringent testing of its products to ensure that they are durable and have a long life-span in real-world conditions. While packaging is by definition a disposable, in the building/architecture world Lumoza’s products will need to compete with the performance of LEDs and fluorescent lamps. While the lab results thus far look positive, this is clearly a more challenging market to enter given the stringent quality demands and higher investment costs. This is why it is a next phase in Lumoza’s growth plan. Also in this category are RFID technology and solar cells. But also in these markets Lumoza is looking for suitable commercial partners to help it get off the mark quickly.

Partnership

Lumoza’s partnering approach is an interesting strategy in the tech-transfer world. While many spin-offs will try to hold on their IP and build a commercially viable entity from scratch, the Lumoza approach offers some obvious advantages in market access and production capacity. On the other hand, it is a partnership between people from two different worlds (academic/scientific versus commercial/pragmatic) and hence can lead to conflict. The partners at Lumoza have thought through the risks, however, and are focused on making the most of their complementary strengths. The point is to make the venture commercially viable as quickly as possible.