Recently, OSRAM, the world's leading high-tech lighting company, acquired American company Fluence Bioengineering, a company founded in 2013 in Austin, Texas, Fluence Inc. has about 95 employees and sales in 2017 reached tens of millions of dollars. The company specializes in the production of LED plant lighting systems based on Osram LED chips, which has a wide range of applications in vertical agriculture and other areas, especially for urban areas. Potentially applicable crop types include vegetables, herbs and medicinal plants. After consulting with Fluence, OSRAM decided not to disclose the purchase price.
According to Stefan Kampmann, chief technology officer of Osram Group, “The market that Fluence is creating has unlimited potential. Fluense's extensive knowledge of the plant lighting market and its potential applications, combined with our expertise in lighting technology, sensors and interconnections, will help Osram become Leading provider of vegetative lighting solutions.” Fluence's smart agricultural software can be integrated into Lightelligence, OSRAM’s IoT platform, which will bring the digital level of lighting control to a new level. By integrating and analyzing sensor data, Lightelligence can significantly advance automation and smart applications beyond lighting.
Fluence's LED-based vegetative lighting solutions help growers achieve their production needs and sustainability goals simultaneously. This solution can help growers increase production by up to 25%, reduce energy costs by 50%, and improve plant quality and nutrient content through targeted application of lights. In addition, since about 40% of the food is currently degraded during transportation from producers to supermarket shelves, smart agriculture has additional benefits in protecting the ecology.
In the past few years, OSRAM has increased its investment in the field of plant lighting. The company customized light source recipes according to different plant types and developed special lamps. In 2017, OSRAM invested in Agrilution, a start-up company based in Munich, Germany. The company developed a planting box with LED lighting for home users.
Upon completion of this acquisition, Fluence Bioengineering will be integrated into the professional and industrial lighting applications division of Osram Special Lighting. Nick Klase, Fluence's CEO, said, "We are very excited to partner with OSRAM to expand our global business and promote our digital product portfolio. Our new and existing customers will therefore cooperate with OSRAM, and will benefits a lot on lighting and sensors."
