Meet our next finalists! These guys are developing solutions for how to produce and consume light. And they are inspired by nature, because nature knows best ! We met Sandra Rey, CEO of Glowee from France. She explained how nature does business. Spoiler alert: Circular Economy it is!
Describe your product and its history! What is your unique value proposition and your business model?
Glowee develops a new biological lighting system using bioluminescent micro-organisms able to produce light, at the crossroads of biomimicry and synthetic biology. The goal: to disrupt the way we produce and consume light, by offering a living and self-sufficient lighting raw material, requiring no installation infrastructures. Using not an electric but a biological and living source of light, Glowee aims to resolve issues caused by electric light (ecologic, economic and health issues), for a variety of uses and markets (urban landscape, shop windows, building facades, signal, remote areas, etc.). Today light is an energy cost, we turn it into an energy source.
What is your vision in regards to the future of the energy economy? And how does your product contribute to this future?
Glowee’s vision is not to radically replace electric lighting systems. We believe the best way to have a large impact on ecology, economy and health is to develop alternatives and choose the best technology for each use.
We think that every solution can be found in nature, as it is the most powerful and clean factory. By mixing biomimicry and synthetic biology, we are able to reproduce what nature is doing best on technologies but also on business models, as circular economy is the way nature does business.
With our technology, we decided to rethink the whole value chain of electric light and thus propose a global solution following a strong bioeconomy trend.
Where are you based, and who are the key innovation drivers in the energy ecosystem in your region?
We are based in Evry, France. There is no specialty in terms of energy ecosystem in our region. Nevertheless, companies like Global bioenergies who has revolutionized the hydrocarbon industry by converting bio-sourced feedstocks into plastics, rubbers and fuels are fantastic initiatives.
Which results for your startup do you expect from the Tech Festival by DENA in March 2017?
We hope to find new collaborations with energy firms to develop offers in order to implement bioluminescence in the urban landscape.
Glowee develops a biological source of light, at the crossroads of biomimicry and synthetic biology, using natural properties of marine micro-organisms called bioluminescence. The goal: to disrupt the way we produce and consume light, by offering a living and self-sufficient lighting raw material, requiring no installation infrastructures.
