LED Roadway Lighting Ltd. recently acquired Evluma. Below is my exclusive interview with Ken Cartmill, Co-CEO of LED Roadway.
Shiller: Congratulations on LED Roadway’s recent acquisition of Evluma. There do appear to be some interesting synergies between the two companies, such as complimentary geographic strengths. Can you speak to what you see as the most important synergies between the two companies? Product? Geography? Niche market specialization? Etc.?
Cartmill: Thank you, David, we are very excited about this new chapter in our company history. We acquired Streetlight Intelligence (outdoor lighting controls) back in 2011, and it’s grown to an important division within LED Roadway Lighting, so we are hoping to repeat those successful outcomes with the Evluma acquisition.
One of the complimentary categories is clearly the geographic strengths of the respective companies. Evluma has built a strong brand in the US, where it transacts a majority of its sales, and LED Roadway Lighting has done the same in Canada plus some select international markets (we have sold projects into 65 countries over the years). I think these complimentary geographies is where the most important synergy lies – we have an opportunity to bring Evluma products, specifically AreaMax with its Photocontrol FailSafe technology into our core markets, and we can bring our roadway and connected roadway products into the Evluma market.
Additionally, both of our companies offer high quality, performance-focused products that are backed by industry leading customer support. We both offer products that provide the best total cost of ownership for our customers.
Shiller: In terms of products, how do you see the differences and similarities between the two companies’ product lines?
Cartmill: Evluma has put its mark on the outdoor utility lighting market with its AreaMax security light with FailSafe technology and the ConnectLED BLE app. Evluma also recently entered the roadway market with its Roadmax product line. LED Roadway Lighting has taken a different path to market focused exclusively on roadway lighting products since its start in 2007, eventually releasing a cellular connected lighting controller and a suite of smart city sensors that plug into the NEMA socket.
I see very little overlap in terms of products offered – I believe LED Roadway Lighting (LED) has a lot to offer Evluma in accelerating its growth into the roadway market with our portfolio of products, and Evluma can assist LED in growing into a new product category of security lighting with our core utility customers.
Shiller: I know Evluma focuses a lot on the utility street light market. Is that a focus of LED Roadway or not?
Cartmill: Yes, the utility streetlight market is a big focus for LED Roadway Lighting and has been for the past 18 years. About 50% of our sales are to utilities, and 50% are to municipalities; 100% of that is roadway lighting products. This is a little different than Evluma, which has sold its AreaMax security light almost exclusively to utilities and is starting to see exciting traction starting to build in the utility roadway market.
Shiller: Do you see much opportunity to cross-pollinate product innovations from one company to the other? Is there a specific example of one company’s product innovation that you plan to share with the other company to enhance the product offering?
Cartmill: Having a background in product development, this question gets to the heart of one of the most exciting opportunities coming from the acquisition. Evluma developed some great core technology, IP, and products around FailSafe and ConnectLED. While the acquisition is only a few weeks old, I can share we are already working on some new products using Evluma’s core technology which we plan to take to international markets.
Shiller: Will the acquisition impact the two companies’ sales forces significantly? Do both companies use the standard commission rep network model? Will there need to be rationalization, integration, and harmonization of the two rep networks across North America?
Cartmill: It will be business as usual for our customers. I don’t anticipate any impact to the companies’ sales forces – both companies use a standard rep commission model, so we plan to continue that. LED Roadway Lighting doesn’t have a lot of reps in the US, and the ones we do are more focused on our traffic related offerings such as our AI NEMA camera for edge traffic counting, so there is little to no rep overlap.
Shiller: Are there any other benefits from the acquisition that we haven’t discussed yet, that are worth mentioning?
Cartmill: LED Roadway Lighting has our own 55,000sq ft manufacturing facility plus extensive experience and expertise in producing luminaires and controls. We look forward to finding opportunities to streamline production and supply chain. LED Roadway Lighting and Evluma have also both collaborated closely with their customers to develop technology solutions that address real-world needs and align with evolving market demands. With our expanded market presence, we anticipate even stronger feedback loops that will help drive future innovation and guide the next generation of product development.
Shiller: Ken, thank you for sharing your insights on LED Roadway’s acquisition of Evluma, with LightNOW’s readers.
Image: Ken Cartmill, Co-CEO, LED Roadway Lighting Ltd.
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