Energy efficiency is an important issue, and it will only grow in importance, as the world begins to experience the effects of inevitable widespread constraints on energy supplies. These impending constraints must be addressed in multiple ways: increased use of renewable energy sources; technological advances; and increased efficiency measures. Most traditional lighting technologies are highly inefficient, so energy efficient lighting sources that are appealing to large numbers of users have the potential to provide significant energy savings. Lighting technologies such as compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) increase efficiency, but they have suffered from low adoption rates due to poor light quality. First-generation light-emitting diodes (LED) also suffer from poor light quality and are at risk of not being adopted at high enough rates to make a significant impact on global energy use.
UCSB startup Soraa was founded in 2008 with the goal of changing the way the world uses LEDs and lighting in general. Born out of UCSB’s continued innovation in the field of LEDs, Soraa pioneered the field of growing LED crystals on a gallium nitride substrate (GaN on GaN). Sorra’s crystals were very high quality and produced sharper, warmer light. These innovations led to Soraa becoming the world’s leading developer of solid-state lighting built on pure gallium nitride substrates.
Despite the believed difficulties in commercialization, Soraa believed that GaN on GaN LEDs were the future of LED lighting, and they were right. The GaN on GaN LEDs that Soraa developed emit more light per LED material than any other LED, handle more electric current per area than any other LED, and are up to a thousand times purer than any other LED crystal. This means smaller, more efficient bulbs with brighter, warmer light. To put it in Soraa’s words, “Simply Perfect Light.”
While Soraa’s technological foundation is superb, their growth as a company has been equally impressive. Soraa received over $100 million in funding from NEA, Khosla Ventures and NGEN, laying an impressive foundation of capital and resources. In February 2012 they launched their first product, the MR16 lamp. With headquarters in Goleta and Freemont, Soraa created over 250 jobs in the state of California.
In 2020, Soraa was acquired by EcoSense, an LED company that develops technology for commercial and industrial applications.