His lamps that kill the Covid accompany the Blues to the Olympics

It is a lamp that makes light and disinfects the air, to the point of killing all the viruses that are there. In Grand-Fougeray, Olivier Moyen has developed his Lod Protect brand, which offers different luminaires with similar technology.

The trained biologist engineer, originally from Lyon, fell into the middle of the luminaire by chance. “My in-laws are in the lighting business. I started working there 15 years ago, ”says the 41-year-old man.

The one who runs a showroom in Lyon bought a lighting manufacturer in Grand-Fougeray, Easylum, then in liquidation, in July 2019. “He specializes in lighting for restaurants, clothing chains, hotels, etc.”, specifies he does.

The Covid crisis puts the company at a standstill

It was then that the Covid crisis arose, putting the recently purchased company on hold, and its 40 employees on short-time work.

“As of December 2019, the electrical components imported from Asia were no longer arriving. Three months later, the pandemic arrived here, ”recalls Olivier Moyen.

He continues: “We were all afraid for ourselves and for our loved ones. We knew that the Covid was going to change the world. I told myself, instead of being defeatist, that something had to be done. I spent a week thinking. “

The latter then remembers a biology class:

UV-C, which is an invisible light, is used to disinfect water from viruses and bacteria. I thought to myself, air is a fluid like water, so why can’t I disinfect the air and kill the Covid with UV-C?

UV-C being impossible to see with the naked eye, man returns to his job: he just has to lock it in a lamp. “My team being on short-time work, I put it on the development of a prototype of a luminaire that could both illuminate and disinfect. “

In the process, he filed two international patents and his trademark, LOD Protect (Light of desinfection). It will take three months to create the prototypes, nine more months to obtain certification, due to the health crisis.

70 hires since March

The principle is simple: UV-C rays are enclosed in a box, inserted inside the lamp. The latter also has a classic LED bulb. When the light is turned on, air is drawn into the tunnel-shaped lamp and disinfected, before exiting through the other side.

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One hour of use of a lamp kills 99% of viruses over 15 m². “We can separate disinfection and light. The lamp is effective for three to five years, or 15,000 hours. Then, it must be recharged and it is effective again for the same number of years, ”explains Olivier Moyen.

The certification obtained in December 2020, Olivier Moyen is developing a range of lighting: tiles, suspended neon lights, ceiling lights, wall lights, table lamps, floor lamps … In March 2021, it begins marketing.

Immediately, his lamps hit the spot. Since March, Olivier Moyen has generated 1.5 million euros in turnover and hired 70 people, including 30 in Grand-Fougeray, where the research and development part and the production of lamps are concentrated.

We have also partnered with ESATs to help us take on this growth.

Customers all over the world

Its lamps are already present in the airports of Paris, the training center of the French team in Clairefontaine, in the changing rooms of the Stade Rennes, as well as in hospitals, hotels and restaurants, in Dubai, Mauritius or still in Israel.

We sell more for export than in France. I have 2.5 million euros in quotes being signed.

His lamps to pose even accompanied the Blues to the Euro and the Olympic Games, in Tokyo! “The goal is to secure places where you cannot put on the mask, such as changing rooms or restaurants, but also places where you cannot ventilate, such as a long-distance bus …”, illustrates Olivier Moyen , who has just signed with a Spanish bus company.

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Success with veterinarians

And the engineer, who projects five million euros in turnover in 2021, sees even further. Beyond the Covid, its technology can indeed kill any type of virus.

I was ordered 500 devices for the horses of the king of an emirate. Some vets also bought me lamps for bird and swine flu. I didn’t even think about it.

“I kept the initial activity of the company in Grand-Fougeray, but we are very happy to be in a booming sector. We are going where the market takes us, ”says the one who now projects 50 million euros in turnover in 2022.

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