Light (company)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Digital photography, Camera systems |
| Founded | 1 January 2013 in Palo Alto, California, U.S. |
| Founder | Dave Grannan, Rajiv Laroia |
| Defunct | May 2022 |
| Fate | Acquired by John Deere (certain divisions) |
| Headquarters | Palo Alto , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Dave Grannan (CEO), Rajiv Laroia (CTO) |
| Products | L16 multi-lens camera |
Light Labs Inc. was an American company focused on digital photography, specializing in multi-sensor and multi-lens camera systems designed for smartphones and other mobile devices. Established in 2013 by CEO Dave Grannan and CTO Rajiv Laroia in Palo Alto, California, their premier product, the L16, incorporated sixteen individual camera modules within a single device. The company's mission was to advance mobile photography by delivering superior image quality alongside genuine optical zoom functionality.
By 2020, Light redirected its efforts from smartphone imaging toward automotive camera technologies. In May 2022, John Deere acquired certain divisions of Light Labs and absorbed some of its personnel to support the development of autonomous agricultural machinery.
History
Founded in 2013 by Dave Grannan (CEO) and Rajiv Laroia (CTO) in Palo Alto, California, Light emerged to address the increasing demand for enhanced smartphone cameras. Utilizing breakthroughs in compact camera module design and cost-effective high-grade lenses, the company engineered the L16.[1]
By April 2015, Light unveiled a 52-megapixel prototype capable of zooming without loss of detail, manipulating depth of field, and capturing low-light images with reduced noise levels.[2] Within a year, this technology culminated in the release of the Light L16 camera.
Funding
In June 2014, Light secured $9.7 million during its Series A round from investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners, CRV, GlobalFoundries CEO Sanjay Jha, and Qualcomm executive chairman Paul E. Jacobs, who also joined the company’s board.[3]
The following year in July 2015, the company raised an additional $25 million through a Series B round led by Formation 8, with continued support from Bessemer, CRV, StepStone Group, Sanjay Jha, CrunchFund, and Foxconn’s FIH Mobile.[4] On July 30, 2015, Light announced a collaboration with Foxconn to embed its camera technology into mobile devices.[5]
In 2016, Light completed a $30 million Series C funding round spearheaded by GV (formerly Google Ventures), increasing total capital raised to $64.7 million.[6]
On July 18, 2018, the company closed a $120 million Series D financing led by SoftBank Vision Fund, with participation from Leica Camera AG.[7][8]
Product Development
Initial prototypes from Light utilized multiple cameras to significantly improve image quality on mobile devices. The L16 prototype incorporated sixteen camera modules capturing images at once with focal lengths distributed as follows: five modules at 35mm, five at 70mm, and six at 150mm. These modules produced images up to 52 megapixels by employing over ten apertures alongside folded optics that channel light through several lens barrels onto sensors. The system’s computational imaging software merges these inputs into a single high-resolution photograph. Light also developed algorithms that analyze lighting conditions and object distances to enhance photo quality further. The multi-focal-length configuration includes mirrors that adjust the 70mm and 150mm lenses, enabling true optical zoom for both stills and video.
Additionally, Light created Android-based software to operate the camera hardware and developed a dedicated application named Lumen for Windows and Mac platforms to allow post-capture control over depth of field. Proprietary algorithms efficiently combine images captured from multiple lenses into one cohesive picture.
L16
The standalone L16 camera was introduced by Light in October 2015. In December 2016, the aperture was increased from F/2.4 to F/2.0. Production models began shipping in July 2017, with distribution extending to the United Kingdom by March 2018. Light’s support team confirmed that assistance for the L16 would conclude at the end of 2019.
External links
- Photography companies of the United States
- Photographic lenses
- Technology companies established in 2013
- American companies disestablished in 2022
- Companies based in Redwood City, California
- Photographic lens designs
- Companies based in Palo Alto, California
- Technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area