Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeremy Wall.
Jeremy, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2013, I came within inches of being killed by a car while riding my bike.
At the time I was studying Fashion Product Development, I was creating a line of outdoor gear at the time and decided I wanted to build products that would keep me safer while cycling.
I began to sew lights, speakers, & other electronics into my clothing and bags. This was before ‘wearable tech’ was a buzz word and I turned this into my senior thesis, writing a 60-page paper, conducting research, and doing wear testing during the development of 6 pieces of smart-clothing for cyclists, runners, and motorcyclists.
Fast forward: I was hired as Design Director for a company making light up fashion mostly for burning man/music festivals. Quickly I realized I was doing so much more than just my role as Design Director including Customer Service, Sourcing, Pick & Pack, Marketing, Sales, etc… This was the inspiration to leave and start my own company.
My first stop, I went to the Outdoor Retailer Tradeshow and met the amazing team, based here in Los Angeles behind the company Outdoor Tech, a consumer electronics company that made ruggedized electronics for the adventure lifestyle. Their team decided to help found a new company which became Lumenus…that was 2015.
Quickly Lumenus raised money, built software, engineered hardware, and designed clothing that was to be the world’s first lighted clothing for safer cycling. We had a pre-order on Kickstarter and had some amazing press–Outside Magazine even said: “Lumenus Founder Jeremy Wall is the Steve Jobs of the Outdoor Industry”.
However, this all came to a screeching halt when we realized we simply could not produce the smart-clothing at scale…in small batches it was fine, but the electronics simply could not be integrated in a way that kept durability that the consumers wanted. We struggled for three years to try and pivot and make something work for our Kickstarter backers and the larger markets in general. But to no avail…
However, we had a strong team and I will say, our strongest quality being GRIT.
We realized people loved our technology, but not always our clothing and so in 2019, with no money left, and a product we couldn’t produce. We found an amazing strategic partner in Taiwan to help us and re-engineered the product and together have spent the past two years re-building it all from scratch.
This Spring 2020, Lumenus will launch our first product into the market, the ioLIGHT, a smarter bike light that works with GPS. Just enter your final destination to the Lumenus APP, put your phone away, and let Lumenus do the rest. When you’re approaching your next turn on Santa Monica Blvd, where there is a bike lane, the ioLIGHT changes from a red taillight to a yellow turn signal automatically alerting drivers of where you’re heading and keeping you safer on the road!
There are lots of other features: ioLIGHT will begin to flash automatically in danger zones like intersections or blind corners, ioLIGHT will change color and animation based on your speed, and even more–since the mobile Lumenus APP can be updated we will continue to add new features to make ioLIGHT smarter and better all the time.
Has it been a smooth road?
…No
We struggled with building the wrong product to start, what was even harder was beyond building the wrong product, we actually SOLD these products, before we knew we wouldn’t be able to produce them.
The decisions were made by me, a first-time founder who raised money directly out of college–without much business training or entrepreneurial experience this ‘product designer’ was now the CEO of a funded startup building products in the two buzz wordiest spaces “Wearable Technology” and “Internet of Things”.
One of the hardest parts was that once we realized we were in trouble, I stopped taking a salary–I was working full-time on a project without savings or really any indication of where my next meal or rent would come from. It became a hustle, one that I found I could survive through winning pitch competitions, like the Miller Lite ‘Tap the Future’ or by participating in incubators that had some free lunches and snacks on hand (seriously for a while I practically lived on free office trail mix…).
When we realized that our product would not be able to be produced, it was devastating, I had a check-in hand from a major bicycling brand that wanted to buy 500 units…but I knew that if we did that deal that brand would have a product which would break on their customer in less than a year. I had to rip up that check, meanwhile, I didn’t know where I was going to find the money for rent. These moments of truth were hard but taught me that the value of integrity and that this is a long-term endeavor, not just trying to get short-term wins or cash.
One of my favorite stories was that I had to spend 5-weeks straight traveling around China trying my hardest to salvage the hard work and money of the past few years we had spent on building Lumenus–this happened to overlap with Thanksgiving (the biggest holiday in my family). I was ‘treated’ to dinner by one of my factory owners, we went to KFC for Thanksgiving dinner and I think I shed a few tears over my fried chicken, as it all just hit me at once.
As I walked into the door of my cheap hotel room (a discount hotel in the manufacturing district of Dongguan is a whole ‘nother level) I sat on the bed, looked at a picture of my family together back in the states and was overcome with gratitude. I knew that I had made the decision to keep going, to push harder to bring this product I knew the world needed to exist and that moment has always stuck with me. After all this was Thanksgiving, a time to practice gratefulness, I was out here in China, few of my peers had ever been to Asia this was my third trip in 2 years, building a product that I designed and that others financed because they also saw its value. Ever since that Thanksgiving, I work every day to practice gratitude and smile every chance I get.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Lumenus – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Lumenus makes smarter bike lights, they work with our mobile APP to provide enhanced functions to keep cyclists safer on the roads.
Instead of being blinded by the light we want to help everyone truly Be Brighter.
We build both hardware and software, the Lumenus ioLIGHT is a super-efficient rechargeable light that changes color and works with Bluetooth, this has a modular attachment system that can be put onto clothing, accessories, helmets, bikes, and pretty much anywhere you want to mount an ioLIGHT.
Our software focuses on building the ‘brains’ behind the light, telling it when and where to flash and then using systems we’ve built, changing the color and animation of that LEDs to really communicate information to both the wearer and those around them. This is our ‘special sauce’ because our APP will update frequently and add new features to the ioLIGHT long after the initial purchase to eliminate waste and add continuous value.
As our company has grown, so have the communities who reach out to us to ask for our technology to be brought to their own safety needs. We frequently have runners or motorcyclists tell us they can’t wait for the ioLIGHT so they can use it.
Over the past three years, we have had the supreme pleasure to work with two amazing groups: The Department of Homeland Security and the United States Coast Guard.
DHS reached out to us to create products that could enhance the safety of First Responders light Fire Fighters in being seen through the smoke and guided safely out of a burning building or EMS crews who run toward danger in order to help those in need, they wanted Lumenus to help them coordinate triage efforts and locate each other.
USCG selected Lumenus as a finalist in their ‘Ready for Rescue’ program that helps commercialize technologies for adoption in their Search & Rescue efforts in open water. We were able to take part in a field-exercise where S&R planes were able to easily identify ioLIGHTS in the water and coordinate efforts with their on-water vessels to located simulated boaters lost at sea.
We know that what we are building has the true potential to save lives, that is what sets us apart from the (not throwing shade) thousands of startups that are building something just to make money. Our decisions are rooted in creating products that improve humanity and we seriously value our responsibility in those efforts.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love how bikable LA is! I hate how bikable LA is!
This seemingly paradoxical statement is true when you think about the fact from DTLA to Santa Monica is only 15-miles, the city is for the most part extremely flat, and the weather is beautiful 360 days a year. Los Angeles should be a cyclist heaven!
However, the lack of infrastructure mixed with frequently negative opinions and driving habits of drivers toward cyclists can make this a scary city to bike in.
With optimism and extreme confidence, I say this: “Los Angeles will be a mobility-friendly city by 2030.”
That may sound like a far way off, but realistically it has to happen…we are the home of Bird and other mobility companies that know that cars alone unsustainable and not the best solution for most of our transportation needs. We have a mayor that has committed to Vision Zero and an amazingly diverse group of representatives at all levels of our government and private organizations that are pushing our city in the right direction.
I love LA and I know we will do what needs to happen to make transportation and mobility a conversation that includes everyone–I don’t want to harp on cycling too much because it’s a turn-off for the average person. I want to focus on the cleaner air that we will breathe if we lessen vehicles on our roads, the decrease in traffic that comes from more people in micro-mobility, the ease of parking and freeing up previously barren parking lots to be parks and green spaces, creating equity for all communities in LA to be empowered by better mobility solutions that serve their unique needs, and the idea of letting your child walk or bike to school without being scared…
Pricing:
- The Lumenus ioLIGHT will launch in Spring 2020 and retail for under $100.
- The Lumenus APP will be free when we launch.
Contact Info:
- Address: 800 Wilshire Blvd. #200
Los Angeles, CA 90017 - Website: www.LUMENUS.com
- Phone: 9198418169
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @LumenusLife
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