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EDP VENTURES AND ARQUILED
The perfect marriage In 2010, EDP Ventures decided to buy 40% of Arquiled’s capital. Today, this startup has put Portugal on the map of lighting products.
R
afael Santos and António Ferreira, the founders of Arquiled, worked in the same professional arena (theater lighting) when in 2005 they decided to start their own business. They bet on the LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology to battle the crisis that has faced Portugal since 2002. It was not easy to prove that it was efficient as the technology was taking its first steps, but the Casino Lisboa project opened its doors and became the living proof that LED is here to stay and that it is highly profitable. In 2011, the company had revenues of 3.4 million Euros and internationalization is now a reality.
How did Arquiled in 2002 convince investors of LED technology’s potential?
We looked for projects that could incorporate the LED technology. It was not easy to convince investors, at least until we had the opportunity to design, develop and install lighting in the lounge at the Casino Lisboa. It is one of our most significant projects, and it is also the largest LED technology project: it concentrated 1.2 million LEDs in the same space. It also has one important characteristic: durability. Today, the Casino is proof that this technology lasts longer than we had expected (projected 50,000 hours)—most of the installed LEDs have been in use for almost 60,000 hours of use and they will continue for some time still, if we take into account current known indicators for this technology.
Rafael Santos, CEO and cofounder of Arquiled
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