Amsterdam - LED Lease has entered an agreement with Ecover International Group to finance its innovative concept and its international expansion. LED Lease supplies LED lamps on credit to its customers, which include Jamie Oliver’s Amsterdam restaurant ‘Fifteen’. Buyers pay only as long as the lamps work, which makes this a unique proposition in the LED market. Larger projects in hospitals and real estate, as well as international expansion, will be pursued next.
Ecover is known as a producer of ecological detergents. The company also invests in other sustainable technologies, especially those related to water and energy. Its stake in LED Lease fits well with this portfolio. Gijs de Rooij, managing director of LED Lease, says, “For Ecover International, we are a strategic investment. Both companies strive to accelerate market penetration of sustainable technology by developing new distribution channels. Ecover International can leverage our LED knowledge in its other participations – for instance in the United Arab Emirates – and its network is accessible to our services and knowledge.”
LED Lease supplies efficient high-quality lighting made by various producers. A lease, or sale on instalment credit, implies a strong guarantee on the long claimed lifetime of the lamps, while customers can keep off investing. “Our customers can cease payments if lamps fail, and in this LED Lease is unique,” says Bastiaan van der Giessen, LED Lease financial director. “Customers pay for their lamps from the savings the lamps deliver. In our first year, we have completed projects at Jamie Oliver’s Amsterdam restaurant Fifteen, the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Dordrecht, and the Manhattan Hotel in Rotterdam. With Ecover International on board we can scale up our activities exponentially.”
Banks were hesitant to finance the concept in this early stage. Since lamps become attached to the real estate they are in, they cannot serve as a loan collateral. Many other LED suppliers, including Philips, have stumbled over this problem.
Mr Van der Giessen will not reveal how much funding Ecover International has provided, but states that “…we are now able to make many hospitals sustainable. We are rather proud to be given this much trust by such a serious player, just one year after our foundation.” Besides expanding in the Dutch market, LED Lease will roll out its leasing concept internationally with the help of Ecover International.
Amsterdam, June 20, 2011
Press release published by
LED Lease & Finance B.V.
Wibautstraat 129-6e verdieping
1091 GL Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Further inquiries:
Gijs de Rooij, +31 (0)6-2279 1979
Bastiaan van der Giessen, +31 (0)6-2279 1586
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