Plumen Lights: Invest

Their sculptural twisting forms and unusual shapes have turned the eco bulb from a thing of dreariness to a designer statement, and now Plumen, creators of the first designer eco bulb, have turned to crowdfunding for the next stage of their development – a range of LEDs. They are seeking investment of as little as £10 a head and have already raised 70 per cent of their target of £500,000.

In addition, this week sees the launch of a new collaboration with giant e-tailer made.com for a new bulb and shade combination which brings you the designer look at a fraction of the price. It was created with the dimmable Plumen LED 002 in mind and perforated shade breaks up the light and softens it round the room. It’s based on a 1950s task light but shade and brass base give it a modern twist. It’s rather lovely isn’t it? I might have to have one…

The first bulb arrived in 2007, when the inventors, Nik Roupe and Michael-George Hemus, decided it was time the lighting industry was a bit more creative. As Nik said to me when I interviewed him for The Financial Times a couple of years ago: “The lightbulb is one of the few things that hasn’t changed since Edison invented it.”

Hence their new hashtag #moveoverEdison, which makes a change from asking Beethoven to roll over I guess.

Anyway, Nik said they weren’t at all sure what people would think of their twisty bulb but it turned out everyone loved the prototype.

“Suddenly people were positive about low energy lightbulbs and were telling us to start making them even though we’d never sold a lightbulb in our lives.

“The lightbulb is the symbol for inspiration. In particular the Edison, which is a product that is perfect in almost every way – affordable, creates great light and magical to look at. Edison is a tough act to follow, but we knew, if we were going to inspire people to switch to energy efficient technology, it was the standard we had to aim for.

“Several years, many countries and half a million products later, Plumen is a proper lightbulb company. Now as, technology shifts again, it is time to make inspirational LED bulbs. But that isn’t easy and we need support so we’re turning to the people who supported us in the first place by crowdfunding. We’re going back to where it all started, looking for the inspiration to go again.”

You can invest for as little as a tenner by going to their site here and you can read more about their story on the crowdcube site where you will learn: Fact of the Day Alert – that they beat the iPad to the design of the year award in 2011 and is part of the permanent collection of the MoMA, the V&A and the Design Museum.

So you can think about it and see if these gorgeous pictures inspire you.