Solar marketing from Seattle: Solius raises $23M to launch new home light therapy device
A Seattle-area startup that once asked people to step inside a glowing kiosk for light therapy is now bringing that technology home.
Bainbridge Island, Wash.-based Solius Labs announced $23 million in funding Wednesday and the launch of Solius Pro: a $2,995 UVB (Ultraviolet B) light therapy device for home and professional use.
The device, which hangs on the wall and is about the size of a large laptop, scans the user’s skin to calculate the personal dose of UVB light at a targeted 293-nanometer wavelength. Solius Pro delivers simple back treatment to the user in one weekly session of less than five minutes, and is controlled via a smartphone app.
“UVB is not new,” Solius CEO Chris Kiple told GeekWire. “We are the first to make UVB safe and practical and accessible anytime in an effective way.”
The Food and Drug Administration cleared Solius Pro as a Class II medical device under the product code – SGZ – developed for the technology, according to the company. That approval includes specifically promoting the body’s production of vitamin D in people 22 and older, according to the FDA filing.
UVB light therapy used to be available in dermatology clinics, where it is often used to treat skin conditions including eczema, psoriasis and vitiligo.
The skin scanning system is pending and is part of Solius’ security claim. Because the response to UVB varies greatly by skin type, a personalized dose is important – too little is not beneficial, more dangerous is skin damage. Kiple said Solius is the first company to make a sensor that can calculate that dose automatically, without a doctor present.
Founded in 2013, Solius initially developed large-scale portable medical facilities, deploying them in clinical and pharmacy settings — including its first public installation in Vancouver, BC, in 2018 — while conducting clinical trials in the Seattle area.
Kiple joined as CEO in 2023, bringing in a team from Bothell-based Ventec Life Systems — which partnered with General Motors to scale ventilator production during the COVID-19 pandemic. He set out to remake Solius and reinvent his technology as a small, affordable home appliance.
The Series A round was led by Lauder Partners and included corporate funds, family offices and individual investors. Solius has just over 20 employees and is actively hiring across engineering, quality, sales and marketing roles.
The company says it has recorded more than 1,000 pre-orders ahead of the launch of the Solius Pro, and the device is now available on its website with shipping expected to begin in July. Kiple sees opportunity in many markets, from direct-to-consumer home use to doctors’ offices, skin clinics and wellness centers.
Solius addresses an important and growing health problem – vitamin D deficiency affects an estimated 1 billion people worldwide, and research is increasingly linking lack of sun exposure to a number of conditions including seasonal affective disorder, bone loss and heart disease.
For a company that sells sunshine, the Pacific Northwest makes a perfect home base, and Kiple, who works on Bainbridge Island, doesn’t shy away from humor.
“We learned to avoid the sun, and our lifestyle changed to avoid the sun,” he said. “Tech workers in Seattle — Microsoft, Amazon — we’re all inside all the time. In Seattle, in particular, we don’t see the sun nine months out of the year.”
That, says Kiple, is the point of Solius Pro.
“How do we give you that solar benefit anytime, anywhere?”
