Origins
Music Festival -> Biohacking & MIT -> Prototype -> Pitching -> Startup Programs + Team Building -> Indie Bio/SOSV Investment -> Tech Readiness -> Today
Paige Whitehead, Co-Founder & CEO of LUX BIO, has always been ridiculously driven to solve sustainability challenges - her first time fundraising was at the age of 8, to help save a local endangered species, the Vancouver Island Marmot. This got her invited to the UN Children's Conference on the Environment which opened her eyes to what was possible, far beyond the scope of what she saw around her growing up in a rural Canadian town.
Paige had always wanted to study bioluminescence since swimming in it for the first time, and the idea of applying it to solve the environmental issue of chemiluminescence took root when she was volunteering at Shambhala Music Festival in British Columbia, Canada where she noticed tons of single-use plastic glow sticks left all over the grounds. It made Paige curious - why not use bioluminescence instead? This lead her to study Microbiology, Environmental Studies, and Permaculture Design at the University of Victoria with a focus in biotech.
After a couple years learning more about the problem, coming up with a prototype, garnering support from the MIT Community Biology org, pitching her idea to countless individuals, and with the help of a community of scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, innovators, and friends - LUX BIO was born!
In early 2021, LUX BIO joined Indie Bio (the world's leading biotech accelerator) and received a pre-seed investment from SOSV, one of the world's premier venture capital firms, which helped launch and propel the company into what it is today! With tech working and products ready to launch.
Paige Whitehead, Co-Founder & CEO of LUX BIO, hanging off the back of a solar-powered boat gathering bioluminescent algae samples at night in Puerto Rico
OUR JOURNEY SO FAR
Pre-2021
PITCHING THE IDEA
With a prototype that worked, a deep understanding of the market, and clear route to a profitable venture - it was possible to get people to believe investing in this technology would work!
OUR MISSION
Replace all uses of chemiluminescence
and expand the possibilities of light
By 2030, we want the chemiluminescence industry to be a thing of the past. There should no longer be unnecessary single-use plastic, toxic waste, or carcinogenic chemicals entering our environment. Lets cross it off the world's to do list and keep on going!