Our journey so far
2014: The scalable problem
In 2014, the cellphone battery of the wife of BrightCharger co-founder Harri Tiainen died after only six months of use. He soon realised the root cause of the problem was not in the device itself – it was the charger it was attached to.
After thinking about the problem, he came upon a solution – an integrated technology that automatically cuts charging power when batteries reach optimal charge. Soon after, BrightCharger was founded, and a team of experts began to build.
Our mission is to develop a truly scalable solution that stops the unnecessary overcharging of all device batteries regardless of type.
2015: IP and patents
We created our Industrial Property portfolio strategy and filed our first patents for ‘disconnecting supply of electric charging current.’
2016: R&D begins
The first proof of concept mobile device chargers with and integrated automatic cut-off function were created. The International Charging Control patent application was filed, and international trademarks were granted.
2017: The BrightCharger USB-charger
After the successful completion of an Indiegogo that more than doubled its initial goal, we pioneered the smart auto cut-off concept worldwide with the launch of the BrightCharger USB-charger in 2017. This experience gave us a deep understanding of the needs of device and microcontroller manufacturers and supply chains that still shapes our products and services today.
2018: Supporting OEMs and suppliers
We partnered with leading OEM manufacturer Salcomp to co-develop prototypes for USB-C mobile chargers and USB enabled socket outlets built around our charger-based software. We also pivoted our strategy to purely focus on directly licensing our IP and charging control technology to suppliers and manufacturers.
2019: Smart buildings and electrification
Continuous R&D confirmed that our Charging Control could be directly integrated directly into 110-240 VAC socket outlets and AC adapters. As a result, we filed new patent applications for AC Charging Control. As a result, we began collaborating with ABB SynerLeap and launched several pilot projects across the electrification industry.
2021: IP portfolio growing
Our Charging Control patents were granted and extended to cover Germany, France, and the UK. Our continuing collaboration with ABB saw us launch a project to develop a smart mountable AC outlet, the product application that would help us integrate our Charging Control into existing buildings.
We also received our seventh Seal of Excellence certificate from the EU Commission, for its market scaling project proposal. During this period, the EU also pushed its Common Mobile Charger initiative to make USB-C chargers the de-facto EU standard. In addition, EU’s Eco-design directive progressed with introduction of new regulations on product quality and energy efficiency.
2022: Smarter microcontrollers
A US Patent was granted for our AC Charging Control and a trademark application was filed fo our BrightZero™ charger control technology. We also fully focused on offering our control technology to semiconductor and microcontroller providers and manufacturers, a key link in the consumer energy supply chain.
2023 and beyond
Today, our offering covers a fully scalable BrightZero® charging control solution, enabling an integration of intelligent auto cut-off feature for USB-C chargers, AC adapters and outlets (mountable and wall socket versions). The fully compliant BrightZero® technology and IP are available for licensing by microcontroller companies, charger manufacturers, and smart building electrification solutions such as socket outlets and mountable smart AC outlets.