Selling sunshine from Seattle: Solius raises $23M to launch new at-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 same technology into the home.

Bainbridge Island, Wash.-based Solius Labs announced $23 million in Series A funding on Wednesday along with the launch of the Solius Pro: a $2,995 UVB (Ultraviolet B) light therapy device for home and professional use.

The device, which hangs on a wall and is about the size of a large laptop computer, scans a user’s skin to calculate a personalized dose of UVB light at a targeted 293-nanometer wavelength. Solius Pro delivers light therapy to the user’s back in a single 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’re just the first that has made UVB safe and usable and accessible anytime in an efficient way.”

The Food and Drug Administration cleared the Solius Pro as a Class II medical device under a product code — SGZ — created for the technology, according to the company. That clearance specifically covers stimulating the body’s vitamin D production in people 22 and older, according to FDA filings.

UVB light therapy has traditionally been available in dermatology clinics, where it’s typically used to treat skin conditions including eczema, psoriasis and vitiligo.

The skin-scanning system is patent-pending and central to Solius’s safety claim. Because UVB response varies significantly by skin type, a personalized dose is essential — too little delivers no benefit, too much risks skin damage. Kiple said Solius is the first company to develop a sensor that can calculate that dose automatically, without a clinician present.

Founded in 2013, Solius originally developed large walk-in light therapy kiosks, deploying them in clinical settings and pharmacies — including its first public installation in Vancouver, B.C., in 2018 — while running clinical trials in the Seattle area.

Kiple joined as CEO in 2023, bringing a team from Bothell-based Ventec Life Systems — which had partnered with General Motors to scale critical care ventilator production during COVID. He set about recapitalizing Solius and reinventing its technology as a smaller, more affordable home device.

The Series A round was led by Lauder Partners and included venture capital 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 Solius Pro launch, with the device now available on its website and shipping expected to begin in July. Kiple sees opportunity across multiple markets, from direct-to-consumer home use to doctors’ offices, dermatology clinics and wellness facilities.

Solius is targeting a significant and growing health problem — vitamin D deficiency affects an estimated 1 billion people worldwide, and research increasingly links lack of sun exposure to a range of conditions including seasonal affective disorder, bone density loss and cardiovascular disease.

For a company selling sunshine, the Pacific Northwest turns out to be a fitting home base, and Kiple, who works out of Bainbridge Island, doesn’t shy away from the irony.

“We have learned to avoid the sun, and our lifestyles have evolved 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 for nine months out of the year.”

That, Kiple said, is precisely the point of Solius Pro.

“How do we give you that benefit of the sun anytime, anywhere?”