Ledlenser GmbH & Co. KG is a German technology company that manufactures portable lighting products (especially LED forehead and hand flashlights & inspection lamps) based in the North Rhine-Westphalian city of Solingen in Germany. It was founded by Rainer and Harold Opolka, who developed the first commercially available LED flashlight.

At the beginning of 2019, the company had around 115 employees in Germany and around 800 in the production plant in China. The company is headquartered with product development in Germany, and the company has a 100% owned manufacturing subsidiary in the People's Republic of China.

History

In 1993, the twins Rainer and Harald Opolka founded a trading company for knives, scissors and other steel goods under the name Stahlwarenkontor GmbH in Beelitz, southwest of Berlin. In 1997, the company relocated to Solingen under the name Zweibrüder Stahlwarenkontor GmbH, where it still has its headquarters today. The company's premises have been located in the Mathildenhütte, a renovated former glassblowing factory, since 2002. In 2002 the name was changed to Zweibrüder Optoelectronics GmbH.

In 2000, the Opolka twins built a 5 mm LED from Nichia into a housing. This resulted in the typical design for the following products with the perforated rim. The lamp, marketed under the name Photon Pump V8, went into stores in late 2000 and has sold over twelve million pieces in 80 countries around the world to date.

The products from the LedLenser series have received numerous design awards since 2001. These include internationally known design awards such as the Red Dot design award, the Design Plus, the Good Design Awards or the IF Design Award. Some of the lamps received several awards, such as the V8 or the Car Lenser Rechargeable. In addition, Ledlenser was honored with the German Brand Award in the category "Industry Excellence in Branding" in 2016. The company convinced the renowned jury in terms of the degree of innovation, consistent brand management and sustainable brand communication.
Ledlenser has developed the Advanced Focus System especially for its flashlights (patented in the USA and Europe). The combination of lens and reflector creates a round light cone of excellent quality with every focus. Another innovation is the mechanical one-hand focusing on the basis of a sliding carriage. The Opolka twins have protected their own developments and products with over 100 patents, designs and utility models.

The brothers developed the Ledlenser V8 flashlight and sold over 200 million Euros' worth of LED flashlights during their first five years in business.  The Ledlenser V8 flashlight became one of the top-selling LED flashlights in the world. The brothers sold three quarters of the shares in their company "to devote themselves exclusively to making art". They invested €25 million into a sculpture and cultural center in  in Storkow, and Rainer started an independent project called "The Wolves Are Back?"

In January 2011 Leatherman Inc., Portland / Oregon (USA) took over the majority stake in Zweibrüder Optoelectronics GmbH, at the same time the company name changed to Zweibrüder Optoelectronics GmbH & Co. KG. Since 21 December 2017 the company name has been Ledlenser GmbH & Co. KG.

On 6 December 2018, the company was sold by Leatherman Tool Group Inc. to several shareholders, in particular AFINUM Achte Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, which holds the majority shares. Additionally, other shares are owned by INVISION and the Ledlenser management team.

Ledlenser has its own offices in Italy (Led Lenser Italia Srl), Switzerland (Led Lenser Swiss GmbH), Japan (Led Lenser Japan, Inc.) and the United States (Ledlenser, Inc.). In the United Kingdom Ledlenser is exclusively distributed by Ledco Ltd. from a headquarters in Sunninghill, Berkshire.

Production is handled by the 100% subsidiary, Ledlenser Corporation Ltd. in Yangjiang, a district-free city on the Chinese south coast in the province of Guangdong In January 2019, around 800 employees worked there.

Products

In addition to flashlights, headlamps, key lights and living room lights, the Ledlenser product range also includes explosion-proof lamps, diving lamps, and lamps that are tailored to the needs of fire brigade, rescue services, police and special units.

Flashlights

The Ledlenser program includes different flashlights of all sizes and for a wide variety of applications.

The products are divided into series, which differ in terms of design, different lumens and the technology used. For example, the P series models are operated without programming, the M series lamps (M = micro-controlled) are equipped with a microchip programming.

Ledlenser uses a proprietary measuring method for the runtime of the flashlights. The runtime specified by the manufacturer describes the duration the lamp takes for the brightness of the energy-saving level to drop to one lumen. For lamps without an energy-saving level (e.g. P3, P4, P5), the time is measured that elapses until the maximum brightness of the lamp has dropped to one lumen.

Headlamps

Ledlenser also develops headlamps for sport, outdoor use and professional use.

Sponsorship

Ledlenser supports a so-called PRO team with national and international athletes in extreme and fun sports as brand ambassadors, including long-distance runner Jan Fitschen and extreme runner Christian Schiester.

References 

Electronics companies established in 1993
Engineering companies of Germany
German brands
Manufacturing companies of Germany
German companies established in 1993
Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia