Former Philips India CEO Rajeev Chopra has announced the launch of his smart LED lighting venture iBahn Illumination. The company’s core leadership team includes Arjun Shahani, Kunal Chaudhuri and Sudeshna Mukhopadhyay. Chopra was also Global CEO, Business Group Home at Philips Lighting BV.

The venture, iBahn, has raised its first institutional round of funding from Sequoia India, and aims to disrupt the market with its Svarochi brand of smart LED lights.

Announcing the launch, Chopra said “Our aim is to disrupt the market by offering a range of smart LEDs based on Bluetooth Mesh technology, which will enable users to control the intensity and colour of their lights through our easy to use smartphone app. We believe the ‘Smart LED’ market is likely to be a Rs 40,000 million ($600 million) market by 2022. Our brand Svarochi will offer innovative products that are high on functionality, easy to use, locally relevant and affordable.”

Speaking on the market scenario, co-founder Arjun Shahani said, “We envision that smart LED home lights in India will replace standard LEDs in the next 10 years. We are looking to leverage the team’s track record in execution and driving innovation at affordable costs to revolutionise the market, and have greater adoption of smart LEDs in India.”

Abhay Pandey, managing director at Sequoia Capital India Advisors, said, “Smart LEDs are the next frontier in lighting solutions. iBahn has identified a massive opportunity that exists in the LED lighting market today and created a product that is easy to use and very locally relevant. Sequoia India is excited about partnering with this team in a high potential market.”

Svarochi is a Sanskrit word which means ‘brilliant appearance’ and ‘own ray’. Svarochi smart lights aspire to make spaces beautiful while creating the perfect lighting effect for every room and every occasion using the smartphone. All aspects of the product, right from software to design and technology are conceptualised, developed and manufactured in India. Aiming to become a Rs 5,000 million company in six years, iBahn will roll out its offerings pan India in a phased manner.

iBahn will be launching a series of lamps and downlighters this month, with more to follow. These lights can be controlled through the app that will be available on Android and iOS devices.