10 May 2011

Optogan appoints international sales director

European LED chip and luminaire maker Optogan has appointed Ove Sörensen as its new director sales & business development EMEA, responsible for the development of its international sales network in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Sörensen will be based in Landshut, Germany and conduct the international business expansion of Optogan Group into new markets. He will also work on a worldwide distribution and trading network with solid-state lighting (SSL) manufacturers.

Founded in Helsinki, Finland in 2004 by Russian entrepreneurs and scientists from Ioffe Institute in St Petersburg, Optogan is a vertically integrated develoer and manufacturer of HB-LEDs for applications including solid-state lighting. In addition to having an R&D facility in Helsinki, since founding Optogan GmbH in Germany in 2005 it has established epitaxy and chip R&D plus a pilot line in Dortmund and, last year, its Fab1 chip fabrication plant in Landshut. Also, after founding CJSC Optogan in Russia in 2009, in May 2010 it acquired an industrial facility in St Petersburg, where it has established LED component and luminaire production lines.

Optogan says that its products have experienced an uninterrupted boom in Russia. In 2010 the firm launched its international sales activities. Due to rapidly increasing demand in global markets for LEDs ‘made in Germany’, Optogan Group has reinforced its activities by creating the new position of director sales & business development EMEA.

Sörensen has broad experience in international sales, marketing and management, says Markus Zeiler, Optogan Group’s general manager Global Sales & Marketing. Before joining Optogan, Sörensen worked at Philips Lumileds in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, initially (from 2004) as sales manager for Great Britain, Benelux and Scandinavia, then since 2007 as sales director for Northern and Eastern Europe, contributing to the introduction of high-power LEDs into emerging markets and significantly expanding Lumileds’ customer base.

Previously, Sörensen held senior sales & marketing positions at various companies, including Sales Director Government, building up a government-oriented tender business for Holland’s biggest system integrator.

“Our first priority in international sales is the latest generation of chip-on-board and customized LED modules,” says Zeiler. “We are also working with our SSL customers, the leading luminaire manufacturers, to build a partner network for the Russian market,” he adds.

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Tags: Optogan GaN LEDs

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