Celebrating the 5th Anniversary of Helight Sleep
In 2025, Helight Sleep is celebrating its 5th anniversary, having been launched in October 2020. This is the story of a small family business from Montréal, Québec, pushed to cross borders in order to survive. But above all, it is a human and family adventure — the story of two families, one French and one Canadian, united by a shared passion: making the benefits of light accessible to everyone.
The Beginning: When Science Meets Intuition
In 2015, the Grange family, French industrialists, met a scientist passionate about photobiomodulation, also known as red-light therapy. After several tests, they discovered the extraordinary potential of this technology to naturally promote relaxation, recovery, aesthetics, and the reduction of inflammation. They decided to bring it to the general public.
In 2016, they invited their Canadian friends and partners, the Bonnier family, to join the adventure. Together, they envisioned an ambitious project: creating simple, beautiful, accessible red-light therapy devices.
In 2017, they opened the world’s first treatment center fully dedicated to photobiomodulation, in Montréal.
The First Device: Helight Pro
The very first device created was Helight Pro, a professional photobiomodulation tool designed for the aesthetics field and to help reduce inflammation. Very quickly, users began reporting an unexpected effect: they were sleeping better.
Intrigued, Helight’s scientific team investigated further and found a 2012 Chinese study conducted with female basketball players showing the exact same result — red-light exposure before bedtime improves sleep quality.
Their research led them to numerous reports on NASA’s work studying how light affects astronauts’ circadian rhythms in space. From these discoveries emerged a simple yet revolutionary idea: creating a device specifically for sleep.
This is how Helight Sleep was born — the first patented sleep-support device using red light.
Montréal: Where Success Began
The launch took place in Québec in September 2020 — a market with both North American and European sensibilities, open to innovation.
The success was immediate. Radio hosts, TV personalities, and journalists tested the product and published enthusiastic reviews: for them, it worked — they slept better.
In less than two years, more than 50,000 devices were sold across Québec, an exceptional achievement for a small family business.
The Media Storm
But success often attracts opposition. A single TV show labeled the device as a dream not supported by science.
Some sleep researchers publicly criticized this new approach for disrupting the established order — the fate of many innovations.
This biased nine-minute report questioned Helight’s credibility and falsely suggested the company was fraudulent.
The consequences were devastating: Helight lost 40 retail partners and saw its revenue drop by two-thirds.
The Comeback: New York and Recognition
Refusing to give up, Helight chose to cross borders and reinvent itself in the United States.
Thanks to the vision and determination of its New York–based CEO, Denise De Baun — a former protégé of Calvin Klein — the brand not only survived but thrived.
Helight won the trust of doctors, athletes, and major sports leagues, and its light now shines in more than 40 countries.
From Dream to Reality
Five years later, in 2025, Helight Sleep celebrates an extraordinary journey.
From Montréal to New York, from research to recognition, Helight transformed skepticism into success.
We went from being accused of selling dreams to achieving our dream: succeeding in New York.
We proved the old saying true: no one is a prophet in their own land.
We had to leave in order to return stronger, showing that perseverance always lights the way to success… and the path to better sleep.
