Innovation Rooted in Purpose

The foundation of Illucens Solutions was not laid in a corporate boardroom, but in a New Jersey detention center. While one of our founders, Mark Eastburn, was tutoring two young men about the biology of insects with living mealworms instead of the assigned worksheet and apologized for going off topic, one student from Trenton offered a perspective that changed everything:

“It’s all good… you’re just trying to give if us stuff that maybe we can use when we get out of here.”

That moment sparked a realization: insects are not just subjects of study—they can be engines for growth. One year later, while Mark helped his daughter establish a colony of black soldier fly larvae to reduce food waste as an entry into the World Food Challenge and the Spellman Clean Tech Competition, a future started to open where urban renewal and economic revitalization could be powered by bugs (or flies, more specifically), creating a truly circular economy. This has become especially relevant in our home state of New Jersey since the passage of regulations that mandate sustainable disposal of food waste and other organic materials, which can be remediated with accelerated, insect-mediated composting (also called “entomocomposting“) that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and produces materials that can be upcycled into numerous agricultural and industrial products.

From Princeton to the World Stage

Between 2021 and 2025, our founding team of Mark Eastburn, Mayda Jiguan, Yurai Gutierrez Morales and Diana Gutierrez Morales collaborated at Princeton High School to prove this vision was commercially and scientifically viable. Our research into Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) and sustainable agriculture earned prestigious accolades:

• 2022: National Grand Prize winners of Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow.
• 2023: Showcased our innovative protocols at the Samsung Day of Service.
• 2023: 1st Place in the New Jersey Student Climate Challenge, recognized by First Lady Tammy Murphy.
• 2024: Recognized as one of ten global projects at the Paris Olympics.

Leading as a Certified M/WBE

Illucens Solutions is proud to be a certified Minority and Women Business Enterprise (M/WBE). We believe that the transition to a green economy must be inclusive. Our leadership reflects the communities we serve, bringing unique cultural and linguistic perspectives to the forefront of biotechnology.