This Brother-Sister Team Brings Innovation to the $3.5 Billion Candle Industry In 2019, Eva Eckerblad and David Bronkie co-founded Siblings, a sustainable candle company, to address the industry's major waste problem. Here's how they did it.

For more than 5,000 years, people all over the world have used candles to add a little light to their lives. In the United States, the slow burn in candle sales really began to ignite in the mid-1980s, with an increase of consumer interest in scented varieties. That trend continued into the 1990s, and for the first time in more than a century, agricultural chemists started to develop new types of waxes to replace the commonly used, fast-burning paraffin.

Fast forward to the present day, and candles are still enjoying a moment of massive popularity — perhaps more so than ever before. As of 2019, the candle industry was valued at a staggering $3.54 billion, and that figure is expected to grow to $6.64 billion by 2027. Like those in many industries, however, candle-sellers face a new challenge moving forward, one fueled by the purchasing power of sustainability-minded millennials and Gen Zers: how to create a high-quality, eco-conscious product that people can feel good about.

It was a challenge that Siblings co-founders Eva Eckerblad and David Bronkie (yes, they're real-life siblings too!) set out to meet in the fall of 2019.