Evonik invests in Velox, a direct-to-shape digital printing developer in Israel

Essen, Germany. Through its venture capital unit, Evonik has invested in Velox, a digital printing technology developer located in Rosh HaAyin, Israel. This marks the company’s first investment in Israel, which has become a hub for start-ups. Velox possesses new digital printing technology for cost effective high-speed photo-quality printing on metal, plastic, or glass packaging, either for extremely small series or for large-scale industrial projects. “Evonik is one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies and sees itself as a partner to the printing industry. The sophisticated demands in the field of digital printing make this market particularly interesting for the development of our Specialty Additives Growth Engine,” says Bernhard Mohr, the head of Evonik Venture Capital. The parties have agreed to keep the scope of the investment confidential.

The inks used have been developed by Velox especially for digital printing on metal, plastic, and glass, and offer, among other advantages, an extremely wide range of realistic colors and embellishment effects applied with superior properties. The company is already offering decoration systems for cylindrical containers such as plastic tubes and aluminum aerosols. “Digital printing opens up new design opportunities in the packaging industry and allows industry players to distinguish themselves from the competition in new ways. We’re glad to be working with Velox to develop perfectly tailored additive solutions for this growing market,” says Gaetano Blanda, who heads the Coating Additives Business Line at Evonik.

The Velox solution includes a novel printer architecture and a palette of uniquely formulated inks. Velox will initially use the newly available capital to drive technology development and marketing for additional printer systems and applications. “In Evonik, we have a strategic investor with extensive experience in the printing industry and a large research and development network. Our collaboration will enable our Inks technology to reach an even higher performance level and meet any industry requirement” says Marian Cofler, CEO and co-founder of Velox.

As part of its venture capital activities, Evonik plans to invest a total of €100 million in promising start-ups with innovative technologies and in leading specialty venture capital funds. The regional focus lies on Europe, the US, and Asia. Evonik currently holds shares in over twenty start-ups and specialty funds. Additional information is available at http://venturing.evonik.com/