German specialty chemicals firm Evonik, through its venture capital unit, has made an undisclosed investment in Israel-based digital printing technology developer, Velox.
The investment in Velox marks Evonik’s first venture capital investment in Israel. It is a part of the company's efforts to boost its specialty additives growth.
Evonik said that Velox has a new cost effective direct-to-shape digital printing technology, which is designed for high-speed photo-quality printing on metal, plastic, or glass packaging, either for extremely small series or for large-scale industrial projects.
Evonik Venture Capital head Bernhard Mohr said: “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.”
Velox has specially developed the inks for its printing technology for digital printing on metal, plastic, and glass. The inks offer wide range of realistic colors and embellishment effects.
The firm is also said to offer decoration systems for cylindrical containers such as plastic tubes and aluminum aerosols.
Evonik coating additives business line heads Gaetano Blanda said: “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.”
The newly available capital will be used by Velox further technology development and marketing for additional printer systems and applications.
Velox CEO and co-founder Marian Cofler said: “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.”
Evonik plans to invest €100m as part of its venture capital activities. The investment will focus on promising start-ups with innovative technologies as well as in specialty venture capital funds within Europe, the US, and Asia.
Image: Velox’s digital printing technology is designed for high-speed photo-quality printing on metal, plastic, or glass packaging. Photo: courtesy of Evonik.