Kornit acquires 3D specialist

Voxel8 offers direct 3D print-on-part capabilities
Voxel8 offers direct 3D print-on-part capabilities

Kornit Digital has enhanced its offering with the acquisition of US 3D printing specialist Voxel8.

The deal for the Somerville, Massachusetts-based company was completed by the Israeli garment and textiles printer manufacturer on Monday (9 August) and saw all of Voxel8's 18 staff taken on.

Kornit Digital chief technology officer Kobi Mann said Voxel8 offers direct 3D print-on-part capabilities, and advanced design software that can be easily integrated with any production floor software workflow.

It also offers “versatile chemistry that enables on-the-fly formulation of high-performance elastomers to change the material properties of the resulting printed structures by multiple orders of magnitude,” he said.

“This means reflective, high-density, silicone and metallics, as well as compression elements for sports and therapeutics, protection elements like cushioning and impact resistance, and functionality applications like anti-slip, waterproofing, and other qualities combining form and function that are key to Kornit’s vision of digitising production in every conceivable manner.”

Mann said integrating Voxel8’s technology into Kornit’s product roadmap would enable the business to “transform numerous market segments and verticals, accelerating our collective visions and technology advancements”.

Kornit Digital chief executive Ronen Samuel added: “Voxel8’s innovative technologies and talent will help us accelerate the execution of our 4.0 strategy to digitise sustainable, on-demand textile production.

“With this advanced and proven 3D technology, we will disrupt the business of fashion, empowering completely new creative decorative concepts and never-before-seen functional textile applications, while exploring new lucrative opportunities in the functional apparel and footwear markets.”

Voxel8 president and chief executive Fred von Gottberg said the company’s “innovative and sustainable technology” enables the digital creation of unique decorative and functional applications, while eliminating time and waste from the manufacturing process.

He added: “Voxel8 shares Kornit’s vision of transforming the textile industry and couldn’t be more excited to be part of the journey to build the operating system of sustainable fashion on demand.

“We look forward to working together to embed Voxel8’s technology into Kornit’s customer offerings, which will collectively provide endless possibilities of enhanced applications and solutions.”

Kornit Digital, which last year acquired cloud-based software platform provider Custom Gateway, also revealed its results for Q2 alongside the Voxel8 acquisition. The company said its revenue for the three-month period ending 30 June 2021 increased by 118% year-on-year to $81.7m (£59m), net of $6.6m attributed to the non-cash impact of warrants.

The company recorded a GAAP operating profit of $6.1m, while non-GAAP operating profit was $10.2m.

It also said it had successfully completed beta testing and began shipments of Atlas Max in the period, and that there was a “very strong order backlog” for the machine.

The company’s share price has fluctuated during the week, and fell to as low as $124.01 yesterday (11 August), having reached a high earlier in the day of $131.94. It rallied slightly to close at $125.59.