MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik Industries says that its venture capital arm, Evonik Venture Capital, has invested in chembid (Oldenburg, Germany), an internet and big data start-up that has developed a search and market intelligence platform for chemicals, to strengthen the company’s e-commerce activities and online customer interactions, reported Chemweek.
The investment supports the development of an independent digital sales platform for the chemical industry, Evonik says. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
The start-up company has developed a meta-search engine that connects buyers with suppliers, and it provides a dashboard of market intelligence such as price trends and demand patterns by analyzing the search data with intelligent algorithms, Evonik says.
“As sales platforms gain traction in the chemical industry, it’s important to be a driver in the digital service space,” says Bernhard Mohr, head of Evonik Venture Capital. “A strong, comprehensive, and independent platform is desirable for the chemical industry as a whole. This investment supports that idea by accelerating the development of the industry’s biggest meta-search engine.”
Evonik says it will contribute to chembid the knowledge gained from developing and operating its OneTwoChem digital marketplace, and discontinue its own platform. Evonik is also enhancing chembid’s offerings by making its digital laboratory assistant, COATINO, available on the platform.
“Supporting the development of chembid is an intelligent way to develop our e-commerce activities further and reach a broader customer base,” says Henrik Hahn, chief digital officer at Evonik. “OneTwoChem taught us much about digital customer experience, which is the quality of the online interactions that a customer has with our brand.”
As MRC informed earlier, in February, 2020, Dow and Evonik entered into an exclusive technology partnership. Together, they plan to bring a unique method for directly synthesizing propylene glycol (PG) from propylene and hydrogen peroxide to market maturity.
Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The focus on more specialty businesses, customer-oriented innovative prowess and a trustful and performance-oriented corporate culture form the heart of Evonik’s corporate strategy. They are the lever for profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company. Evonik benefits specifically from its customer proximity and leading market positions. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world with more than 36,000 employees.
MRC