CHILI publish secures additional EUR 3,625 million to spur worldwide growth

Volta Ventures, Pamica, and Group MC reinvest in CHILI publisher

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CHILI publish (www.chili-publish.com), creator of market-leading software for smart artwork and marketing collateral creation, has raised an additional round of funding from its original investors Volta Ventures, Pamica and Group MC. The EUR 3,625 million investment will be used to double the size of its teams in Belgium and the US to 85 people.

Belgian ingenuity eyes global marketing domination

CHILI publisher is a software solution that enables browser-based editing of customizable documents by users with any skillset. It can also be connected to third-party solutions to facilitate fully automated artwork creation. The company was founded in 2010 and has gained considerable market share over the last few years. Its templating and content re-purposing functionalities have helped more than 250 companies optimize and fuel creative campaigns. These include well-known brands like Coca-Cola, Philips, Kaufland and the Colruyt Group.

The initial funding provided by Volta Ventures, Pamica and Group MC in 2017 enabled CHILI publish to double its recurring revenue. Now the investors have stepped up with another round of funding to further accelerate the company’s growth, showing a sign of their confidence in the innovative and market-leading nature of the CHILI publish solution.

Kevin Goeminne, chief executive officer of CHILI publish said, “We started in Europe, but the US is also taking a special interest in our solution. As business expands, we want to have the right level of resources in place to take care of our customers and partners around the globe. At the same time, we want to make sure our team has the right resources and support to continue to perform at the highest levels.”

Less work, more jobs

CHILI publisher frees up time in packaging and marketing artwork creation and enables a more streamlined deployment of creative and budget resources. It is considered as a niche solution to watch in marketing and design automation. The CHILI publish suite includes Adobe InDesign and Illustrator plug-ins, as well as an extensive feature set and intuitive user-friendliness.

Goeminne further said, “This is just the tip of the iceberg. Our solution is going from niche to mass thanks to all the applications our customers and partners are creating and the results they are achieving. In expanding our European and US teams, we’re looking for high-end professionals, including a global vice president of sales as an addition to our executive team. These enthusiastic experts will help us to seek and seize all opportunities, new and existing ones.”

Goeminne pointed out that CHILI publish develops, brands and markets its technology in-house. “That calls for consistent and continuous dedication to the highest standards,” he said. “Our customer base, partner range and market scope are continuously expanding – we are currently recruiting 35 people in Aalst and 10 in Chicago. Brands and partners everywhere need us, so we’re staffing up to meet that need. With the right additional people on board, I’m confident we can further expand our technology, conquer new markets and achieve our company mission of shaping tomorrow’s graphics.”

Michel Akkermans, board member of CHILI publish, said, “Every euro of the previous investment was leveraged into substantial increases in sales, customers, partners and human capital. The company is eager, the plan ambitious and the solution mature. CHILI publish is growing substantially, and we believe in the market need for the solution. We’re confident this next funding round will help us take advantage of the untapped market potential of this technology and enhance the enthusiasm level of the people behind it.”

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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