Varrotec is all about coating equipment for the glass industry, a promising growth market, according to Ilko Bosman and Daan Kersten. Therefore, it is ideally suited to become the first group company of their industrial accelerator, Include Industries. With the recently acquired majority stake in VarroTec B.V., Include Industries wants to help scale up the business. This is done partly through a business planning and execution method developed by Bosman and Kersten.
Last year, VarroTec founders Ryan van Esch and Carel van der Leegte approached Include Industries for support in realizing their ambitious growth strategy. Their goal is to become the global leader in process-critical post-treatment technology for glass packaging. In doing so, they want to help glass manufacturers improve the reliability, continuity, and sustainability of their production process.
Growth, talent, and automation
Since its inception in 2017, VarroTec has installed its Hot-End Coating Hoods and Cold-End Coating Spray bridges at glass packaging manufacturers worldwide. This allows them to increase the availability of their processes, reduce wall thickness and weight, and increase durability and quality. VarroTec is now exploring opportunities for expansion into post-treatment of recycled glass packaging. Bosman and Kersten have stepped in because they believe this is an important growth market that plays a role in reducing waste.
In addition to supplying new systems, VarroTec also wants to focus on increasing the reliability of its customers’ production processes with a complete package of spare parts. Include Industries will assist the founders with international growth in Europe, North and South America, and Asia, attracting more talent and automating key internal processes.
Include Industries, established in late 2022, aims to take over promising companies and grow them further with the owner. “It is a safe option that strikes a balance between financial exit for the owner, respect for the accumulated business, and continuity for the team going forward,” said Bosman and Kersten.
The duo earned their fame as founders and builders of 3D metal printer maker Additive Industries. They later joined photonics scale-up PhotonFirst, where they left after nearly two years. PhotonFirst specializes in measurement systems with optical sensors based on photonics technology.
A growing number of industrial SME entrepreneurs will want to sell their businesses in the coming years to enjoy retirement, Bosman and Kersten revealed at the founding. “Succession in the family, however, is less often an option.” Include Industries says it only wants to invest in companies with growth potential and has no plans to sell the companies after some years. “The focus is on long-term value creation from which the exiting owners will benefit.”
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