Essen, Germany. Evonik is realigning its innovation activities to sharpen its focus on market-driven development and faster execution. Central to this effort is the newly established Evonik Innovation Factory, which is projected to contribute up to €300 million to the anticipated revenue growth of the company’s innovation growth areas by 2032.
With this realignment, Evonik is addressing changing conditions in industries and markets. “In today’s environment, resilience is becoming a critical capability. Companies must rethink how they operate, innovate, grow, and remain successful,” says Lauren Kjeldsen, Evonik’s Executive Board member responsible for innovation. Currently, volatile raw material markets, technological disruptions, and geopolitical risks are reshaping industries and markets. “By focusing on innovation, we are strengthening both our resilience and our proximity to customers,” Kjeldsen adds.
A central element of this approach is the fundamental transformation of Evonik’s innovation organization (Research, Development & Innovation, RD&I). In the future, approximately two-thirds of researchers will work directly within the business lines, where solutions are developed in close collaboration with customers and combined with clear economic accountability. Research capabilities that benefit multiple businesses, as well as long-term innovation projects, will continue to be managed centrally.
“We have deliberately aligned our innovation organization for speed and impact,” says Christian Eilbracht, Chief Innovation Officer of Evonik. “By clearly allocating responsibilities, we are accelerating decision-making processes and increasing the likelihood of success for innovations.”
The Evonik Innovation Factory, which evolved from the former Creavis unit, bundles and accelerates strategically important development programs. “Our goal is to achieve market readiness for projects in an average of five years,” Eilbracht explains.
These targets are supported by two key mechanisms. The first is combinatorial innovation – the targeted integration of technologies, capabilities, and internal and external partners along the value chain. The second involves researchers systematically building on existing internal and external knowledge, allowing them to begin at a later stage in the innovation process. “Together, these approaches significantly shorten development timelines, improve the predictability of commercial success, and strengthen Evonik’s resilience to sudden market disruptions,” says Eilbracht.
The five to seven programs of the Innovation Factory focus on Evonik’s three innovation growth areas: bio-based solutions, the energy transition, and the circular economy. For these areas, Evonik anticipates additional revenue of approximately €1.5 billion by 2032, with the Innovation Factory contributing up to €300 million.
Evonik’s commitment to innovation remains steadfast, even in the face of challenging economic and geopolitical conditions. In 2025, the company’s R&D intensity held steady at around 3 percent of revenue, amounting to expenditures of approximately €418 million (2024: €459 million). The majority of these funds – around 82 percent – is allocated directly to business-driven development, while a further 15 percent is invested in longer-term innovation projects.
Evonik continues to expand its portfolio of sustainable solutions. Approximately 48 percent of the company’s revenue now comes from products with above-average sustainability benefits. The share of these Next Generation Solutions increased by three percentage points from 2024 to 2025.
Evonik is also investing in the expansion of its global footprint. Innovation, application, and production are being systematically aligned more closely to markets and customers: Innovations are developed in regions with strong ecosystems, while production is located in areas where markets are experiencing dynamic growth.
With this approach, Evonik is helping to strengthen industrial value chains and promote the adoption of more sustainable solutions in the market.
