HERO

What HERO does

HERO is a multinational manufacturer of precision paint dispensing and mixing equipment serving the architectural paint and coatings, inks, automotive, leather treatment, flooring resin, and wood preservative industries. Founded in 1969 in Canada as an airless paint sprayer producer, the company merged with Italian dispenser maker NiT in 2007, became 100% Italian-capital by 2015, and is now headquartered in Salmour (Cuneo), Italy, with regional offices in Delta, British Columbia (Canada) and Köln (Germany), plus a Weiterstadt showroom.

HERO's portfolio spans automatic color dispensers (Archimede, Eureka, and Newton families from compact A100/A110 units up to the 2024-launched 32-canister Newton A1000), manual dispensers (the long-running D23), ink dosers (B200/B300), powder dispensers (XF100 and the Colors & Effects co-developed XF200), custom in-plant systems (CTM, Newton Twin), and a full shaker/mixer line (S400, M200/M250/M400, M1200/M1250/M1210/M1300). The differentiator is the patented Progressive Cavity Pump (PCP) technology, which delivers a minimum dose of 1/1000 fl. oz. (0.03 ml) without periodic recalibration, paired with the proprietary TintWise POS and LAB software for formula management, machine control, and point-of-sale operations. The company was first to market with a Total Cost of Ownership offer bundling multi-year maintenance into equipment pricing.

Revenue comes from one-time capital sales of dispensers, shakers, mixers, and in-plant systems, with software licensed per machine and technical services delivered through the German, Italian, and Canadian offices backed by a capillary agent and distributor network. The company manufactures in three global sites, has served over 1,200 customers, holds ISO 9001:2015 certification for HERO Europe and CSA Group certification, and supports its market position through regular participation in major coatings trade shows and motorsport sponsorships with VR46 Racing Team (MotoGP 2025) and Go Eleven (Superbike through 2025).

Name

HERO

Legal name

HERO Europe S.r.l.

Website

https://eu.hero.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

HERO (Make Innovation) is a 100% Italian-capital multinational, founded 1969, that designs, manufactures, and distributes precision paint and coatings dispensing, dosing, and mixing equipment based on patented Progressive Cavity Pump technology and TintWise software, serving over 1,200 paint retailers, coatings manufacturers, ink makers, and automotive customers globally from offices in Italy, Canada, and Germany.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Paint Dispensing Equipment

NAICS

Paint and Coating Manufacturing (325510)

SIC

Paints, Varnishes, Lacquers, Enamels & Allied Prods (2851)

akta.pro primary industry

Color Matching, Tinting & Colorant Systems (IMAEAHAL)

Keywords

• Paint dispensing equipment
• Color mixing systems
• Automatic tintometers
• Industrial dosing machinery
• Architectural coatings equipment

Headquarters

HQ city

Delta

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Equipment Sales (Dispensers, Shakers, Mixers): HERO manufactures and sells a comprehensive range of color dispensing and mixing equipment including automatic color dispensers (Archimede, Eureka, Newton families), manual dispensers (D23), ink dosers (B200/B300), powder dispensers (XF100/XF200), shakers (S400), gyroscopic mixers (M200/M250/M400), immersion mixers (M1200/M1250/M1210/M1300), and custom in-plant systems (CTM, Newton Twin). This is the primary revenue stream through one-time equipment purchases.
2. Software (TintWise POS & LAB): TintWise software products are supplied with each tinting machine and provide control, management, formula database, and POS functionality. Software licensing and updates generate additional revenue.
3. Technical Services and Support: The company provides qualified technical assistance locally through its branch network, and designs custom solutions for customers requiring in-plant and bespoke systems.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

HERO manufactures and distributes precision paint dispensing and mixing equipment for the architectural paint and coatings industry. Its product portfolio includes automatic color dispensers (Archimede, Eureka, Newton families), manual dispensers (D23), ink dosers, powder dispensers (XF100/XF200), shakers (S400), gyroscopic mixers (M200/M250/M400), immersion mixers (M1200/M1210/M1250/M1300), and custom in-plant systems (CTM, Newton Twin). Equipment is integrated with proprietary TintWise POS and LAB software for formula management and point-of-sale control.

Product overview

HERO is a multinational company (Italian capital) that manufactures color dispensing and mixing equipment for paints, coatings, inks, and chemical industries. The product portfolio is organized into four main categories: Automatic Color Dispensers (including Archimede A100/A110/A201/A251/AS100, Eureka A400/A450, Newton A850/A950/A1000 families, and Ink Doser B200/B300), Manual Color Dispensers (D23), In Plant & Custom Systems (CTM and Newton Twin), and Shakers & Mixers (M200/M250, M400, S400, M1200/M1250, M1210, M1300). The product range also includes Powder Dispensers (XF100/XF200) for dry powder colorants. All systems are managed through HERO's proprietary TintWise POS and TintWise LAB software platforms. The company operates 3 manufacturing sites worldwide with headquarters in Italy, serving over 1,200 customers globally in paints, inks, leather treatment, flooring resins, automotive, and wood preservatives sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• TintWise POS Software Proprietary control and management software for HERO automatic tintometers, functioning as a point-of-sale system with formula database management, label printing, login management, reporting, statistics, and machine control capabilities.
• TintWise LAB Software Laboratory software for simplifying formula database updates, adding new formulas and products, and correcting existing values with version history and remote update capabilities.
• Newton A1000 High-capacity automatic tintometer with progressive cavity pump (PCP) or gear pump technology with recirculation, featuring simultaneous gravimetric dosing, up to 32 canisters, and modular configuration for large retail stores.
• Newton A950 Modular automatic tintometer with PCP technology, up to 32 canisters, high-flow pumps, and gravimetric combinable dosing for large retail stores and industrial applications.
• Newton A850
• Eureka A400/A450
• Archimede A201/A251
• AS100 Pitagora
• A110 Compact automatic dispenser equipped with Progressive Cavity Pumps featuring minimum dosing of 1/1000 fl. oz. (0.03 ml), up to 16 canisters, no recalibration required, Ethernet and wireless connectivity.
• A100
• Ink Doser B200/B300
• XF200 Powder Dispenser Automatic powder dispenser using patented technology for dry powder dosing with dual high-precision electronic scales, minimum dosing of 0.02g, up to 24 canisters, maintenance-free with no calibration required.
• XF100 Powder Dispenser
• D23 Manual Dispenser
• CTM In-Plant System
• Newton Twin
• M200/M250 Gyroscopic Mixers
• M400 Gyroscopic Mixer
• S400 Vibrational Shaker
• M1300 Immersion Mixer
• M1200/M1250 Immersion Mixers
• M1210 Immersion Mixer

Quantifiable outcome

• Minimum dosing amount of 1/1000 fl. oz. (0.03 ml) with PCP pumps
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• VR46 Racing TeamflagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025HERO is Official Partner of Valentino Rossi's VR46 Racing Team for the MotoGP World Championship 2025. This partnership provides brand visibility at premier motorsport events.
• Colors & EffectscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2020Strategic partnership starting 2015 to design and produce the XF200 - Xfast, an innovative dosing system for powder dyes. The collaboration combines HERO's patented PCP machine technology with Colors & Effects tinting system. The system entered production at end of 2020, featuring green characteristics and best performance in dosage accuracy and repeatability. Featured in Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper February 2021.
• Go Eleven Racing TeamcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2017HERO sponsors the Go Eleven team in the Superbike World Championship. Partnership began in 2017 and continues through 2025. The team competes with rider Roman Ramos and others, providing HERO with brand visibility in motorsport events across Europe.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Sun Chemical: World's largest producer of printing inks and pigments, and HERO's customer and ecosystem partner. Referenced on HERO's website as a partner brand alongside Colors & Effects. Provides adjacent market context (ink dosing with B200/B300) rather than direct dispensing-equipment competition, but is a channel relationship shaping HERO's ink dosing roadmap.
• Bühler Group: Swiss global industrial solutions provider for food, feed, and advanced materials, including mixing and grinding equipment used in coating ink and chemical preparation. Larger industrial processing equipment incumbent with partial technological overlap in precision dosing and mixing at industrial scale, though primarily serving different end verticals.

Broad incumbents

• Dürr AG: Global leader in paint shop and finishing systems for automotive OEMs, with a broad industrial environmental and process technology portfolio that includes application and dosing subsystems relevant to HERO's in-plant Newton Twin / CTM installations. Competes as a much larger incumbent on large industrial contracts rather than retail tinting, where HERO focuses.
• Datacolor (CPS Color legacy): Color-management and dispensing solutions provider that absorbed the legacy CPS Color dispensing business, serving paint retailers, coatings manufacturers, and OEMs with formulation software and hardware similar to HERO's TintWise + dispenser offering. A larger incumbent competitor in integrated color-management workflows.

Emerging players

• Mixaco (Dr. Herfeld GmbH): German manufacturer of industrial mixing and homogenizing equipment for paints, coatings, inks, plastics, and chemical powders. Adjacent competitor in the shaker and immersion mixer category where HERO sells M200/M400/S400/M1200/M1300, with overlapping industrial coatings and ink customer base.

Direct peers

• Fluid Management Inc. US-based manufacturer of paint tinting and dispensing equipment serving paint retailers, hardware chains, and industrial coatings producers in North America. Closely comparable product set (automatic and manual dispensers, shakers, mixers) and direct competitor in the architectural coatings channel, particularly across the Americas.
• COROB S.p.A. Italy-headquartered, global leader in automatic and manual paint tinting/dispensing equipment for architectural and industrial coatings. The most direct and head-to-head competitor to HERO across the same product categories, customer types (paint retailers and coatings manufacturers), and geographies, with overlapping tinting software and dosing technology portfolios.
• Krautzberger GmbH: German manufacturer of industrial painting, coating, and dosing equipment serving automotive, wood, plastic, and metal finishing customers across Europe. Comparable mid-sized European industrial-coatings equipment manufacturer with overlapping customer base in automotive refinish and industrial coatings manufacturing.
• Strastint (Häfner): Australian manufacturer of manual color dispensers with which HERO signed an early distribution agreement in 1977 and which continues to operate in the same manual dispenser category. Closely comparable heritage product (manual dispensers for paint retailers) and historically aligned with HERO via the original North American distribution partnership.
• SAMES KREMLIN: French manufacturer of paint application and dosing equipment for automotive, aerospace, and industrial finishing markets. Overlaps with HERO on industrial dosing/mixing and automotive refinish, and competes for the same coatings-manufacturer OEM relationships, though SAMES is stronger on the application/spray side.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/about

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HERO