Marabu North America

What Marabu North America does

Marabu North America LP is the wholly-owned North American subsidiary of the German family-owned ink manufacturer Marabu GmbH & Co. KG, which has over 60 years of experience in printing ink formulation. The company operates from a 12,000 sqft headquarters in North Charleston, South Carolina that combines laboratory, testing, and manufacturing capabilities, with regional offices in Mississauga, Ontario (Marabu Canada Corporation, established 2018) and Tlalnepantla, Estado de México (Marabu Inks Mexico S.A. de C.V.).

The company's core technology is industrial printing ink and liquid coatings across four chemistry families: solvent-based, UV-curable, LED-curable, and water-based formulations. Products are organized into screen printing inks, pad printing inks, digital printing inks (covering wide to super-wide inkjet formats), and liquid coatings (ClearShield, ClearJet, MaraShield), supported by laminating equipment (StarLam 1600R, Buerkle LFC 2100 roller coater), vinyl application fluids, and color management software/hardware (Marabu ColorManager Online, Marabu-ColorFormulator MCF). Notable proprietary offerings include MaquaPad MAP (claimed as the world's first water-based pad printing ink) and UltraGlass UVGL (UV-curable 2-component glass ink eliminating oven drying).

The business model is B2B sale of consumable inks, coatings, and equipment to industrial and graphical printers across automotive, baby/toddler products, beverage, glass and ceramics, medical, signage/display (primary segment), promotional products, and textiles. Go-to-market combines direct sales out of Charleston with an authorized distributor network covering the US, Canada, and Mexico; technical support is delivered via a hotline, application engineers, and a color matching department. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, payment terms are Net 30, and there are no subscription or SaaS revenue streams — every line is essentially one-time product or hardware sale. The company is privately held with no funding rounds, no public ticker, and operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of its German parent.

Name

Marabu North America

Legal name

Marabu North America LP

Website

https://marabu-northamerica.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Marabu North America LP is the wholly-owned US subsidiary of German ink manufacturer Marabu GmbH & Co. KG, manufacturing and distributing screen, pad, and digital printing inks plus liquid coatings to industrial and graphical printers across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Printing Inks and Coatings

NAICS

Printing Ink Manufacturing (325910), Paint and Coating Manufacturing (325510)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Printing Inks (IMAEAHAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital & Specialty Inks (Inkjet, UV, Conductive) (IMAEAHAI), Packaging Inks (IMAEAHAH)

Keywords

• Screen printing inks
• Pad printing inks
• Digital printing inks
• Liquid coatings
• Color management software

Headquarters

HQ city

North Charleston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Printing Inks Sales: Sale of screen printing inks, pad printing inks, and digital printing inks in various formulations (solvent-based, UV-curable, LED-curable, water-based) for industrial and graphical applications.
2. Liquid Coatings Sales: Sale of liquid laminates including ClearShield, ClearJet, and MaraShield products for protecting prints and surfaces.
3. Laminating Equipment: Sale of StarLam 1600R Roll to Roll Liquid Laminator and Buerkle roller coaters for liquid coating application.
4. Vinyl Application Fluids: Sale of application fluids including Splash, Window Juice, Action Tac, and Grafix Gone for vinyl and decal application.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Marabu North America manufactures and distributes industrial and graphical printing inks across screen, pad, and digital printing technologies, in solvent-based, UV-curable, LED-curable, and water-based formulations. The company also sells protective liquid coatings (laminates), laminating equipment, vinyl application fluids, and color management software for North American printers and industrial manufacturers.

Product overview

Marabu North America offers a comprehensive portfolio of printing inks and coatings as a subsidiary of German manufacturer Marabu GmbH & Co. KG. The core offerings span four main printing ink categories: Screen Printing Inks (solvent-based, UV-curable, LED-curable, water-based), Pad Printing Inks (solvent-based, UV-curable, water-based), Digital Printing Inks (solvent-based, UV-curable, LED-curable, water-based), and Liquid Coatings (ClearShield water-based laminates, ClearJet solvent-based, Marashield UV-curable). Supporting products include Laminating Equipment (StarLam 1600R Roll to Roll Liquid Laminator and Buerkle LFC 2100 Roller Coater), Vinyl Application Fluids (Splash, Window Juice, Action Tac, Grafix Gone), and color management software (Marabu ColorManager Online cloud version and Marabu-ColorFormulator MCF with spectrophotometer). A consumer-facing Creative USA line serves home decor markets. The company operates from a 12,000 sqft facility in Charleston, South Carolina with laboratory, testing, and manufacturing capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Screen Printing Inks Solvent-based, UV-curable, LED-curable, and water-based screen printing inks for decorative and functional applications including automotive, glass, ceramics, graphics, labels, textiles, and industrial uses.
• Pad Printing Inks Solvent-based, UV-curable, and water-based pad printing inks for decorating, marking, and identification of toys, textiles, automotive, medical, and other sensitive applications.
• Digital Printing Inks Solvent-based, UV-curable, LED-curable, and water-based inkjet inks for flexible, rigid, and textile substrates, covering wide to super wide format printers.
• Liquid Coatings (ClearShield, ClearJet, MaraShield) UV-curable and water-based liquid laminates used as primers, for finishing, as protective coatings, or for coloring large surfaces, providing UV protection, abrasion resistance, and chemical resistance.
• StarLam 1600R Roll to Roll Liquid Laminator Laminating equipment for applying water-based ClearShield liquid laminate, handling substrates up to 64 inches wide with variable speed control of 1-4 feet per minute.

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Koenig & BauercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Virtual event launch of Innovation Digital Glass Printing Solution with Marabu and Koenig & Bauer, combining digital printing technology for high-speed industrial glass printing applications.
• Robert Buerkle GmbHcoreTechnology or IntegrationMaraShield UV Liquid Coatings were developed and tested in cooperation with Robert Buerkle GmbH, a leading manufacturer of roller coaters based in Freudenstadt, Germany. The partnership enables use of MaraShield coatings with Buerkle LFC 2100 Roller Coater for industrial and reproducible quality coating applications.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Sun Chemical: World's largest producer of printing inks and pigments, owned by DIC Corporation. Operates a comprehensive portfolio spanning packaging, commercial, and industrial inks, directly overlapping Marabu NA's screen, pad, and digital ink categories.
• Fujifilm Ink Solutions (formerly Sericol): Division of Fujifilm offering UV, solvent, and water-based inkjet inks for industrial, sign & display, and textile printing. Comparable to Marabu NA's digital and screen ink portfolio targeting sign/display graphics segment.
• Toyo Ink SC Holdings: Japanese printing ink and pigment manufacturer with global operations in packaging inks, graphic inks, and functional coatings. Comparable broad incumbent in industrial and graphical printing inks and color materials.
• Flint Group: Global ink and coating supplier with strong presence in packaging, commercial printing, and digital inks. Comparable to Marabu NA as a broad incumbent offering overlapping screen, flexo, and digital ink solutions to industrial customers.

Direct peers

• Siegwerk: German family-owned printing ink manufacturer with similar European-heritage structure to Marabu's parent. Provides packaging inks, UV/LED-curable inks, and industrial inks for label, screen, and digital applications — directly comparable product portfolio.
• Huber Group: Family-owned German printing ink specialist offering offset, flexo, screen, and UV inks globally. Comparable heritage (German ink manufacturer), comparable product breadth in industrial and graphical printing inks.
• Nazdar Ink Technologies: US-based manufacturer specializing in screen printing, digital printing, and narrow web inks. Highly comparable to Marabu NA in product portfolio (screen and digital inks), customer base (industrial and graphic printers), and use of distributors.
• Wikoff Color Corporation: Privately-held US-based printing ink manufacturer specializing in flexo, gravure, screen, and digital inks. Comparable mid-sized North American ink producer serving industrial and packaging customers with similar distributor-driven GTM.
• INX International Ink Co. One of the largest North American manufacturers of printing inks for screen, pad, and digital printing applications. Directly competes with Marabu NA across screen printing inks, digital inks, and liquid coatings in industrial and graphical segments.

Others

• PolyOne / Avient (Specialty Colorants): Specialty polymer and colorant supplier serving industrial, packaging, and graphics end markets. Adjacent competitor in liquid color dispersions and specialty coatings that compete for some of Marabu NA's industrial ink and coating customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MarabuAmerica
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/MarabuGermany
• Facebookfacebook.com/MarabuAmerica
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/marabu-north-america

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

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 Marabu North America