Evonik has announced a reorganization of its innovation activities aimed at linking development more closely to market needs and accelerating project execution. The central element of this change is the newly established Evonik Innovation Factory. The company assumes that by 2032 this solution could contribute up to EUR 300 million to revenue growth in its innovation growth areas. The change is intended as a response to market conditions that, according to the company, are becoming increasingly demanding. Evonik points to volatile raw material markets, technological disruptions and geopolitical risks as factors reshaping the industrial and commercial environment.
As Lauren Kjeldsen, Evonik Executive Board member responsible for innovation, emphasizes, resilience is now becoming one of the key capabilities of companies. "In today's environment, resilience is becoming a critical capability. Companies must rethink how they operate, innovate, grow, and remain successful." She also added that focusing on innovation is intended to strengthen both the company's resilience and its closeness to customers. The reorganization includes a fundamental change in the operating model of the research, development and innovation area, Research, Development & Innovation, RD&I. Under the new structure, around two-thirds of researchers are to work directly within business lines, where solutions will be developed in close cooperation with customers and with clearly defined economic accountability. Research capabilities supporting multiple business segments, as well as long-term projects, will remain centrally managed.
New organizational model and the role of the Innovation Factory
Christian Eilbracht, Chief Innovation Officer at Evonik, said that the innovation organization has been deliberately designed for speed and business impact. "We have deliberately aligned our innovation organization for speed and impact. By clearly allocating responsibilities, we are accelerating decision-making processes and increasing the likelihood of success for innovations."
The Evonik Innovation Factory, which was created on the basis of the former Creavis unit, is intended to consolidate and accelerate strategically important development programs. As Eilbracht explains, the goal is to achieve market readiness for projects in an average of five years. Two basic mechanisms are to support this objective. The first is combinatorial innovation, understood as the targeted integration of technologies, capabilities, and internal and external partners along the value chain. The second is the systematic use by researchers of existing internal and external knowledge, which makes it possible to begin work at a later stage of the innovation process.
According to the company, this approach is intended to significantly shorten development time, improve the predictability of commercial success, and strengthen the company's resilience to sudden market disruptions. The programs carried out within the Innovation Factory, their number is expected to range from five to seven, focus on the three innovation growth areas identified by Evonik. These are bio-based solutions, the energy transition, and the circular economy.
Growth assumptions and R&D spending
For these three areas, Evonik expects additional revenue of around EUR 1.5 billion by 2032. The contribution of the Innovation Factory to this growth is expected to reach up to EUR 300 million. The company emphasizes that it is maintaining its commitment to innovation despite difficult economic and geopolitical conditions.
In 2025, R&D intensity remained at around 3 percent of revenue, corresponding to expenditure of approximately EUR 418 million. For comparison, in 2024 it was EUR 459 million. Around 82 percent of these funds is allocated directly to business-driven development, while a further 15 percent goes to longer-term innovation projects.
Sustainable solutions and expansion of the global footprint
Evonik also reports further development of its portfolio of sustainable solutions. Currently, around 48 percent of the company's revenue comes from products with above-average sustainability benefits. The share of this group, referred to by the company as Next Generation Solutions, increased by three percentage points from 2024 to 2025.
At the same time, the company is investing in the expansion of its global footprint. Activities in innovation, application, and production are to be aligned more closely with markets and customers. As the company indicates, innovations are to be developed in regions with strong ecosystems, while production is to be located where markets are growing dynamically. In Evonik's view, this approach is intended to support industrial value chains and promote the adoption of more sustainable solutions in the market.
