Stemmer Imaging has acquired a stake in Perception Park, the Austrian hyperspectral software provider. The purchase price amounted to a low single-digit million amount, and Perception Park is consolidated retroactively from 1 October 2018.
Stemmer Imaging has been supplying Perception Park’s chemical colour imaging (CCI) software technology as a distributor since January 2016. The purchase expands Stemmer Imaging’s own software portfolio, based on Common Vision Blox.
Based in Graz, Austria, Perception Park’s data processing platform, Perception System and Studio, renders complex hyperspectral data at the molecular level usable for machine vision. Applications for the technology encompass the food processing industry, mining, the healthcare sector and the recycling sector.
In comparison with traditional machine vision systems, hyperspectral systems offer a whole spectrum for each pixel instead of a monochrome or colour value. By turning the data into highly precise colour coordinates, chemical material properties and layer thickness information can be derived from the images.
Stemmer Imaging founded a wholly owned subsidiary in Austria at the start of June 2018, and the acquisition of Perception Park strengthens its location in Graz. Stemmer Imaging also acquired the Dutch firm Data Vision in January 2018 and the French company Elvitec in July 2018 to bolster its distribution network.
‘For two years, we have already enjoyed cooperation with Perception Park that has been trusting and enriching in every respect. We believe that we can add an important technology to our product portfolio, leverage synergies in the future, and above all that our customers will benefit,’ commented Lars Böhrnsen, CFO of Stemmer Imaging. He added that the investment is predominantly strategic in nature.
