Creative Dock acquisition news – Creative Dock and nFrontier Unite to Advance Hardware Development

The Berlin-based innovation studio is known for its product development for clients such as Airbus, BMW, Dräxlmaier, and Vossloh. CDG’s clients include Adidas, Ahold, Amadeus, Avast, Bekaert, Holcim, Mondelēz, JTI and Veolia.

By acquiring nFrontier's expertise in prototyping, iteration and pre-production for hardware, CDG aims to achieve what they have already done for digital products: accelerate the time-to-market of physical products and shorten innovation cycles of their customers.

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The investment doubles CDG’s presence in the hardware sector, bridging the gap between the digital and physical products. Previously, CDG focussed on digital products, as these enabled a fast go to market strategy and rapid scalability.

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Today, however, the picture is changing: advances in technologies such as additive manufacturing, CNC machining and robotics are opening up new opportunities in the hardware sector. These developments enable more precise, flexible and faster development of physical products, allowing companies to respond strategically to market needs, increase productivity and tap into new value creation potential.

Initial results from the acquisition have shown development cycles falling from 30 to 4 months. Creative Dock has set itself the goal of driving the ‘impossible’ with speed in the hardware sector, adopting the unconventional approaches that have recently revolutionised e-mobility, space and aerospace technology, for example.

Martin Pejsa, Executive Chairman at CDG, said: “Our manufacturing & FMCG customers are looking for an iterative and agile approach to developing and commercialising physical products in order to compete in the global marketplace. nFrontier has already enabled some of our customers to shorten their 30-month development cycle to just four months. This acceleration has already been seen in the digital world and we need to transfer this speed to hardware.”

Daniel Buening, CEO of nFrontier, said: “We are thrilled to be the newest member of the Creative Dock family. With Creative Dock, nFrontier has found the perfect launchpad for future growth and a strong home to fulfil our mission of designing, developing, building, launching and scaling hardware products from the ground up.”

About Creative Dock

Creative Dock Group (CDG) is Europe’s and MENA’s most significant independent corporate venture builder. CDG designs, builds, and scales new products and services for corporations. Over the last decade, CDG has built over 120 ventures across different industries with value of billions of EUR, including fintech, insurtech, e-commerce, retail, logistics, construction, and manufacturing. Leveraging AI, industry expertise, ventures scaling know-how, cutting-edge innovation, and entrepreneurial talent, CDG bridges the gap between its corporate clients' assets and its own startup spirit.

About nFrontier

nFrontier is a Berlin-based innovation firm. nFrontier embraces and converges emerging technology to create impactful products and keep evolving with the challenges of our time. With a nod to U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s famous 1960 “New Frontier” speech and the call for technological advancement, nFrontier is one of the leading facilities of creatively applied Emerging Technologies in hardware in the DACH region. Leveraging cutting-edge digital technologies such as robotics, VR/AR, 3D printing, and generative design software to develop superior physical products, the company is recognized for its outstanding track record in working for clients including Airbus, BMW, Mini, Mercedes Benz, and Vossloh.