La Tribune, January 16, 2025, by Simon Prigent
The C4 Industries fund acquires a stake in the French govtech company developing technology for securing official documents. Objective: accelerate its industrialization and international expansion.
The details of the deal remain undisclosed: the C4 Industries fund, whose president and founder Pascal Cagni also chairs Business France, becomes the “reference shareholder” of Crime Science Technology (CST), replacing Covestro, the German leader in high-tech polymers, which came under Emirati ownership in 2024.
Explaining this change in ownership, CST’s founder and president, Cosimo Prete, cites “strategic issues.” “A company like mine needs to remain agnostic and be able to work with all countries without exception,” said the documentary fraud expert and former forensic police officer.
CST’s core business is, by definition, sensitive, touching on the very security of states. The Lille-based company has developed groundbreaking technology that allows official documents to be secured by distinguishing, with the naked eye, in just seconds and without prior training, an authentic document from a fake. Called OVM (Optical Variable Material), this technology is based on integrating molecules that change color depending on the angle and observation conditions. It is patented in about 30 countries and recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Frontex Agency. “Its complexity and innovative nature make it extremely difficult for counterfeiters to replicate,” CST explains.
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