5 Questions with the Founder of Catalyst Printers
Interview conducted November 20, 2025, with Lon Riley, the Founder and CEO of the DPI Laboratory, the creators of the Catalyst line of UV printers.
Q1. What inspired you to create Catalyst Printers?
A: I saw a massive gap in the UV printing market. On one side you had low-cost imports that created more problems than profit, and on the other side you had technology locked behind high prices or complex workflows. Catalyst was built to bridge that gap. We wanted to deliver industrial-grade reliability and speed in a platform that’s accessible to growing businesses.
Q2. What makes Catalyst printers different from other UV printers in the $20K–$50K space?
A: Two things: engineering and workflow. Our Nanos and Aventra platforms are designed around uptime, ink stability, and predictable cost of ownership. But the real differentiator is the ecosystem we’re building - software that simplifies layouts, maintenance systems that keep the machine healthy without babysitting it, and custom-formulated inks designed for real production work. We’re not just selling a printer; we’re giving shops of all sizes access to tools that used to be enterprise-only.
Q3. Who is the ideal Catalyst customer?
A: The fastest wins we’re seeing are laser shops, award/trophy shops, promotional product companies, and product manufacturers. These are businesses that already create customized products and want to add the high-margin capabilities of UV without jumping into a complicated new world. They value reliability, they want to print on more materials, and they want a machine that makes them money - not one they constantly have to figure out.
Q4. What’s the most misunderstood aspect of UV printing that Catalyst helps fix?
A: People underestimate the hidden costs - ink waste, downtime, complexity, and the steep learning curve. A “cheap” UV printer becomes expensive fast. Catalyst solves that by fixing the two most annoying things in UV printing: high cost of ownership for a quality machine and excessive maintenance overhead. No ink shaking, no babysitting, no mystery maintenance and lower ink and parts costs. Our machines start reliably, run consistently, and integrate with a cleaner workflow so owners can focus on output and profit.
Q5. Where is Catalyst going next?
A: We’re building toward a fully integrated ecosystem - printers, software, data, services, and workflow tools that help shops run smarter. Think performance and ROI dashboards, automated job layout tools, integration with CRMs and storefronts, and even fulfillment and special projects support through Catalyst Services. The goal is simple: give businesses of any size the same operational advantages as enterprise print operations.