COEMAR, an acronym of Costruzioni Ottiche Elettriche MARcucci, was established in Milan in 1933 for the purposes of producing lighting equipment for civil and military use.

The production of projectors for creative lighting was added to this initial activity when the company moved to Castel Goffredo, in the province of Mantua, in 1970, guided by a young local designer who bought it with four shareholders.

In the ’80s Coemar introduced the concept of “intelligent lighting” with the first projector with a moving mirror, the Robot, which would prove to be a turning point in the disco lighting sector.

Throughout the ’80s and ’90s Coemar focused on the disco and club market, producing groundbreaking devices such as Venus, Mantra, Spartan and Jupiter.

Despite being hugely successful in this sector, Coemar began to focus also on the theatre world, creating installations and projects for the largest stages in the world.

The production of projectors for the theatre sector was increased and improved due to the collaboration of Mike Lowe, former director of Strand Lighting, who in the ’80s joined the theatre company that Coemar had set up to support its new developments in the theatre products market.

Coemar also made the most of a big opportunity for success in the market of small and medium clubs/bars with the production of small devices with the TAS brand, acquired by Coemar at the end of the ’80s.

In the early ’90s Coemar launched the NAT (New Advanced Technology) range, which included projectors equipped with a patented moving head, able to project light at 360°. With this new range of devices, Coemar asserted its role as an innovative company in the sector of professional performance lighting.

In 1997 Coemar launched a new challenge: the CF (carbon fibre) range, unique products in carbon fiber, powerful, fast, lightweight and resistant with an unmistakable design.

These projectors were used to light important events and concerts all over the world.

In 2001 Coemar was bought by a British financial group.

Coemar made great progress. It laid the foundations for expansion on an international level, which proved to be constant and rapid on all fronts. In particular, the company began to penetrate the US market, which was strategic for the performance industry.

At the end of 2005, the stockholder decided to return the company management to Italy. In 2006, with a completely Italian management, a plan was implemented that involved: an emphasis on the international nature of the company with an increase in the sales network to approximately 50 distributors globally; the modernisation of the product range, focusing on innovation; and the standardization of the ranges.

The LiteLed range was introduced, in the PAR, STAGE, PIN, STRIP and CYC versions, which became the “new classic” of traditional lighting using LED technology, the latest frontier in terms of light output and energy saving.

Infinity Wash XL came out in 2006 and opened up a new way of understanding light in terms of stage creativity and dramatic effects. Covered by numerous patents and having won leading international awards, Infinity Wash XL was the first of a range of “moving head” projectors. It is now the most complete range on the market with the Infinity XL, Infinity S and Infinity M series (with MULTILAMP technology).

In September 2010 Coemar won the coveted Prize For Innovation, presenting a line of projectors which exploit, for the first time with a LED, the physical properties of reflection of the light. In the Reflection projectors, in fact, the LEDs project the light onto a mirror surface which reflects it to the outside guaranteeing perfect colours and extreme purity throughout the white light range. The Reflection range comprises the Full Spectrum and VariWhite models.

In October at LDI Las Vegas Coemar won the award for creativity.

In April 2011, Coemar presented Reflection LEDko at its world debut at Frankfurt with the innovative patented Soft Profile optics. The first LED profiler capable of projecting soft edged profile light, plus the possibility of obtaining any colour tone and shade, and any white light, intends to revolutionise traditional lighting with energy savings of 75%.
The market response is immediate. Reflection LEDko is particularly welcome where technological innovation and energy savings are paramount, as in TV studios, cruise ships, churches and museums.
In June 2011 Reflection LEDko received a special mention during the ABTT 2011 Awards ceremony, which every year awards prizes for new theatre technologies and equipment.

Coemar’ Reflection LEDko is the catalyst around which the company’s product range revolves.

In October 2011 Coemar ownership is once again Italian with the acquisition of the company by Salvatore Grillo.
The management now focuses on reinforcing its successes and achieving new objectives entering the architectural sector.

Coemar is constantly moving in the direction of new technologies. Market needs and feedback from our customers provide a constant flow of ideas for new developments and innovations.