Startup Story #9: Andreas on how the world’s first 3D pen, CreoPop, is offering Endless Possibilities

Like everything else, art has advanced to the next level. Days of 2D drawing are being replaced by the era of 3D art.

Demand for 3D Printing is on the rise now. Today, kids are asking for 3D Printing Pens for their birthdays and Christmas in place of playstations and toys. This pen of wonders can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone, irrespective of their age and profession. Don’t know how to use it? It’s very simple! Just doodle anything up into the air and let it cool down for few seconds. You will have your own masterpiece then and there.

One such awesome and smart 3D Printing Pen is CreoPop, which was created keeping consumers like you and me in mind. It is user-friendly and very easy to play with. In conversation with Andreas Birnik, CEO, who explains what makes CreoPop 3D printing pen better from others in the market.

About CreoPop

Q: Tell us something about CreoPop, and how it works.

A: CreoPop is the world’s first 3D pen with cool ink. In contrast to other 3D pens, there are no hot parts, no melting plastic and no unpleasant smell. Instead, CreoPop uses photopolymers that are solidified using LED diodes to let users create amazing 3D designs. Since no heating is required, CreoPop is safe in a home environment with children and pets around. The most innovative feature of CreoPop is the large selection of cool inks available including different colors, elastic ink, magnetic ink, glow-in-the-dark ink, temperature sensitive ink and body paint ink.

Q: What is the story behind the making of CreoPop?

A: We were working on various new 3D printing solutions with a focus on material sciences to come up with better inks than what currently exists. We think consumer 3D printing is stuck in a dead-end with the FDM approach as users are limited to producing plastic objects in different colors. We think the novelty factor of that quickly wears off. Our ambition is to change consumer 3D printing to allow users to create whatever they want in a range of different colors as well as materials.

Q: How did you come up with this revolutionary concept in 3D printing?

A: It started with a breakthrough in material sciences. We were looking at ways to make 3D printing more interesting by modifying the material properties of the inks. We then decided to make a 3D pen as the first application. We could have developed a conventional 3D printer instead but we decided to go for the pen.

Q: What are your strengths?

A: The key strength of CreoPop is really in material sciences. Another strength is delivery. The team has experience from bringing a large number of products to market.

Branding CreoPop

Q: What is the competitive advantage of CreoPop?

A: What’s truly unique about CreoPop is the large selection of 3D printing inks with different properties including colors, magnetic, glow-in-the-dark, temperature-sensitive, etc.

Q: Please throw some light on your target audience and how you reach out to them?

A: Based on our Indiegogo campaign, we know that CreoPop appeals to a number of different market segments including the toy market, the education market, the arts & craft market and 3D printing enthusiasts. We will be doing different marketing and sales activities by vertical.

Q: What is the marketing strategy of CreoPop?

A: We will be selling CreoPop online as well as in physical retail. We will be doing different marketing activities by vertical area to drive engagement and adoption of CreoPop.

Q: How are you better than your competitors?

A: We believe we have a better form factor than existing 3D pens. CreoPop is small, cordless and does not have any dangerously hot elements. We also have a very exciting range of inks available and it is easy to quickly change cartridges to create multi-color / multi-material designs.

Future Plans

Q: What are your future plans for CreoPop?

A: We will keep innovating to make the CreoPop pen better, to develop new inks and also to use our core 3D printing technology for 3D printing applications beyond the CreoPop pen.

Q: Any word of advice for all the startups out there, who are trying to make it big like CreoPop.

A: The devil is in the detail. You need relentless focus on details to make sure that manufacturing, quality control, logistics, customer services and sales operations run smoothly.