Starting a business of any kind in today’s economy can be extremely difficult. Imagine just how hard it must be to open up a 3D printing service bureau under the shadows of big leaguers like Shapeways and Sculpteo. Fortunately, crowd-funding campaigns are one of the few ways for the little guy or girl to gain some attention and make appeals for funds from the public. Trim3nsion, out of Germany, is on Indiegogo at this very moment to make just such an appeal.
Using a team of CAD designers, Trim3nsion’s CEO, Fritz Rositzka, and CCO, Andreas Proschwitz, intend to become the “largest community and market leader in 3D printing models within the next 8 years in Europe,” which is why they’re asking for the ambitious sum of $100k. With this king’s ransom, the team basically plans to build their entire operation from the ground up: the leasing of a ProJet 660 Pro gypsum 3D printer, renting out a space, paying the phone bill, purchasing an A/C unit, buying an Artec Spider 3D scanner, and a range of other things you’ll see in the graphic below.
The company also has stretch goals planned. If they reach $340,000, they’ll be able to purchase the 669 printer and lease a ProJet 3500HD Max. More than $1 million(!) in funding and they’ll buy the aforementioned machines and go full SLM. The machines and the shop would give Trim3nsion the ability to offer 3D printing on demand, in addition to prototyping and in-store 3D scanning services. Ever the realists, Trim3nsion has back-up plans in the case that they don’t meet their $100,000 goal. With their seed money, they will build their online shop so that customers may begin purchasing 3D models and design services with Trim3nsion using an outside provider.
The campaign’s rewards system utilize a unique form of gift voucher that is based on a currency invented by Trim3nsion. In fact, Trim3nsion is on the verge of building a world as elaborate as anything written by Tolkien. The company’s founders have, more or less, invented a series of terms for their customers and their different membership plans:
- Voxler we call our customers.
- Voxare we call our hobbyists and professionals 3D model designer who send us their models and earn money about us.
- Voxi is our currency, which may earn both Voxler and Voxare through various actions. These are worth real money and can be spent or paid out.
- Crysoni are our cards.
- Selenite-Crysoni is our entry into the Crysoni system.
- Amethyst-Crysoni is for our regular customers and the entry into the VIP Club
- Beryl-Crysoni is for our top sellers
By contributing to their campaign, then, you, as a Voxler, earn yourself a number of either Voxi or Crysoni that you may spend on having your 3D models printed by Trim3nsion. Then, and only then, will you have fully entered what Trim3nsion calls the Voxelversum, which I take to mean the Trim3nsion ecosystem.
I can honestly say that I have never written about a 3D printing service that employs a tactic quite like this. The reason for the sci-fi lingo — bordering on scientological — is, perhaps, due to CCO Andrea’s previous work as a writer before joining the Trim3nsion venture. If the team can muster the same creativity used in their membership nomenclature in their business strategy, they may have a chance. Check out the Indiegogo campaign video below:
Started a bit of a rant about them and got a very “nice” reaction from their CEO https://plus.google.com/u/0/+NilsHitze/posts/9FvBhNE199S