Canada’s Tinkerine Studios Ltd. (TSXV: TTD and OTC Pink: TKSTF), manufacturers of the Ditto Pro 3D printer, is steadily solidifying its position as a global player in the desktop 3D printing market. After adding Ben Yan, former Global Channel Manager for HP, as its own Channel Manager and RJ Wafter, former Director of Distribution for MakerBot, to its Advisory Board, Tinkerine is ready to begin selling its products, along with its Tinkerine U education platform, in the Asian Pacific region. To do so, they’ve signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with SBCK Corp., a subsidiary of SoftBank Corp, one of Asia’s largest tech service providers.
SBCK will be given exclusive rights to distribute and sell Tinkerine’s entire line of products, from their Ditto Pro 3D printer to their filaments and education platform, to the Asian Pacific region. While this distribution takes place, the relationship between the two companies will continue to grow, as they partner on new business opportunities in education, retail, and enterprise. And by October 31 of this year, the two plan to have negotiated and executed a formal agreement.
Rob Smith, Tinkerine’s Director of Business Development, said of the news, “We are excited that SBCK has selected Tinkerine as its partner for the Korean and Asian Pacific market. As a company, we are committed to aligning ourselves with best in class sales, distribution, and strategic technology partners. SBCK’s corporate, consumer, and online channel partners are the perfect fit for the Tinkerine brand and our vision to become a global leader in the consumer 3D printing and education markets.”
Chinchul Yi, Chief Marketing Officer for SBCK, adds, “SBCK was looking for 3D printing solutions with strong education curriculum and Tinkerine is the right partner to initiate SBCK’s 3D printing business in terms of aligning with Korea’s 3D printing initiatives. We see Tinkerine as a catalyst to expedite SBCK’s 3D printing business not only in Korea, but all APAC regions in the near future, through SBCK’s global networks within the SoftBank group companies.”
SBCK is a Seoul-based company, which distributes IT and mobile products, along with cloud services, to government agencies, public and higher education institutions, and large software companies, such as Microsoft, Adobe, and Autodesk, all in the South Korean and Asian Pacific markets. As such, the partnership is huge news for Tinkerine Studios, which has slowly grown from a small Canadian start-up to a major manufacturer with a global reach. And the company’s position in the world will only continue to expand, as Tinkerine seeks to also find distributors in, according to their investor materials, “the Americas, North and South Asia, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa).”
