Press Release – New type of personalized Christmas ornament is being launched by JuJups using 3D printing technology. JuJups.com, a Singapore based company is launching a 3D printing service this Christmas allowing people to create 3D figurines of themselves and their loved ones as Angels, Santas, and Elves, using the latest in 3D printing technology.

The products are printed in the US and in Denmark for EU, using Zcorp’s 3D color printing technology. JuJups is amongst the few companies targeting consumers directly with 3D printing technology that prices that are affordable and with products that have a high level of consumer appeal. FigurePrints has successfully launched a 3D printing service for World of War Craft Characters and ShapeWays owned by Philips has launched an online 3D printing portal. These are the beginning of a very interesting future for consumer based 3D printing which is slated to change the way things are designed and manufactured.

The challenge so far, has been primarily cost and printing quality. As costs decrease and quality increases a range of product possibilities is bound to emerge. The JuJups platform is created to offer some of these possibilities and source for more new ideas and concepts in the coming year. Increase in printing volume and improved quality will bring product pricing under the range of $20 – making it possible to develop and launch a wide range of consumer items.

Currently 3D printing technology is only accessible to designers with some 3D Design experience. JuJups will change that. Its online tools put the consumer in the driving seat enabling them to create highly personalized content with significant amount of creative freedom. The “pride of authorship” is something that has significant value for the person who creates it or gives it to someone special – it has viral qualities that are expected to trigger as the product quality reaches a certain point.

The design engines powering the JuJups portal is developed by Genometri which specializes in online design technologies to make designing incredibly easy. By growing a design community around it, JuJups hopes to provide an increasing variety of designs to cater to every taste, need and occasion in every part of the world.

Sivam Krish, CEO of Genometri observes that everyone wants to be a designer; “JuJups.com is about making that possible”, he says. JuJups is about creating – genuine creative freedom that goes beyond simple templates.

About JuJups
JuJups is a rapidly growing online co-creation platform that connects prosumer, content owners and manufacturing companies globally, to serve customers locally. JuJups is owned and operated by Genometri. Genometri is a Design Technology Company based in Singapore focusing on building tools for co-creation. It is funded by NVS and SPRING Singapore.

Global Co-Creation Platform
Jujups is a global co-creation platform form aimed at connecting content, consumers and manufacturers (mainly printers for now) all over the world to provide highly personalized yet local services. Currently JuJups US, JuJups Denmark, JuJups India and JuJups Singapore have
been launched. The products are printed locally and shipped locally.

Create your own 2D Designs

At the same time, JuJups.com is launching a “Create Your Own Cards” service, allowing consumers to create their own Christmas greeting cards free of charge. Instead of uploading photos, users can now create their own designs by dragging and dropping from a collection of graphics. The service is free; however the cards can be printed through partners in the US, India and Singapore. JuJups.com opens design to the vast majority who cannot use Adobe Photoshop or other professional design software.

More pictures

http://www.jujups.com/jujups3/show/press

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32302293@N02/

Jujups is also featured in Wall Street Journal:
How 3-D Printing Figures To Turn Web Worlds Real

Recently, during the GeekOut event in Nexus 2007, Genometri, stood out as an innovative design technology company, developing specialized form and color software. Their roll of honour includes being featured in Core77 Design Blog and recognition as SEEDS Enterprise at Global Entrepolis@Singapore 2006. We managed to get Sivam Krish, the CEO and co-founder of Genometri to sit down and have an interview with us, to tell us more about his company, Genometri, his trials and tribulation as an entrepreneur and also his views on how his industry is moving.

BL: Hi Sivam, thank you for accepting this interview in SG Entrepreneurs. Tell us about your background and why you want to bridge the incompatibilities between design practice in Design and Engineering.
Sivam: Hi Bernard, I have mixed background in design and engineering – they both have different approaches to design, something that is often the cause of conflict. But if you study all the best works of architecture in the past, you will realize that they were the result of the combination of the best engineering and designs skills of their time. Engineering design operates in the realm of reality and Aesthetic design operates in the realm of fantasy and I believe that great design is one that bridges both worlds.

BL: What is the story behind your company Genometri? How did you get it started?
Sivam:The story is simple. I used to teach Product Design at NUS and I noticed my students spending hours after hours in the computer room, tweaking their designs. So I told myself, there got to be a better way. That was the start.

BL: Genometri is a design technology company developing specialized form and color software. What kind of solutions do your products provide for the design industry?
Sivam: The survival of product companies today depends on their ability to match product performance, look and feel with customer aspirations. Globalization has pretty much equalized cost, technology and distribution. We can design families of products, and put them to test ensuring market success.

BL: We understand that Pic2color is an interesting product that sprang out of your company. How did that come about in the process of building your startup?
Sivam: One of my former colleagues at NUS Christiane English is an expert on color. Occasional conversations turn into experimentations and experimentations matured into software and software matured into web services.

BL: As an entrepreneur, what are the major difficulties you face in the process of starting up and moving the company towards self-sustainability?
Sivam: The major difficulty comes from trying to do things that you are not necessarily good at .The blindness caused by the belief in your own ideas – which is required if you are to take the plunge, is also in way a blessing and an obstacle. Rapid learning and correcting the course from that learning while maintaining the high expectations that your investors have in you is quite a challenge.

BL: If a young entrepreneur were to seek your advice, what are the three important lessons that you will preach to him?
Sivam: I will not preach. I will discourage him or her in earnest, as I do to all those who seek employment at Genometri. Entrepreneurship is not for chickens. It takes a combination passion, a bit of madness and phenomenal ability to be a successful entrepreneur.

Three things that I may share with them is that:

• 1. Entrepreneur experience is turbocharged rapidly learning experience.
• 2. Entrepreneur experience will test your limits and push you to the limits.
• 3. You will learn that all that you have learnt in school and university
  is of very little use.

BL: We understand that Genometri is based in both Singapore and US. Why made your company decide to move to US so early?
Sivam: We have some US shareholders now, we are planning to have an office there by end of the year as it is an important market us. We are also finding that it is important for us to be where companies are willing to take the kind of risks that need to be taken to reap the commercial benefits of revolutionary technology.

BL: Given that your company focus on innovation and the competition is intense in the market, hence hiring the right talent is an important priority. How do you motivate and select people to join your team?
Sivam: We are trying to do something extraordinary. We need brilliant people working brilliantly to achieve this. Good people will not do. I am happy to sack perfectly good people.

I do not think that I can hire these people off the street. A and A+’s out of rote learning is totally useless to handle the kind of issues we need to tackle. I try to hire people who are passionate about what they do, because that is an ingredient that is difficult to instill. The last think I look at is grades. In fact I do not even look at CV’s. When someone asked us for the CV’s of key staff – we actually did not have it.

We have been fortunate; one of my best students and my best researcher joined our company. But staffing is one of the difficult areas for startups in Singapore. The “best” want to join the MNC’s. But they are not necessarily the best. They are best at following orders – and they will press you and ask what to do next.

We need different kind of people, that we cannot find but must create. These are the people with hidden talent, with a mind of their own, ready to indulge in their passions – those who will suffocate in structured environments but bloom in total chaos and rich learning experiences that startups have to offer.

Editor’s Note: The pictures produced here are copyrighted to Genometri and are used with their permission. If you want to use these pictures, please email them directly for permission.

The address of Genometri is:
Genometri Private Limited
14 Prince George’s Park Road
Singapore 118412
Phone: +65 6778 9456
Fax: +65 6872 4860