Why I invested in Mayku

Today, I am super excited to announce my investment in Mayku , developer of mold-makers FormBox and Multiplier, an ecosystem of machines, materials and software that enables individuals, businesses and creators to start a production line in minutes, at a fraction of the cost of outsourcing.

Sustainability is a key pillar of my investment thesis and lately there’s a lot of debate around sustainability of supply chains in what is certainly a challenging economic and geopolitical backdrop. In its simplest terms, a sustainable supply chain is one that fully integrates ethical and environmentally responsible practices into a competitive and successful model. And suffice to say, supply chains today are getting more complex and more difficult to access and control – and this is a challenge felt across the board: from large hardware manufacturers (most of which are struggling with technology adoption) to small-and-medium sized businesses (SMBs) and also individual creators, who embrace new technologies trying to make a living for themselves and/or disrupt incumbents. The SMB/ creator economy has always been of interest to me, particularly at the smaller, hyper local scale. Linked with the themes of sustainability, sustainable manufacturing and sustainable supply chains, this democratisation of supply chains and manufacturing makes fertile ground for investment (and Power Law returns).

How big is this market? The answer to this question is anything but simple, as is usually the case with emerging/ nascent markets. Content creators are increasingly becoming the centre of the ecosystem, but there are also tools that help creators operate as a small business (rather than individual hobbyists) and investors (like myself) that fund these startups. There are various estimates of market size online, and the influencers club estimates that the creator economy market size alone is currently at c $104.2BN. According to Crunchbase, there are more than 300 creator economy startups that provide services through every step of the creator work cycle, from content creation to off-platform monetization to audience management. The SMB scale dynamics are also very attractive: sellers on Etsy grew from 830k in 2012 to 4.3M in 2021. People are creating Etsy shops to start businesses around numerous crafts and projects, whether that's T-shirts, candles, soaps, decorations, or something else. And, at the larger scale, the Crafts industry contributes £3.4BN to the UK economy alone (and tens of billions globally). The market is clearly there – and it is growing fast. And the size of the market opportunity magnifies further if you extend to SMBs. As a tech investor, what I find really interesting is how technology is fast evolving to enable this democratisation of supply chains: building efficient tools for small(er) creators and small(er) businesses of all types, both hardware tools and software tools – you can’t tell me that there won’t be a few unicorns from this segment of the economy.

So what enabler tools are available right now for creators and SMBs? Short answer is, too many to mention. Twitch, Substack, Lightricks, YouTube, Instagram, Collaction, Spotify, TikTok, and Patreon are all examples of creative economy software platforms, enabling creators to create and reach a wide audience. I find that segment of the market (media/ entertainment/ influencer) to be both growing and well-served. When I look at the intersection of creator economy and sustainable supply chains/ manufacturing/ product development/ industrial applications however, that’s when things get really interesting. Creators and many SMBs continue to rely on outsourcing arrangements (outsourcing is still the default option for many – cheap and easy to scale), while others prefer local manufacturing options to avoid supply chain complexities (but struggle with scaling up). And this is all happening while 3D printing is becoming more and more popular, particularly as costs have come down over the years.

Mayku, I feel, is quite unique in its offering. At its core, Mayku is developing the solution for people taking manufacturing into their own hands: individuals, businesses and creators. Mayku’s solutions (products and software) de-risk product creation by enabling production to scale with demand; think of it as a personal desktop factory that makes creating hundreds of products as simple as baking a cake. Their first product, the FormBox, makes creating short runs of production-level products fast and affordable. Their second product, the Multiplier, has more power, more precision and opens up more possibilities, at a much larger (industrial-level) scale – and yes, it still fits on a desk and doesn’t require an external pump. No wonder why over 12,000 creators already use Mayku products to create amazing things. Plus, what I personally find very exciting is that, while the Multiplier enables Mayku to better serve the Creator community, it also opens up new possibilities with a number of industrial applications – which I see as the future growth engine of the business. 

Across the industry, alternative creator solutions are currently limited to: factory outsourcing, silicone molding, hand makes, 3D printing and industrial thermoforming devices at significantly higher (think commercial machinery) price points. All of which are of course costly, time consuming and require specialized skill. What makes Mayku truly stand out from competitor offerings is its easy-to-use end-to-end solution: a suite of desktop machines, accessories and design software – for creators and beyond. The team has scaled quite rapidly over the last 12 months to align with the growing demand for Multiplier orders and to support the growth of Mayku’s software platform. And for those who know me, you know that I have a soft spot for innovative tech solutions that combine hardware and software – the Mayku business model combines hardware sales and subscription revenue via materials, templates and software.

There are 3 key risks for Mayku: 1) execution, 2) supply chain and 3) capital. Execution is always a big risk with startup investing and Alex (Mayku co-founder) and I discussed this at length. Mayku has an innovative solution with solid traction and a growing and loyal user base. With the launch of the Multiplier, the team needs to be relentless on efficient development, timely hiring and go-to-market strategy. The second risk, as outlined above, is supply chain challenges (as with any company involving a hardware component), further heightened due to the uncertain economic and geopolitical environment. Here, Mayku benefits from a hub-and-spoke model, making it flexible and easier to swap out suppliers – but the team needs to diversify its supplier pool to avoid reliance on any one supplier and any one country; long delays in delivery of the product would have an adverse effect on the business. Finally, the third risk is one that all startups face – with the launch of the Multiplier, the focus on building the software platform and doubling down on new industrial-scale applications, sufficient capital is required.

Successfully executing the plan and navigating future challenges comes down to the team of course. Led by CEO and Co-Founder Alex Smilansky and CPO and Co-Founder Ben Redford, who met whilst working at venture-building studio Mint Digital, Mayku has put together an exceptional team of professionals with long and varied experience in engineering and product development. I had the pleasure of spending time with Alex talking through his journey to-date and his vision for Mayku, and couldn’t help but being impressed with his experience, his clarity of vision, his ability to talk to the market, the competition and Mayku’s future product roadmap.

I am absolutely delighted to be a part of Mayku’s journey.