Does a portable device that captures the colour of any surface sound handy to you? Kind of like the music-identifying app Shazam, but for colour.
Well, Dulux certainly saw the value, and after participating in the 2013 Melbourne Accelerator program, Australian startup Palette has now partnered up with paint giant to create Dulux Snapshot.
“Palette participated in our 2013 accelerator program after their co-founder and CEO, Djordje Dikic, quit his full-time job at Ericsson to work on their startup,” explains Director of Melbourne Accelerator Program, Rohan Workman. “Initially they were very much focused on the DIY home renovator market however throughout the program we helped broaden their horizons to think about the other opportunities available to them (graphic design, cosmetics, etc).”
“The partnership with Dulux is fantastic as it allows them to reach scale a lot more quickly — a lot of startups don’t think about channel partnerships which can be vital to a startups success,” he added.
Dulux Snapshot lets you match any surface to a colour from Dulux’s “World of Colour” — over 4,500 colours — solving the problem of accurately identifying colours on real-world surfaces, such as walls. This fits conveniently with Dulux, who sells paint.
“We’re working with Dulux to take colour to a new level,” said Palette’s CEO Djordje Dikic. “Snapshot saves time, reduces errors, all while being incredibly easy to use.”
The idea of the product came about when one of the founders of Palette was renovating his parents’ home. The task of matching the colour of a wall proved a little trickier than seemed necessary, and so the idea for Palette was born. A Kickstarter was launched, $150,000 was raised and the rest, as they say, is history.
“We are thrilled to bring this innovative technology to the Australian industry,” said Dulux marketing and innovation director Helen Fitzpatrick. “Dulux Snapshot will enable everyday colour inspiration to now be accurately translated into any project or creative pursuit. It’s important to us as a company to support local talent and ideas.”
Palette pairs with iOS and Android devices, with a corresponding app which lets you save colour matches, organise colours into project groups and rename colours to something that is easier to remember. You can also share your Dulux Snapshot colour selections via email or social media.
Seem like something you could use? You can pick one up at Dulux Trade Centres, Inspiration Paint Stores and online for $179.