Martin Lansard (Master 2008) : a leader in 3D printing sector thanks to Aniwaa

As more and more people are looking to embrace and use the 3D printing technology, Aniwaa is focused on helping them find the right products. Previously employee of Google, our new entrepreneur is already a global leader in this growing industry!

EDHEC Alumni: Can you explain briefly how Aniwaa came about?

Martin Lansard: With Aniwaa, our goal is to deliver relevant 3D printing knowledge.
We collect and organize the world’s 3D printing data, to build the most comprehensive and reliable 3D printing knowledge base. We cover more than 1,300 products from the entire 3D printing ecosystem, from 3D printers to 3D scanners, 3D software, and more. Our comparison engines provide an easy access to this data, so our users can find relevant information when they need it.
We are two co-founders passionate with 3D printing, we launched Aniwaa when we realized there was a growing need for reliable and actionable information from companies and individuals in-market for a 3D printer or a 3D scanner. Today, we are the global leaders on this segment and we leverage our database, the most comprehensive on the market, to deliver relevant knowledge to our users worldwide, everyday.

How would you sum up this entrepreneurial adventure?

ML: We started Aniwaa in 2012 as a side project, and we transitioned to a full-time commitment in september 2014. We're based in Asia, in Cambodia and Japan, and we work with companies worldwide. We made the choice to bootstrap our growth in order to remain independent and free. We had to work hands-on on a variety of topics and build up our skills in various areas. As an example, I had to become a SEO-wizard in order to improve our ranking on Google, and I also had to learn a lot of technical things about 3D printers and 3D scanners. Overall we're very happy with our experience so far and we feel very lucky: we work in a stimulating and fast-growing industry, we learn new things everyday, and most importantly we're happy to wake up and go to work every morning!

Have you ever benefited from the network of EDHEC graduates? 

ML: We recently hired our first intern, Hugo Vandernotte (Master 2017), now a second year student at EDHEC. He proactively contacted us, as he was highly motivated to join a start-up company in Asia, especially in a technical field such as 3D printing. His profile was particularly interesting for us since Hugo has a scientific background and likes the technical side of the business. He is actually among the first EDHEC students enrolled in the double diploma program with Centrale, a well-known engineering school in France.

What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs?

ML :Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and build something, your way. Make sure you pick an industry you love ! As for me, I left a comfortable position in a big company about a year ago to develop Aniwaa full-time and I have no regrets. In this case, the 5 years of work experience I had with Google really helped me and I use tools and skills I learned there everyday. Also, it's paramount to partner with people who have a different background and set of skills than you. It might sound obvious but it's a real challenge to find the right persons to work with.

What’s next for Aniwaa?

ML: Our mission is to deliver relevant 3D printing knowledge. We just launched our new website in September, a big step for us with a fully redesigned experience to access the world's most exhaustive 3D printing knowledge base. 

Our users are companies or individuals looking to buy 3D printing equipment and actively searching for information to make the best decisions. That's a highly coveted target audience for manufacturers and resellers. We just introduced our advertising solutions: three native advertising formats which enable advertisers to catch new customers while they're comparing their options on Aniwaa.

We don't see ourselves as a comparison website, we're a data company, we crunch data and do the heavy lifting to provide actionable and relevant knowledge to our users. Today, our comparison tools are the main access points to our knowledge, but we're currently developing new ways to make this knowledge accessible to the most. Our goal is to stay a few steps ahead of the competition and focus on building innovative solutions to meet our users needs.

What are your expectations from the community of EDHEC graduates?

ML: We'd love to engage with EDHEC alumni working in the 3D industry, not only in 3D printing. 3D printing is a technology impacting many industries, with potential applications in many fields. getting feedback and ideas from EDHEC alumni who have experienced first hand 3D printing or have ideas in this domain would be great.
We also need support and mentoring from an entrepreneurial standpoint: Aniwaa is growing fast and we could really benefit from the experience of EDHEC entrepreneurs or investors

Contact
> www.aniwaa.com
> Aniwaa on Facebook
> Aniwaa on Twitter
> Aniwaa on LinkedIn

Founders : Martin Lansard and Pierre-Antoine Arrigghi