About

Dreadbox was founded in Athens (GR) by two people who shared the same passion for music. They were both in a constant search of unconventional gear, which was either too expensive or very limited in features. In between an economical crisis, around 2014, they started experimenting with their DIY creations for their own use. Against all odds, this led to the creation of Dreadbox in 2016 by developing and producing Synthesizers and Effect Pedals for musical instruments. Today, Dreadbox is a small team of synthesizer enthusiasts, programmers, engineers and musicians, who design some of the most innovative, but at the same time affordable electronic musical instruments in the global market.

Solution & Product

- By pushing engineering to its limits, we create powerful but extremely compact synthesizers. Our latest and most successful products are Typhon and Nymphes. - By using smart engineering, we converted all of the demanding power needs that an Analog synthesizer has, into a single USB port, so that musicians can use a power bank or a common USB charger to power their synthesizers. - Making very small devices, not only resulted in the drastical reduction of the manufacturing and component count costs, but also made the packaging and shipping of these items much more convinient. - Keeping everything into an analog signal path and not computer processed, resulted in the nostalgic, thick, raw and analog sound that musicians want. Dreadbox is very famous over that part around the industry. - Our team is consisted of programmers, electronic engineers and young musicians with fresh ideas, allowing us to make some of the most innovative instruments that are currently in the market.

Innovation & Scalability

Our Typhon synthesizer ( https://www.dreadbox-fx.com/typhon/) was our top milestone. We managed to pack in a box lighter than a bottle of water a whole music studio. But we kept all the important features a musician needs: Analog engine, great sound, versatile effects, ease of use. It is powered by a single USB cable and can be directly linked to a music production software to a computer, with no other gear. Some musicians described it as the "dream come true" of monophonic synthesizers. Its our innovation and where this company will keep heading on. We are focused and currently developing the next generation of synthesizers and music tools that will have all the above features. Our growth potential is very high, since we expect to sell more products to our existing customers and acquire new ones via our marketing plans and the investments we have made for that reason. Our company’s annual turnover rate has started from 2017 from a 15,5% to a striking 62% on 2021. By increasing our market share through new retailers allover the world, we are confident that Dreadbox will keep being a key company in its field. One barrier for our growth potential that might appear, is the fact that some steps of our production happen outside our country. This may lead to delays in the production, making the work flow slower.

Traction & achievements

Our main achievement is that we have managed to start our company with a analog approach of electronics and today we are following an embedded /hybrid path. The most important Milestones are: 2016- EREBUS, the first compact, paraphonic semi-modular synthesizer is released 2017- A series of eurorack modules for open architecture synthesis is released 2018- ABYSS, our first polyphonic synthesizer, is released. We also collaborate with the Polish company “Polyend”, to develop one of the most unique synthesizers in the world, MEDUSA. 2019- We enter the effect pedal market, by releasing the HYPNOSIS, a unique and vintage sounding multi effect and KOMOREBI, an analog chorus pedal 2020- TYPHON, our best selling and most innovative synthesizer, is released 2021- NYMPHES, the smallest analog polyphonic synthesizer the world has seen, is released and its success is imminent 2022- Initiation of DIY workshops, interacting with musicians is a vital part of our company's growth

Team & Why Us

Dreadbox is a team of passionate people, starting from the CEO and Chief Developer Yiannis Diakoumakos and the Creative Director Dimitra Manthou with her aesthetically pleasing designs. Moreover, our team consists of our Production Manager Alexis Karapanos, who is also a chemical engineer, our Freelance Collaborator Alexandros Liarokapis, who is an Embedded System's Expert with many years in robotics and Jelina Fouseki the person in charge of the Sales with many years of experience in the Marketing field, following with a very skilled and devoted Assembly Team.

Funding Needs

Our near future goal is to produce the PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards), that we use for our products, in house, so that we avoid the long waiting and the high shipping costs for the transportation of these crucial parts from China. For this reason we are aiming to build our own PCB factory in Athens Greece. The budget for this investment is around 600.000 euros, which includes the PCB manufacturing machines, the special space that is needed for these to be installed and the workforce.