Pufferfish
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2002
- HeadquartersEdinburgh, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
Pufferfish firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Pufferfish
- Legal name
- Pufferfish Ltd
- Website
- https://pufferfishdisplays.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2002
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Pufferfish is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Edinburgh
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Pufferfish business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Hardware Sales: Sale of proprietary spherical and hemispherical display products including PufferSphere, PufferTouch, PufferHemi, PufferLED, and custom solutions. Products sold in multiple tiers (Basic, Standard, Premium) with varying specifications and price points from £17,499 to £160,000+.
- Software Licensing: Licensing of proprietary software tools including PufferOS, PufferBuild, PufferPresent, PufferPlay, and PufferCore. Software included with hardware purchases and available for custom content applications.
- Content Creation Services: Custom content design and application development services for Pufferfish displays. Includes full 360-degree spherical video, animations, interactive experiences, and branded content tailored to client specifications.
- Rental Revenue: Short and long-term rental of displays starting at £4,200 per week. Includes fully supported packages with logistics, setup, content integration, and technical support. Also offers self-managed rental options.
- Installation Services: Professional installation services for both rentals and permanent installations including on-site setup, configuration, AV integration, and testing. Offered globally through partner network.
- Support and Warranty Packages: Warranty and support packages including Essentials (3-year return to base, software updates) and Essentials+ (advanced component replacement, spare LED panel packs).
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Entry-level spherical display for budget-conscious deployments |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Basic tier PufferSphere with 600mm size and 2K resolution |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Versatile all-rounder with 4K resolution and enclosure |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | World's leading touch-responsive spherical display |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Touch-responsive hemispherical display with double pixel density |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | LED spherical display for events and exhibitions |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Largest and most powerful display for grand installations |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Short-term display rental with full support |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Pufferfish product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Pufferfish designs, manufactures, and sells spherical and hemispherical digital display hardware (PufferSphere, PufferTouch, PufferHemi, PufferLED, PufferGrand, PufferPortal) and the associated PufferOS operating system and PufferBuild/PufferPresent/PufferPlay/PufferCore software tools. The company also delivers turnkey services including PufferStudio content creation, custom application development, hardware rental, installation, and warranty support to museums, science centers, visitor attractions, brand marketers, and enterprise customers.
Product overview
Pufferfish is a global specialist in immersive spherical and hemispherical display technology, offering a portfolio of hardware products and software/services. Core hardware includes the PufferSphere and PufferTouch (touch-responsive spherical displays in 600-900mm sizes), PufferHemi (hemispherical display with double pixel density), PufferLED (LED spherical display for high brightness), and PufferPortal (forward-facing cutaway dome). The company also offers PufferStudio for custom content design, application development services, and ready-made content applications (OurClimate, OurUniverse). Software tools include PufferBuild (no-code application builder), PufferPresent (presentation tool), PufferPlay (media player), and PufferOS (proprietary operating system). The portfolio is supported by rental options, installation services, warranty packages, and an Education Partner Programme.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- PufferSphere: The world's leading touch-responsive spherical display, available in 600mm, 760mm and 900mm sizes with up to 12,000 Lumens power and multi-touch capability supporting up to 64 fingers simultaneously.
- PufferHemi
- PufferLED
- PufferPortal
- PufferGrand
- PufferBuild
- PufferPresent
- PufferPlay
- PufferCore
- PufferOS
- OurUniverse
- OurClimate
- PufferConsole
Products and services
- PufferSphere
- PufferTouch
- PufferHemi
- PufferLED
- PufferGrand
- PufferPortal
- PufferOS
- PufferBuild
- PufferPresent
- PufferPlay
- PufferCore
- PufferStudio
- Application Development
- Rental
- Installation
- Warranty
Quantifiable outcome
- Audiences dwell longer at spherical displays than traditional displays
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Pufferfish
Customer profileNamed customers28 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Pufferfish technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature7 records
Pufferfish partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.
- GPA (Global Premier AV)flagshipPremier Partner arrangement with GPA, a world leader in AV integration. GPA has physical presence in over 50 countries and capabilities to deliver and support businesses globally. Partnership covers demonstrations, solution design, integration, and installation of rentals or purchased solutions. CEO James Shanks stated: 'Pufferfish is a recognised leader in the immersive display market, and their products consistently set the benchmark for quality and innovation.'
- NASA and NOAAcoreEducation Partner Programme collaborators with NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Programme offers preferential pricing, powerful software tools, and rich data content for universities, research centres, and educational organizations.
- MoreYumminorEdinburgh-based design studio engaged for brand identity transformation in 2023. MoreYum brought cinematic aspects to Pufferfish's image and helped build a brand identity reflecting market leadership position. Portfolio includes work for BBC, Bowmore, Aston Martin, Virgin Money, and Scottish Government.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Pufferfish competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Looking Glass Factory: Looking Glass Factory makes holographic and light-field 3D displays, directly competing with Pufferfish in the niche of non-flat immersive display hardware. Both serve enterprise, retail, and creative use cases with premium-priced, non-traditional form factors.
- Realfiction: Realfiction develops mixed-reality and 3D display products (e.g., DeepFrame, Holo-Table) aimed at advertising, events, and retail. Comparable to Pufferfish as a specialist in attention-grabbing immersive displays for brands and experiential use cases.
- disguise: disguise makes immersive video and projection-mapping technology for live events, broadcast, and brand experiences. Comparable to Pufferfish because both power large-scale immersive visual storytelling for enterprise events and entertainment customers.
Emerging players
- Ventuz Technology: Ventuz provides real-time graphics content software for large-format displays, broadcast, and events. Overlaps with Pufferfish's content tooling (PufferBuild, PufferPresent) for building interactive presentations on non-standard display surfaces.
- WorldViz: WorldViz provides immersive VR and visualization solutions for enterprise training, research, and science communication. Partially comparable to Pufferfish's science and education use cases, where spherical displays deliver data visualization.
Broad incumbents
- Barco: Barco is a global leader in projection, visualization, and LED display solutions for events, control rooms, and healthcare. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the immersive projection and display hardware space where Pufferfish competes at the spherical premium niche.
- Christie Digital: Christie Digital manufactures projection systems and visual display solutions for cinemas, events, and large venues. Comparable to Pufferfish as an incumbent in projection-based immersive display hardware used for events and experiential environments.
- Leyard (Planar): Leyard/Planar is a major LED video wall and fine-pitch display manufacturer for retail, control rooms, and broadcast. Directly comparable to Pufferfish's PufferLED product line as a large incumbent in premium LED display hardware.
- SiliconCore Technology: SiliconCore manufactures high-brightness fine-pitch LED displays for corporate, broadcast, and immersive installations. Overlaps with Pufferfish's high-lumen display offering for events and bright-environment deployments.
Others
- Polycount / Obscura (Resolution Development): Resolution Development (formerly including Obscura Digital) operates in large-scale immersive projection and experiential installations for brands and events. Tangentially comparable to Pufferfish in immersive event experiences for enterprise customers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Pufferfish social profiles
Digital presencePufferfish financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pufferfish leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Pufferfish funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds8 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pufferfish M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pufferfish
What does Pufferfish do?
Pufferfish designs, manufactures, and sells spherical and hemispherical digital display hardware (PufferSphere, PufferTouch, PufferHemi, PufferLED, PufferGrand, PufferPortal) and the associated PufferOS operating system and PufferBuild/PufferPresent/PufferPlay/PufferCore software tools. The company also delivers turnkey services including PufferStudio content creation, custom application development, hardware rental, installation, and warranty support to museums, science centers, visitor attractions, brand marketers, and enterprise customers.
Is Pufferfish a public or private company?
Pufferfish is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Pufferfish founded?
Pufferfish was founded in 2002. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Pufferfish based?
Pufferfish is headquartered in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Pufferfish make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are software Licensing, content Creation Services, rental Revenue, installation Services and support and Warranty Packages.
Who are Pufferfish's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Looking Glass Factory, Realfiction and disguise. Emerging players are Ventuz Technology and WorldViz. Broad incumbents are Barco, Christie Digital, Leyard (Planar) and SiliconCore Technology. Polycount / Obscura (Resolution Development) is listed as an others.
Does Pufferfish have an API?
No public API is recorded for Pufferfish.