Createx Colors

What Createx Colors does

Createx Colors is a privately-held manufacturer of water-based paints and coatings for the custom and graphic arts industry, founded in 1978 and headquartered in East Granby, Connecticut. The company builds its products on proprietary water-soluble urethane and acrylic resin systems combined with lightfast pigments, engineering distinct resin chemistries for different substrates: a lower-Tg acrylic for soft-hand fabric painting (Createx Airbrush Colors), an acrylic-polyurethane for adhesion to difficult hard surfaces (Wicked Opaque Colors), and submicron-sheered acrylics for fine atomization at low psi (Wicked Detail and Illustration Colors). Its portfolio spans six product lines — Createx Airbrush Colors, Wicked Colors, Illustration Colors, candy2o, AutoBorne Sealer, and Reducers & Additives — plus the Scenix mural/theme paint and Pure Pigments lines, covering transparent, opaque, fluorescent, pearl, metallic, and effect finishes.

The company sells primarily through a direct-to-consumer Shopify e-commerce store (createxcolors.com) shipping to the United States and Canada, supplemented by an authorized dealer network for local pickup. Pricing is per-unit across sizes from 2oz bottles to gallon containers, with premium Pearl-Flake SKUs reaching $2,343 per gallon. End customers include custom t-shirt and apparel painters, fine and illustration artists, automotive customizers (motorcycles, helmets, vehicle graphics), model/RC builders, and general hobbyists. The company is founder-owned (Vince Kennedy and Wendy Kennedy as co-founders), operates with 11–50 employees, has not raised institutional funding, and pursues a community-driven go-to-market anchored on the "Ask Vinny" technical support program and an active YouTube tutorial channel.

Name

Createx Colors

Legal name

Createx Colors

Website

https://createxcolors.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Createx Colors is a privately-held, East Granby, CT manufacturer founded in 1978 that produces water-based airbrush paints and coatings across multiple product lines (Createx Airbrush Colors, Wicked Colors, Illustration Colors, candy2o, AutoBorne Sealer), selling DTC online and through dealers to custom painters, automotive customizers, and hobby artists in the US and Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Paints and Coatings

NAICS

Paint and Coating Manufacturing (325510)

SIC

Pens, Pencils & Other Artists' Materials (3950), Paints, Varnishes, Lacquers, Enamels & Allied Prods (2851)

akta.pro primary industry

Automotive Surface Materials & Coatings for Interiors/Exteriors Manufacturing (Upholstery Materials/Decor Films/Paints for Trim) (IMACAKAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Color Matching, Tinting & Colorant Systems (IMAEAHAL)

Keywords

• Water-based paints
• Airbrush paints
• Custom paint colors
• Fabric paints
• Automotive paints

Headquarters

HQ city

East Granby

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Water-Based Paint Sales: One-time product sales of water-based paints across multiple product lines including Airbrush Colors, Wicked Colors, Illustration Colors, candy2o, AutoBorne Sealer, and Reducers & Additives. Products sold in various sizes from 2oz bottles to gallon containers. Direct-to-consumer online sales with dealer network for local purchases.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Createx Colors manufactures and sells water-based airbrush paints, dyes, sealers, and coating additives for custom and graphic arts applications including fabric painting, illustration, model building, and automotive customization. The company offers six primary product lines sold in sizes ranging from 2oz bottles to gallon containers through its own e-commerce store and a dealer network, serving individual artists, hobbyists, and professional customizers.

Product overview

Createx Colors is a manufacturer of water-based paints and coatings for custom and graphic arts, founded in 1978. The company operates a multi-brand portfolio centered around six main product lines: Createx Airbrush Colors (the original product line launched in the early 1990s, known for its soft-hand feel on fabrics), Wicked Colors (a multi-purpose do-everything airbrush color introduced in 2021 with expanded pearl and metallic effects), Illustration Colors (the flagship line for fine detail work at low psi), candy2o (concentrated 100% transparent dye colors), AutoBorne Sealer (surface preparation and adhesion products), and Reducers & Additives (thinning and mixing products including 4011 Reducer, 4030 Balancing Clear, and 4050 UVLS Gloss Clear). The company utilizes modern water-soluble urethane and acrylic resins combined with lightfast pigments to create durable, brilliant-looking paints.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Wicked Colors: Multi-purpose airbrush colors, the company's largest color collection as of 2021, including pearls, metallics and special effects.
• Illustration Colors
• Airbrush Colors
• candy2o
• AutoBorne Sealer
• UVLS Clears
• Reducers & Additives

Products and services

• Createx Airbrush Colors Original water-based airbrush paint line made with acrylic resin featuring a soft-hand feel ideal for fabric painting, with bright saturated colors available in transparent, opaque, fluorescent, and pearlized variants and curated sets.
• Wicked Colors Multi-purpose water-based airbrush color line that air dries to a harder coating, serving as Createx's largest color collection including transparent, opaque, fluorescent, pearl, metallic, pearl-flake, and detail variants.
• Illustration Colors Flagship line of airbrush paints designed for fine atomization at low psi settings, featuring a unique resin that allows soft erasing and manipulation, available in Transparent, Bloodline, Lifeline, and curated sets for detailed illustration work.
• candy2o Concentrated 100% transparent dye colors used as a carrier-medium mixed with clears for custom automotive and graphic arts applications.
• AutoBorne Sealer Surface preparation products including adhesive clears and sealers designed to improve paint adhesion and durability on hard surfaces, plastic, aluminum, and automotive applications.
• Reducers & Additives Supporting product line including 4011 Reducer for thinning paints, 4030 Balancing Clear and 4050 UVLS Gloss Clear for mixing with colors, along with cleaners, mixing clears, UVLS clears, and specialty products.

Quantifiable outcome

• Soft-hand feel on fabrics without stiffening
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• House of Kolor: House of Kolor manufactures custom automotive and graphic art paints, including bases, kandies, and pearls used by automotive customizers and airbrush artists — directly overlapping Createx's Wicked Colors, candy2o, and AutoBorne Sealer product lines serving the same custom automotive segment.
• Alsa Corporation: Alsa Corp manufactures specialty effect paints (candy colors, chameleons, pearls) for automotive customizers, motorcycles, and helmets — a direct competitor to Createx's Wicked Colors Pearl & Metallic and Pearl-Flake lines and AutoBorne Sealer offerings.
• Montana Cans: Montana Cans produces water-based spray paints and markers for street art, graffiti, and creative applications — directly comparable to Createx's artist- and hobbyist-oriented water-based paint portfolio, particularly for canvas, mural, and illustration use cases.
• Liquitex: Liquitex manufactures professional artist acrylic paints and mediums — a direct comparable to Createx's Illustration Colors and Airbrush Colors for fine-art and illustration customers, with overlapping water-based acrylic resin technology.
• Golden Artist Colors: Golden Artist Colors produces professional water-based acrylic paints and mediums for fine artists — comparable to Createx's artist-focused lines and serves overlapping professional/hobbyist acrylic paint customers in the same specialty coatings category.

Others

• Badger Air-Brush Co. Badger manufactures airbrush equipment and accessories — a complementary ecosystem player whose customers overlap heavily with Createx's airbrush paint users, making it a directly adjacent peer rather than a direct paint competitor.
• Iwata (ANEST IWATA): Iwata is a major airbrush and spray equipment manufacturer whose end users are the same artists and custom painters that buy Createx paints — an adjacent ecosystem participant that influences Createx's addressable market through paint/equipment compatibility.

Broad incumbents

• Sherwin-Williams: Sherwin-Williams is a global coatings giant spanning architectural, industrial, automotive refinish, and specialty segments — a broad incumbent whose automotive refinish and specialty divisions compete for some of Createx's automotive customizer and hobbyist customers.
• PPG Industries: PPG is a major global paint and coatings manufacturer with automotive refinish, industrial, and specialty product lines — a broad incumbent whose water-based refinish products overlap with Createx's automotive coatings segment and whose scale dwarfs Createx's operations.
• Winsor & Newton: Winsor & Newton is an established fine-art paint and materials manufacturer serving professional artists with water-based acrylics and other media — a broad incumbent comparable to Createx's artist-focused lines, with deeper heritage in traditional fine art supply channels.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCS5HUc0LJfMrBTawXRLibzg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/createx-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Createx Colors