Creo
Creo is a Canadian manufacturer of computer-to-plate digital products and prepress workflow solutions for the commercial printing industry, headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia, and serving print service providers worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1983
- HeadquartersBurnaby, Canada
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Creo does
Creo is a Canadian manufacturer of computer-to-plate (CTP) digital products for the commercial printing industry, founded in 1983 and headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia. The company's core offering historically centered on platesetters, prepress workflow software, and related digital imaging equipment that allowed commercial printers to transfer digital page data directly to printing plates, eliminating film-based intermediates and enabling shorter print runs with higher quality and consistency.
The company scaled through venture funding in the mid-1990s, raising a $10 million round led by Jerusalem Global Ventures in March 1994 with a follow-on from TCV in 1996, and reached a headcount of 1,001-5,000 employees while operating publicly on NASDAQ under the ticker CREO. The revenue model is inferred to be a combination of B2B capital equipment sales (CTP platesetters and digital front-ends) plus recurring or consumables revenue from plates, chemistry, and workflow software licensing to commercial printers and print service providers. The company is now delisted from NASDAQ, and no post-delisting operational, financial, or strategic disclosures are available in the supplied data.
Creo firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Creo
- Website
- https://creo.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1983
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- Creo is a Canadian manufacturer of computer-to-plate digital products and prepress workflow solutions for the commercial printing industry, headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia, and serving print service providers worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Creo industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Prepress Equipment
- NAICS
- Support Activities for Printing (32312)
- SIC
- Printing Trades Machinery & Equipment (3555)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Prepress, Plate-Making & Artwork Services (IMALAKAM)
Keywords
Where Creo is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Burnaby
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Creo business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Creo product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Creo manufactures computer-to-plate (CTP) digital imaging systems for the commercial printing industry. Its hardware and related prepress technology enable commercial printers to produce offset printing plates directly from digital files, replacing film-based platemaking workflows. The company is headquartered in Burnaby, Canada, and was founded in 1983.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Computer-to-Plate (CTP) Digital Imaging Systems
Companies that use Creo
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles1 record
Creo technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Creo partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves3 records
Creo competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Xerox: Provides production digital printing systems and workflow solutions targeting the same commercial print customers, representing an indirect competitive alternative to offset/CTP production.
- Eastman Kodak: Creo's parent company and broader print/advanced materials incumbent that markets platesetters alongside offset presses, inkjet, and consumables across the same customer base.
- Fujifilm: Sells CTP platesetters, plates, inkjet presses, and workflow software; directly overlaps with Creo's platesetter business while also operating in much larger imaging, healthcare, and materials businesses.
- HP (Indigo / PageWide): Major provider of digital presses (Indigo electrophotography and PageWide inkjet) that compete with offset/CTP workflows for commercial print volume, indirectly capping Creo's TAM.
- Konica Minolta: Sells production digital presses, workflow, and related prepress technology to commercial printers, competing for the same customers and budget pool as Creo's platesetters.
Emerging players
- Esko (Danaher): Supplies prepress, plate-making, and workflow software focused on packaging converters — overlapping with Creo's prepress technology stack for the packaging subset of customers.
- Presstek: Specialist in CTP and DI (direct-imaging) plate-making equipment for small- and mid-size commercial printers; competes with Creo in the small-format and on-demand CTP segment.
Direct peers
- SCREEN Holdings (Screen Graphic Solutions): Japanese manufacturer of CTP platesetters, workflow solutions, and prepress equipment that competes with Creo for the same commercial offset and packaging printers worldwide.
- Heidelberger Druckmaschinen: Global manufacturer of offset press equipment and prepress/platesetting solutions that compete head-to-head with Creo's CTP systems for the same commercial and packaging print customers.
- Agfa-Gevaert: Produces CTP platesetters, offset plates, and prepress/workflow software, making it a close functional competitor to Creo's platesetting and prepress offering.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks4 records
Key highlights4 records
Customer concentration
Creo social profiles
Digital presenceCreo financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Creo leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Creo funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Creo M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments1 record
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Creo
What does Creo do?
Creo manufactures computer-to-plate (CTP) digital imaging systems for the commercial printing industry. Its hardware and related prepress technology enable commercial printers to produce offset printing plates directly from digital files, replacing film-based platemaking workflows. The company is headquartered in Burnaby, Canada, and was founded in 1983.
When was Creo founded?
Creo was founded in 1983. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is Creo based?
Creo is headquartered in Burnaby, Canada, in the North America region.
Who are Creo's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Xerox, Eastman Kodak, Fujifilm, HP (Indigo / PageWide) and Konica Minolta. Emerging players are Esko (Danaher) and Presstek. Direct peers are SCREEN Holdings (Screen Graphic Solutions), Heidelberger Druckmaschinen and Agfa-Gevaert.
Does Creo have an API?
No public API is recorded for Creo.
What industry is Creo in?
Creo's product category is Digital Prepress Equipment. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMALAKAM, Prepress, Plate-Making & Artwork Services. Its NAICS code is 32312 and its SIC code is 3555.