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Creation Crate
Techstars '19Scarborough, CA · Founded 2016 · 2 employees on LinkedIn · 2 known investors
Find your way into Creation Crate
Subscription box service delivering monthly hands-on electronics, coding and STEM project kits paired with online courses.
Also known as Creation Crate · CreationCrate.com
Investors · 2
How we know: RevUp Capital's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026Creation Crate is a subscription box service that delivers hands-on STEM projects together with an accompanying online curriculum. Each monthly crate contains the components required to build a specific project plus a printed instruction and coding manual, while a password-protected section of the company's website hosts supporting diagrams, code and troubleshooting material. Subject areas described for the program include electronics, coding, engineering and chemistry, and the service is positioned as requiring no prior experience, with a recommended age of 12 and up.
Projects are sequenced so that difficulty increases as subscribers progress. The first month's kit builds an Arduino-compatible mood lamp using a solderless MB-102 breadboard, an Uno R3 controller, RGB LEDs, a light-dependent resistor, a 2.2k ohm resistor, jumper wires, a USB-A to USB-B cable and a paper lantern; subscribers download the Arduino IDE and enter or download the supplied sketch. Later documented projects include an audio visualizer (Project 8), a lock box (Project 9) and a digital multimeter (Project 10). Reviewers have also described building a theremin and exploring robotics kits.
The company operates under the tagline "Building the Makers of Tomorrow" and describes its process as "You subscribe, We deliver, You Learn."
Founding story
One directory listing names Chris Gatbonton, David Hehman, Kian Parseyan and Ryan Afflitto as founders of CreationCrate.com and gives a founding year of 2015.
Business model
Creation Crate sells a recurring monthly subscription that bundles physical electronics components with access to online courses. Pricing starts at $30 per month, with an annual prepay option that adds a soldering kit, digital multimeter and XL component storage at no extra cost. Boxes ship worldwide, and customer support handles replacement of missing or faulty components.
Recurring subscription revenue from monthly plans starting at $30, including prepaid 12-month subscriptions.
Traction
The service has been reviewed repeatedly by subscription-box media, accumulating 11 staff reviews on one review platform and 14 customer reviews on another, and has been featured in third-party award lists for tech subscription boxes and subscription boxes for kids published in 2026. Customer reviews spanning 2024 to 2026 reference completed builds, support interactions and robotics projects.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Creation Crate is catalogued as a technology and education subscription box, appearing in third-party lists of top tech subscription boxes and best subscription boxes for kids. On one review directory it is ranked 326th of 351 companies in the Education Services category, with a 3.9 rating across 14 reviews and 78% of reviewers recommending it; the same page cites a 2.3 Trustpilot rating.
The offering pairs shipped hardware components with an online course sequence in which each project builds on lessons from the previous one, rather than selling standalone kits. Prepaid annual subscribers receive additional tooling (soldering kit, digital multimeter, component storage) included with the plan.
Technology
Projects are built around Arduino-compatible hardware, including an Uno R3 controller and solderless breadboards, programmed with the open-source Arduino IDE. Wiring is illustrated with Fritzing-style diagrams in the printed manual and on the website. The online component includes password-gated month-by-month lesson pages, downloadable pre-written code, a code editor with hints, instructional videos and troubleshooting guides.
Go-to-market
Creation Crate reaches customers through direct online subscription sales at mycreationcrate.com and creationcrate.com, supported by coverage and coupon-linked reviews on subscription-box review sites and technology blogs, and inclusion in "best subscription box" roundups and award lists.
Beginner learners with no prior electronics experience, recommended for ages 12 and up, including children and parents working through projects together as well as adult hobbyists.
Geography
The business is listed with an address at 200 Silver Star Blvd, Suite 320, Scarborough, Ontario M1V 5H4, Canada, and ships its subscription boxes worldwide.
History
A reviewer received and documented a Month 1 mood lamp crate in December 2016. By 2020, third-party reviewers were working through numbered projects including Project 8 (audio visualizer), Project 9 (lock box) and Project 10 (digital multimeter), indicating a multi-month curriculum sequence. Customer reviews dated through 2024 and 2026 describe ongoing order fulfillment, kit shipping and support interactions, and the brand continued to appear in subscription-box roundups published in 2026.
Risks & controversies
Independent reviews have raised recurring criticisms about pedagogy and execution: reviewers reported that the manuals explain what to assemble but not why, leaving little transferable understanding of components such as resistors and breadboards, and that the supplied code exceeds the stated 12-and-up reading level. One reviewer was unable to upload the Arduino sketch from a MacBook Pro despite following troubleshooting steps. Customer reviews cite occasional missing or faulty components, uneven difficulty jumps between boxes, shipping problems and at least one unresolved checkout correction, though several also describe prompt replacement shipments and responsive support.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Related companies · 3
Companies working in the same space as Creation Crate.
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
- Creation Crate 1.0 REVIEW You Build It, Learn It, Enjoy It And We Teach You Electronics - MacSourcesmacsources.com · web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Creation Crate do?
- Subscription box service delivering monthly hands-on electronics, coding and STEM project kits paired with online courses.
- Who are Creation Crate's investors?
- Creation Crate's investors include RevUp Capital, Techstars.
- Where is Creation Crate headquartered?
- Creation Crate is headquartered in Scarborough, CA.