Captain M • The Founder of Ai Tenitas Tattoo Machines

Hi, I’m Alex Van Dutch and today I would like to share a conversation with Captain M, the CEO & Founder of Ai Tenitas. A new Chinese tattoo supply brand producing innovative and cutting edge tattoo machines.

Hello Captain M, for the readers who may not be familiar with you, how would you introduce yourself?
Hello, I am Captain M, the founder and CEO of the tattoo machine brand Ai Tenitas, a newly built-up brand also known as AT. I have been working in this industry for over 10 years, mostly as an OEM for other brands. I spent the past decades in America and Russia, getting to know more and more tattoo artists on a more personal level. Over the years, I saw many outdated things; for example, many tattoo artists manage their clients in very traditional ways, like using Excel sheets and even handwritten notebooks! Which wastes quite a lot of time. I’ve also observed how the foot pedal was always moving somewhere else and wasted time to reach when the artists needed it.

I am a big fan of all kinds of high-tech products like DJI drones and smartwatches, headphones, AIOT systems., etc.—all devices that can be connected through Bluetooth and controlled by an APP on a smartphone. It then came to me: Why can’t we have the same thing on the tattoo machine? How can we help our tattoo artists work more efficiently?

With this idea and my experience in this industry, I came back to China and built the new brand Ai Tenitas, striving to bring more intelligence to this industry.

What is the main philosophy of Ai-Tenitas?
Our slogan is “Salute to tattoo legends.”. Our logo is inspired by the Mobius Ring. The brand name “Ai Tenitas” is an alteration of the Latin word “AETERNITAS,” meaning “Eternity.”.

Legends are eternal!
We aim to bring more intelligence and interesting elements to the tattoo machine industry while keeping the traditional user habits of senior tattoo artists. We have DIY ambient lights on both tattoo machines and foot switches. The tilted and full-color HD screen, the CRM system integrated into the APP, and the Germany-customized Faulhaber motor, all mentioned above, can help our tattoo artists enjoy and focus more on their tattooing. What’s more, we have very strict internal quality control standards before launching.

How does the current company structure of Ai-Tenitas look?
Our team is the soul of the Ai-Tenitas. I am thankful for all the efforts from my team, especially the 30 people on the R&D engineering team. We cooperate closely with an internationally leading product design team; we have much more fancy elements in our product line compared to other consolidated players.

We are headquartered in Shenzhen, the city next to Hong Kong, where we also have another office, by the way. We have the advantage of high-tech resources. After collecting and analyzing all the feedback from tattoo artists, we can make more market-oriented products.

What’s your competitive advantage in a market that already has so many well-established players?
Believe it or not, we have to say all the products on display are all made by heart. Our strength is design and production. With a deep understanding of tattoo artists, all the functions are designed based on their habits. Prophet series got the 35-degree tilted indicator, and Bounty Hunter got the full-color HD indicator. Both of them got efficient packing, lining, and shading. Our APP with the CRM system enables tattoo reservation, tattoo work review, tattoo time, and fee automatic calculation when you finish the work. What’s more, we have over 40 quality tests before launching. So far, we have gotten very positive feedback from European, South American, and Oceanian countries. North America is also one of our significant markets. With more products launching, we have confidence that we will expand faster.

How is the collaboration with your ProTeam tattoo artists working out for you?
Our products were designed specially for professional tattoo artists who know, love, and are always ready for good things. We have cooperated with a team of influential tattoo artists, who offered us feedback frequently after they used our machine. So far, we are working great. And with their constructive comments and suggestions, we have confidence to bring more good things to the market.

What’s really unique about Ai-Tenitas?
It’s our innovative concept, fast feedback, and high quality control standards. Shenzhen is a magical city where you can bring your ideas into reality within just a few days. We cooperated with the international top product design team and influential artists, Proteam. And the all-in-one APP is very powerful for artists or tattoo studios daily management.

How would you define Ai-Tenitas in one word?
Innovation. And here is why:

Do you plan to add other products to your collection?
Yes, two types of new machines are under modelling in a varied price range to enrich our product line so our artists can have more choices. All the machines under the AT brand can be connected and work through our app.

Do you have any plans to visit any tattoo conventions in the near future?
Yes, we do. We are planning to visit the tattoo conventions in Milano and the LA and NY tattoo conventions. If any of you have an interest in us, please feel free to let me know.

What’s your long-term vision for your company?
Bring intelligent systems to the tattoo industry and help artists have more fun and enjoy their tattoo creations.

Is there anything else you would like to say to our readers?
We are new and open-minded. Any new ideas and voices from tattoo artists are warmly welcomed. Our innovation needs your feedback and support! Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any ideas about our product. For more information, please follow us on Instagram  or visit our website at www.aitenitas.com.