KolorPen's Piezoelectric Pen Aims to Replace the Needle in Permanent Makeup

The promise of a needle-free injection is a perennial one in medical technology, often chasing a future that never quite arrives. For patients and practitioners in aesthetic medicine, however, the drawbacks of the needle are a daily reality: pain, risk of contamination, and the technical skill required for consistent, precise placement. KolorPen Ltd., an Israeli health-tech company founded in 2014, is making a hardware-based bet that its proprietary piezoelectric technology can finally change that equation for one specific, and sizable, clinical application [Startupim, August 2026].

At its core, the company is developing a pen-shaped device that uses piezoelectric actuators to fire micro-droplets of liquid into the skin at repetition rates up to 1000 times per second, creating a needleless, non-invasive delivery system [freepatentsonline.com, 2018]. The initial target is the permanent makeup and medical-aesthetics market, a B2B play where the company argues its technology enables pain-free treatments with reduced recovery time and no risk of needle-stick contamination [Cukierman & Co. Investment House, LinkedIn, Unknown].

The hardware wedge into aesthetics

KolorPen's bet is not on a new drug or compound, but on a new method of delivery. The standard tool for procedures like microblading, lip blush, or medical tattooing is a manual, handheld needle. The company's proposed alternative is a handheld unit that houses a piezoelectric cell, which vibrates at high frequency to eject a precise stream of liquid. According to team claims, this can deliver up to 100 controlled microjets per second, allowing for continuous motion across the treatment area [Marina Landau, LinkedIn, Unknown].

The potential advantages, as framed by the company, are straightforward for a clinician: precision without the hand fatigue and variability of a manual needle, and a cleaner safety profile. For the patient, the value proposition is built on eliminating the fear and sensation of a needle repeatedly piercing the skin. The technology's focus on permanent makeup is a strategic wedge; it's a defined procedure with a clear workflow, established practitioner networks, and a clientele highly motivated by comfort and aesthetic outcome.

A founder's long-game in hardware

The company's trajectory is anchored by its solo founder, Reuven Gamliel, who brings over 35 years of experience in high-tech product development and marketing to a field,cosmetics and medical aesthetics,he later acquired knowledge in [kolorpen.com, retrieved 2026]. This is not a quick, software-driven sprint. KolorPen was founded in 2014, secured seed funding from Founder Collective that December, and navigated a $200,000 grant and a Series A round led by PipelBiz by November 2017 [Startupim, August 2026]. The disclosed funding totals are conflicting, reported as either $200,000 or $700,000, but the timeline suggests a long development cycle typical of hardware and medical device startups [Startupim, August 2026].

The team has been built with a focus on cross-disciplinary execution. Alongside Gamliel as chairman and managing director, Dr. Marina Landau serves as medical director, providing clinical credibility. The roster also includes a laboratory manager, a business director, and a European marketing director, indicating preparations for commercial reach beyond Israel [Startupim, August 2026].

Metric	Value
2014 Seed	0 Undisclosed USD
2015 Grant	0.2 M USD
2017 Series A	0 Undisclosed USD

The regulatory and adoption pathway

Any device that breaches the skin barrier, even without a needle, enters a regulated space. For KolorPen, the path to market likely involves navigating medical device classifications, which vary by region from the FDA in the United States to the EMA in Europe. The company has not publicly disclosed its regulatory status or strategy, which remains a key milestone for observers. Success will depend not just on regulatory clearance, but on convincing seasoned aesthetic practitioners to swap a familiar, manual tool for a new electronic device.

The risks here are familiar for a hardware medtech play:

• Clinical validation. Peer-reviewed data on efficacy, precision, and safety compared to standard needle techniques is not present in the public record. Practitioner adoption will require robust clinical evidence.
• Commercial scale. Manufacturing, servicing, and distributing a physical device requires a different operational muscle than a software company. The company's headcount and supply chain are not detailed in available sources.
• Market focus. While permanent makeup is a logical entry point, it is also a niche. The company's stated focus on "medical-aesthetics" suggests broader ambitions, but expanding into other injectable treatments would mean confronting more complex regulatory and clinical hurdles.

The company's most plausible answer to these challenges is the specificity of its initial wedge. By targeting a single procedure with a clear pain point, it can seek a focused regulatory approval, build a reference base of practitioners, and prove the core technology in a real-world setting before attempting to broaden its scope.

What standard care looks like today

For the patient seeking permanent makeup today, the experience is defined by the needle. The procedure is performed in a clinical or salon setting by a technician using a handheld device with a cluster of fine needles that deposit pigment into the dermis. It is, by nature, invasive. Pain management typically involves topical anesthetics, and the process carries standard risks of infection, allergic reaction, and human error in pigment placement. Recovery involves days of swelling and scabbing, and results are highly dependent on the technician's skill and steadiness. This is the manual, risk-inherent standard that KolorPen's piezoelectric pen is designed to replace.

The next twelve months for KolorPen will be about moving from technology development to commercial proof. Key milestones to watch will be any public disclosure of regulatory submissions, the announcement of initial pilot partnerships with aesthetic clinics or training academies, and, crucially, the first published case studies or data from those early deployments. For a company that has been developing its technology for nearly a decade, the coming phase is about demonstrating that its needle-free vision can finally penetrate the market.

Sources

1. [Startupim, August 2026] KolorPen Raises Series A | https://startupim.com/company/kolorpen
2. [freepatentsonline.com, 2018] Piezoelectric actuator patent documentation
3. [Cukierman & Co. Investment House, LinkedIn, Unknown] Company technology description
4. [Marina Landau, LinkedIn, Unknown] Description of device capabilities
5. [kolorpen.com, retrieved 2026] Founder biography and company description
6. [ZoomInfo.com, Unknown] Company overview
7. [Crunchbase, Unknown] Company description
8. [Justia Patents Search, Unknown] Patent summary for needleless injection device
9. [Startup Nation Finder, Unknown] Product description
10. [Ishay Erel, LinkedIn, Unknown] Description of technology benefits
11. [Shiseido, LinkedIn, Unknown] Founder role mention