Sketchfab thanks investors in 3D gold bar format.
Sketchfab has secured $7 Million Series A funding to build an online platform for 3D printing, virtual reality and augmented reality content.
Led by FirstMark Capital with participation from TechStars, Balderton, Partech and Borealis, Sketchfab is set to play a key role in the 3D content ecosystem with integration and support from global names like HTC, Photoshop, HoloLens, Microsoft, Blizzard and the British Museum.
Writing in a blog post, Co-founder and CEO, Alban Denoyel commented: We are building Sketchfab because we believe 3D, virtual and augmented reality are changing the ways we consume content, and becoming a common media format just like video or sound. We were early then, and we’re ready now.”
Sketchfab is the fastest repository of 3D files and considered the best 3D viewer out there with over 300,000 3D files shared to date. However, as the demand for 3D content shifts with the explosion of interest in 3D printing and VR/AR headsets, Sketchfab is positioning itself at the helm 3D content provision and will soon enable files for virtually any 3D use case including VR, AR and 3D printing.
WebGL has been the go-to platform for displaying 3D graphics in a browser but that’s set to change when WebVR comes in to allow powerful ways of communication with VR and AR SDKs. Sketchfab has already integrated WebVR compatibility with Chromium to allow users to interact with VR files.
To pursue its ambition, Sketchfab has expanded its family with the addition of Matt Turck, Partner at FirstMark Capital. Alban added: “The road ahead is still long and challenging, and we are grateful to welcome FirstMark to our team. They have a proven track record of helping companies grow, with deep expertise in creative networks (they backed Pinterest), gaming (they backed Riot), commerce (they backed Shopify), and 3D (they backed BioDigital and BodyLabs). Matt Turck will be joining our board: besides our shared French roots, Matt has extensive knowledge of the Internet of Things, Big Data, Hardware, and Media, all of which will be invaluable for us on our road towards being a market leader.”
