GrabCAD secures €256k for its open source 3D library and CAD marketplace

GrabCAD, an open source library for CAD (computer aided design) engineers, has secured €256k of angel funding from the Estonian Development Fund and telecommunication technology company Astrec Baltic (owner of Motors24.ee) with the aim to become “the world’s leading web environment for CAD engineers within three years.”

Founded by Hardi Meybaum and Indrek Narusk, GrabCAD, which is set to debut in Beta in early August, lets CAD engineers share 3D models, solving the problem in which they spend too much time designing products or components that already exist elsewhere in the form of drawings. By making these models available to others, engineers will be able to dedicate “more time to creating unique products and components”, says the company.

But where’s the revenue stream, I hear you say.

GrabCAD says it plans to create a CAD engineering marketplace alongside the 3D model library and charge a brokerage fee for services ordered and completed through the site. The startup, which is a product of the Estonian Development Fund’s international business incubator SeedBooster, has already partly tested this concept by offering its own CAD services, including “easy to use order description and price calculation forms and functionality.”