A space has opened up in the last few years as 3D printers have become more affordable, and that is the space for simple 3D designing tools. As VR takes off, that will also be a brand new space for such tools, in order to design new objects and environments.
In this area is Thingiverse, a large online 3D printing community, although it lacks 3D modelling functionality. There is also Autodesk 123d which targets professional users and they also own Tinkercad for kids. Blender is free but it’s not a platform community. So there is an opportunity here for a platform which is both a community combined with a 3D modelling tool that aims at a wider audience.
This is where new startup Vectary plans to play. It’s pretty simple to use, but has enough extra features that many professionals could consider using it for rapid designs, plus it’s created community features for designs to be shared, discussed and customized.
The startup has now raised a Seed round of $2.5 million, led by BlueYard Capital, the Berlin-based VC. Neulogy Ventures, the Bratislava-based VC which had previously put in a pre-seed sound alongside angel investors, also participated.
Michal Koor, CEO and co-founder says: “While working as an industrial designer I wanted to make designing more effective. This led me to rather invest my time into developing a parametric tool, where by moving sliders I was able to easily change shape and get interactive feedback. Later I realized, this approach combined with community would make it much easier for anybody to start with 3D modeling.” The startup was co-founded by Koor and Pavol Sovis
The platform runs in a browser. Instead of starting from scratch you can go to community section and customize already-existing models. This speeds up the 3D modeling process. You can sign up as a beta user right now.
While being currently based in Bratislava, Vectary is moving its HQ to New York with the current round of funding.