Do you want to know what’s next for the game industry? Join gaming executives to discuss emerging areas of the industry at GamesBeat Summit Next in October. Learn more.
Echo3D has raised $5.5 million for cloud storage and streaming of 3D, augmented reality and virtual reality content for a wide variety of applications. Qualcomm Ventures led the round.
The New York company hopes to change the way 3D, AR and VR content is stored and streamed. The goal is to reduce file size and development times for 3D objects used on websites and apps.
Echo3D focuses on building tools and infrastructure to help developers create lighter and faster 3D games and apps, Echo3D CEO Alon Grinshpoon said in an interview with GamesBeat. That’s a huge benefit to the user experience, since no one wants to wait for heavy 3D assets to load after clicking or tapping something.
“We’ve done business. The last time we spoke, we had about 200 people registered for our platform every week,” said Grinshpoon. “And now we have 400 people signing up every week.”
Other investors included Remagine Ventures, Konvoy Ventures and Space Capital. The announcement comes on the heels of Qualcomm’s previously announced Snapdragon Metaverse Fund and six months after Echo3D’s previous $4 million raise in October 2021.
“Echo3D’s 3D-first content management platform is redefining how people create 3D, AR and VR experiences,” said Merav Weinryb, vice president of Qualcomm Israel Ltd. and managing director of Qualcomm Ventures Israel and Europe, in a statement. “Their solution helps address the unique challenges of 3D by enabling developers and content creators to easily manage and publish 3D content in their apps in minutes. We are excited to invest in echo3D to support next-generation content creation powered by Snapdragon Spaces technology.”
The investment in Echo3D aligns with Qualcomm Technologies’ efforts to strengthen the XR ecosystem and lay the groundwork for the metaverse, the universe of virtual worlds all interconnected, as in novels like SnowCrash and Ready Player One†
Founded in March 2018, Echo3D creates tools and infrastructure to help developers create lighter and faster 3D games and apps. The cross-platform solution stores, manages and streams 3D content anywhere to mobile devices, browsers, game engineers and smart camera devices, all while connecting them all and extracting analytics.
Before the pandemic, the company had about 300 developers. But once it took hold, many companies wanted to develop digital solutions with 3D assets, so the number of developers quickly grew to tens of thousands.
The company made its way to Qualcomm Ventures just in time for the unveiling of its $100 million metaverse fund. Qualcomm seized the opportunity to make Echo3D its first fund investment. The company did not disclose the valuation, but Grinshpoon said it doubled in six months.
Qualcomm is such a leader when it comes to AR and VR hardware and their chipset, the Snapdragon, he said. “The integration between hardware and our software makes perfect sense. They share the vision we have that this will be the next iteration of the internet.”
Echo3D is now integrated into the Snapdragon Spaces software development kit (SDK). Echo3D is also integrated with Niantic Lighship and 8th Wall to ensure it covers the bases in AR.
The cross-platform cloud solution stores, manages and streams 3D content anywhere to mobile devices, browsers, game engineers and smart camera devices, while connecting them all and extracting analytics. The company’s technology also converts, compresses and optimizes 3D models, animations and interactive content and streams them to any smartphone, headset or browser. Developers using echo3D have built cloud-connected games, AR ad campaigns, NFT marketplaces, and more.
Developers using Echo3D have built cloud-connected games, AR ad campaigns, NFT marketplaces, and more.
Grinshpoon describes cloud authoring as a kind of Amazon Web Services for 3D.
“It’s a cloud solution that provides tools and network infrastructure for developers and companies that want to build games in the VR experiences, and kind of a metaverse app,” he said. “We take care of all storage and conversion, compression and streaming. Others focus on the graphics or the avatars or whatever. And we actually focus on the invisible stuff, the server configuration, conversion, compression, bandwidth, optimization, distributing assets around the world, on all these different servers.”
Grinshpoon sees progress towards the metaverse, the universe of virtual worlds all connected together, as in novels like SnowCrash and Ready Player One†
The metaverse market is expected to reach $783.3 billion by 2024 vs. $478.7 billion in 2020, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. But this wave could mean that the industry will face a challenge in building the backend infrastructure to support the 3D, AR and VR applications running on these devices, reducing file size and development times, and improving usability. for developers and users alike.
Echo3D, a Verified Solutions Partner of the Unity game engine, has created a 3D-first content management system (CMS) and delivery network (CDN) that enables developers to build their app backend in minutes and allows their customers to easily publish content to the 3D games and apps without the involvement of development teams.
Grinshpoon noted that an architectural firm uses Echo3D for its AR models. It uploaded 500 megabytes of assets to the platform for things like 3D building models, and it will be five megabytes that can be easily streamed to an iOS device.
The company will use the money to expand its developer relationship efforts and grow our team of developers and marketers. Unity recently named Echo3D as a Verified Solutions Partner for the Unity game engine. That makes it easier for developers to use their 3D-first content management system (CMS) and delivery network (CDN), which allows developers to build their app backend in minutes, and allows their customers to easily publish content to the 3D games. and apps without involving development teams.
The company has 12 employees. The company was founded by Ben Pedazur, Alon Grinshpoon and his twin brother Koren Grinshpoon.
“We’re hiring like crazy,” Grinshpoon said. “We just want to double that and become the go-to cloud solution for 3D and metaverse applications.”
Eze Vidra, managing partner at Remagine Ventures, said in a statement: “The use of 3D content is skyrocketing, but the infrastructure to create, serve and track 3D content has yet to catch up. building an infrastructure layer for the future internet, so Remagine Ventures is excited to continue supporting echo3D’s mission to build the cross-platform CMS and CDN for 3D content.”
Echo3D managed to raise money at the right time, just before the economic slump, inflation fears, the crypto winter and other ills kicked in.
“Before everyone panicked, we were able to raise the round,” said Grinshpoon. “But the metaverse is not badly affected. People are still talking about next-generation software and apps. So the timing is great.”
The GamesBeat credo when talking about the game industry, is ‘where passion and business meet’. What does this mean? We want to tell you how important news is to you — not just as a decision maker in a game studio, but also as a game fan. Whether you’re reading our articles, listening to our podcasts, or watching our videos, GamesBeat helps you learn and have fun with the industry. Learn more about membership.