Echo3D has raised $5.5 million for cloud storage and streaming of 3D, augmented reality and virtual reality content for a wide range of applications. Qualcomm Ventures led the round.

The New York company hopes to change the way 3D, AR and VR content is stored and transmitted. The goal is to reduce the file size and development times of 3D objects used in web sites and applications.

Echo3D is focused on building tools and infrastructure to help developers create lighter, faster 3D games and apps, said Alon Grinshpoon, CEO of Echo3D, in an interview with GamesBeat. That’s a huge user experience benefit, as no one wants to wait for heavy 3D assets to load after clicking or tapping something.

“We have been upside down in the business. Last time we spoke, we had around 200 people signing up on our platform every week,” Grinshpoon said. “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 Snapdragon Metaverse Fund and six months after Echo3D’s previous $4 million raise in October 2021.

“Echo3D’s first 3D content management platform is redefining how people create 3D, AR and VR experiences,” Merav Weinryb, vice president of Qualcomm Israel Ltd. and managing director of Qualcomm Ventures Israel and Europe, said 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 to their applications in minutes. We are excited to invest in echo3D to support next-generation content creation enabled by Snapdragon Spaces technology.”

The investment in Echo3D aligns with Qualcomm Technologies’ efforts to strengthen the XR ecosystem and provide the foundation for the metaverse, the universe of virtual worlds that are all interconnected, as in novels like snow crash Y ready player one.

Founded in March 2018, Echo3D creates tools and infrastructure to help developers build lighter, faster 3D apps and games. The cross-platform solution stores, manages, and streams 3D content to mobile devices, browsers, game engineers, and smart camera devices anywhere 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 developer base quickly grew to tens of thousands.

The company came to Qualcomm Ventures just in time for the unveiling of its $100 million metaverse fund. Qualcomm jumped at the chance to make Echo3D their first fund investment. The company did not disclose the valuation, but Grinshpoon said it doubled in six months.

“Qualcomm is a leader when it comes to AR and VR hardware and its Snapdragon chipset,” he said. “The integration between the hardware and our software makes a lot of sense. They share the vision that 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 has also been integrated with Niantic Lighship and 8th Wall to make sure you cover the bases in AR.

The cross-platform cloud solution stores, manages, and streams 3D content to mobile devices, browsers, game engineers, and smart camera devices anywhere 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 created cloud-connected games, AR ad campaigns, NFT marketplaces, and more.

Developers using Echo3D have created cloud-connected games, AR ad campaigns, NFT marketplaces, and more.

Grinshpoon describes cloud authoring as a kind of Amazon Web Services for 3D.

“It is a cloud solution that provides tools and network infrastructure for developers and companies that want to create games in the virtual reality experiences and any type of metaverse application,” he said. “We take care of all the storage and conversion, compression and transmission. Others focus on graphics or avatars or whatever. And we really focus on the invisible stuff, the server setup, the conversion, the compression, the bandwidth, the optimization, the distribution of assets around the world, on all these different servers.”

Grinshpoon sees progress towards the metaverse, the universe of virtual worlds that are all interconnected, as in novels like snow crash Y ready player one.

The metaverse market will reach $783.3 billion in 2024 versus $478.7 billion in 2020, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. But this increase could mean the industry will be challenged to build the back-end infrastructure to support the 3D, AR, and VR apps running on these devices, reduce file sizes and development times, and improve reliability. usability for both developers and users.

Echo3D, a Unity Game Engine Verified Solution Partner, has created a 3D-first content management system (CMS) and delivery network (CDN) that enable developers to build their app back-end on minutes and allow their customers to easily publish content for 3D games and applications without involving development teams.

Grinshpoon noted that an architecture firm uses Echo3D for its AR models. You uploaded 500 megabytes of assets to the platform for things like 3D models of buildings, and it converts to five megabytes that can be easily streamed to an iOS device.

The company will use the money to expand developer relations efforts and grow our team of developers and marketers. Unity recently named Echo3D a Verified Solution Partner for the Unity Game Engine. That will make it easier for developers to use your first 3D content management system (CMS) and delivery network (CDN) that helps developers build their app backend in minutes, and lets your customers publish easily content into games and 3D applications without involving development teams.

The company has 12 employees. The company was started by Ben Pedazur, Alon Grinshpoon and his twin brother Koren Grinshpoon.

“We’re hiring like crazy,” Grinshpoon said. “We just want to double down on that and become the cloud solution for 3D and metaverse applications.”

Eze Vidra, managing partner at Remagine Ventures, said in a statement: “3D content usage is skyrocketing, but the infrastructure to create, serve and track 3D content has yet to catch up. There are great opportunities around building an infrastructure layer for the Internet of the future. That is why Remagine Ventures is excited to continue supporting echo3D’s mission to build cross-platform CMS and CDN for 3D content.”

Echo3D managed to raise money at the right time, just before the economic malaise, fear of inflation, crypto winter and other woes took effect.

“Before everyone freaked out, we were able to get the round up,” Grinshpoon said. “But the metaverse is not affected much. People are still talking about software and creating next generation applications. So the timing is great.”