One of Europe’s Top AI Researchers Raises $13M Seed to Crack the ‘Holy Grail’ of 3D Models

Matthias Niessner, a prominent European AI researcher from the Technical University of Munich, has founded SpAItial, a startup focused on generating coherent 3D online environments from text prompts. This venture aims to bridge the gap between existing AI foundation models that create realistic images and the emerging field of comprehensive 3D environment generation.

Niessner, also a cofounder of Synthesia, secured a $13 million seed round led by Earlybird Venture Capital, with participation from Speedinvest and several angel investors. This substantial funding underscores the potential of SpAItial’s vision, despite the company’s early stage. A teaser video showcases the startup’s capability to generate a 3D room from a text prompt.

SpAItial’s team includes Ricardo Martin-Brualla, formerly of Google’s 3D teleconferencing platform (Beam), and David Novotny, who led Meta’s text-to-3D asset generation project. Their expertise positions SpAItial to compete in the evolving landscape of photorealistic 3D environment generation.

While competitors like Odyssey and World Labs (founded by Fei-Fei Li) are also exploring this space, Niessner believes the competition is relatively limited compared to other foundation model areas. SpAItial’s goal extends beyond mere 3D world creation; the aim is to develop interactive environments that behave like the real world.

The potential applications of photorealistic 3D environments are vast, ranging from video game creation and entertainment to 3D visualizations for construction and robotic training. Niessner plans to license the foundation model to developers for specific applications and has enlisted Luke Rogers, a former Cazoo executive, to lead the business side of SpAItial.

SpAItial’s roadmap includes identifying partners to work with early models and gathering feedback through APIs. The company is prioritizing revenue generation while focusing on building a high-quality team. The ultimate goal is to enable users to create their own video games within minutes by simply typing in text.

Niessner believes this ambitious goal is more achievable than creating individual 3D objects, given the control gaming platforms exert over third-party content. As the field of 3D generation evolves, SpAItial aims to lead the way in creating interactive and realistic virtual environments.