Gravity Sketch, a 3D design tool used by the likes of Adidas and Volkswagen, has raised $33m (£25.3m) in a Series A funding round.
The London-based startup will use the additional capital to enhance its platform, which lets designers create ideas in 3D from the onset instead of starting with 2D sketches.
Design teams can then view their projects in virtual reality and make notes in real-time.
Gravity Sketch views the virtual reality aspect as a timely feature that will appeal to brands looking to move into the nascent metaverse space.
Gravity Sketch was founded in 2014 by industrial designers Oluwaseyi Sosanya, CEO, and Daniela Paredes Fuentes, CXO.
Sosanya said: “3D design is the backbone of our consumer economy; integral to the production of every car we drive, every shoe we wear, every film we watch, and every video game we play. Yet the modern design process remains inefficient, convoluted and costly, with teams forced to alternate between 2D and 3D tools not fit for purpose in our hyper-collaborative, remote-working era.”
The funding round, led by Accel, brings Gravity Sketch’s total funding to more than $40m, with $1.7m of that coming from a seed round in 2018.
The company said it will also use the fresh cash to bolster sales as it looks to add to its 100,000 monthly users and one million downloads. It counts the likes of Nissan, Ford and Reebok among its customers and is also used in educational settings.
Gravity Sketch, which has a team of 40 based across the UK, US and Germany, says its revenue has grown by 4x over the past year.
Sosanya added: “At Gravity Sketch, our aim is to combat these challenges by empowering teams to create and communicate their 3D ideas in the quickest and most intuitive ways possible — whether they’re designers or otherwise.”
Other VC investors in the Series A round included GV, Kindred. Gravity Sketch also received backing from angel investors, including Dreamers VC’s Will Smith and Thirty Five Ventures’ Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman.
“We expect that 3D design – coupled with the advent of virtual reality – will only grow in importance as brands race to build the emerging metaverse,” said Harry Nelis, Partner at Accel. “The early organic traction and tier one brands that Oluwaseyi, Daniela and the Gravity Sketch team have already secured as customers are extremely impressive.”
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