CGTrader, one of the largest 3D model marketplaces globally, has raised EUR 2 million in funding to scale the business and serve the rapidly growing demand for 3D models. The investment round was led by Karma Ventures, with participation by CGTrader’s current investors Intel Capital and Practica Capital.

CGTrader marketplace provides 3D models for professionals in computer graphics, gaming, video production, advertising, VR/AR and other industries. Customers can search the library of 3D models and download any of them in minutes instead of having a highly skilled 3D designer to spend days or weeks building the model from scratch. Therefore, sourcing 3D models from CGTrader speeds up and reduces the cost of 3D content creation – the main bottleneck for the market growth of VR/AR and other 3D technologies.

“While humans experience the world in three dimensions, most of technology apps today still require interaction with a flat screen in 2D. This is about to change. Enabled by technologies such as spatial computing, augmented reality (ARKit, ARCore, AR Studio), virtual reality and WebGL, 3D is becoming the next wave of content towards interactivity and immersion – moving from text to images to video to 3D. By far, the biggest bottleneck in this market is the high cost of 3D content creation. CGTrader is playing a significant role in reducing the cost as well as empowering developers to create 3D applications much faster and more efficiently.” – says Dalia Lasaite, CEO and co-founder of CGTrader.

The company will use the proceeds from the investment round to accelerate marketplace growth, build infrastructure that will make 3D designers’ workflow more efficient, and establish presence in the United States – currently the largest market for 3D models. Prior to the round, the company was self-sustainable, however, additional funding will enable CGTrader to grow faster and capitalize on the opportunity in the rapidly growing 3D market. CGTrader currently unites more than 1,100,000 professional 3D designers from all over the world, a figure that has doubled over the past year.

“Karma Ventures decided to invest in CGTrader as we believe that the importance of 3D content is going to grow significantly in the coming years and there is a great opportunity for CGTrader to become the largest provider of 3D models in the world,” said Kristjan Laanemaa, partner at Karma Ventures. “We have been following the company for a number of years and think that the team has done excellent job in establishing the company as one of the major sources of 3D models. Their track record convinced us that by having more resources they can scale the business and become the global leader in this space.”

“We are very happy that Karma Ventures is joining CGTrader as investor”, says Donatas Keras, a partner at Practica Capital. “We have been with the company from early days and the journey was very interesting. Now, with additional resources and experience brought by Karma, we see even more possibilities for the company.”

(photo by CGTrader)

About CGTrader

CGTrader is one of the leading 3D model marketplaces globally with library of more than 600,000 3D models for computer graphics, virtual/augmented reality/ and gaming, backed by a strong professional designer community. On CGTrader, 3D artists, design studios and businesses share and sell their models. Enterprise and business customers can choose from a wide collection of high-quality 3D models that can be used in their projects, shortening project development time and saving resources.

CGTrader gives talented 3D designers the opportunity to showcase their work, get valuable feedback from the community, learn from their peers and interact in a designer-friendly environment. The platform allows designers to directly communicate with their customers and earn the highest royalties in the market. CGTrader unites more than 1,100,000 professional 3D designers globally.

(photo by CGTrader)

About investors

Karma Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on investing in European early stage startups that develop unique technologies and demonstrate proven customer traction. Together with the investment in CGTrader it has completed eight investments since its launch in 2016. In the past Karma Ventures’ team has participated in various successful exits of which Wahanda is especially relevant in the context of CGTrader (largest European marketplace for health and beauty services). The firm is backed among others by Ambient Sound Investments and Baltic Innovation Fund as cornerstone investors. The former is an investment company of Skype’s founding engineers and the latter an initiative created by cooperation between the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania and the European Investment Fund (EIF).

Intel Capital, Intel’s strategic investment organization, funds innovative startups targeting computing and smart devices, 5G connectivity, cloud, datacenter, artificial intelligence, merged reality, automated driving, the Internet of Things, robotic technologies, immersive entertainment and semiconductor manufacturing. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested US$12.2 billion in 1,490 companies worldwide, and 636 portfolio companies have gone public or been acquired. Through its business development programs, Intel Capital curates thousands of introductions each year between its portfolio executives and Intel’s customers and partners in the Global 2000. For more information on what makes Intel Capital one of the world’s most powerful venture capital firms, visit www.intelcapital.com or follow @Intelcapital.

Practica Capital is one of the leading Baltic VC firms investing in Baltic ventures and SMEs, which have the ambition to become regional, international, global players or target leading position in their national markets. Practica make initial and follow-on investments from seed, Series A to later stage and SME growth focusing on innovation- and technology-driven businesses with high-growth potential. Practica Capital is an active lead investor with strong co-investment philosophy and successful track record of co-investments with other VCs and angels. To date, Practica Capital has made over 40 investments in Baltic ventures and SMEs across various industries.