AI foundation models capable of generating realistic images from text prompts are plentiful, but those that create full, coherent 3D online environments from a text prompt are scarce. To address this gap, Matthias Niessner, a prominent AI researcher, has founded SpAItial with the goal of revolutionizing the field.
Niessner, who took an entrepreneurial leave of absence from his lab at the Technical University of Munich, has raised $13 million in seed funding for SpAItial. The round was led by Earlybird Venture Capital and backed by UiPath through its Digital East Fund, as well as Peak Games. This significant investment underscores the potential of 3D model creation, with estimates suggesting a “trillion-dollar” opportunity.
SpAItial’s technical team includes experts Ricardo Martin-Brualla and David Novotny, who previously worked on Google’s 3D teleconferencing platform and Meta’s text-to-3D asset generation project. Together, they aim to create more realistic and interactive 3D spaces, which would unlock new possibilities for users.
Niessner’s vision is not just about creating photorealistic environments but also about making them interactable and user-friendly. He hopes to bypass the current challenges by licensing his foundation model for downstream applications, working with partners to develop specific use cases.
SpAItial’s focus on quality over quantity means that it will prioritize hiring a smaller team of experts rather than rapidly expanding. The startup aims to generate larger, more interactive 3D spaces and eventually enable users to create their own video games in just 10 minutes.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/26/one-of-europes-top-ai-researchers-raised-a-13m-seed-to-crack-the-holy-grail-of-models