ShapesXR – a VR design and collaboration platform – recently announced it has secured a $8.6 million seed round led by Supernode Global. Triptyq VC, Boost VC, Hartmann Capital, and Geek Ventures also participated in the round. The other contributors to ShapesXR’s seed round include The WXR Fund, StratMinds VC, Ludus Ventures, The Venture Reality Fund, HTC Vive, Leta Capitaland Remote First Capital.
The company democratizes 3D content creation and spatial design by enabling non-technical users to create 3D designs, prototype immersive apps such as VR and AR games, training, and real-world design. For example, Logitech and ByteDance utilize the platform for ideation and collaboration, while others like Qualcomm produce immersive journeys such as the XR music experience in collaboration with Trigger XR and Duran Duran.
Mark Zuckerberg has recently singled out ShapesXR as an example of VR’s unrivaled capacity for creativity and collaboration. And Meta’s Director of VR/AR Content Anand Dass has called ShapesXR “one of the most promising VR applications.”
ShapesXR was downloaded more than 350,000 times on the Meta Quest app store, and it has been licensed to 70 educational institutions and scores of enterprises. Over 300,000 projects have already been created in ShapesXR. The company’s goal is to become the de facto industry standard for UI/UX design, achieving for spatial computing what Figma did for the mobile computing era.
ShapesXR – available on Meta Quest 2, Quest Pro, and the upcoming Quest 3 – will use part of the funding to expand its platform to new devices, including Apple Vision Pro, Pico, and Magic Leap. This platform is rapidly becoming the prototyping tool for Vision OS (Apple Vision Pro) developers since designers can prototype eye gaze and hand pinch interactions.
With ShapesXR, consumers and enterprises can quickly design fully immersive content with 3D objects, environments, mock-ups, and experience labs. Its storytelling capabilities enable designers to vividly show interactive content coming to life in the real world. And ShapesXR is built to be accessible, meaning it’s aimed at teams, not just designers. Product owners, producers, and different stakeholders can contribute to the product being developed.
KEY QUOTES:
“VR has such huge potential to transform how we all collaborate on projects and design new products, however, one of the main barriers to entry is the level of technical skill required to get started. ShapesXR has been built to remove these hurdles – it’s as easy to learn as PowerPoint. This truly democratizes 3D content creation and enables anyone to become a VR, AR and mixed reality storyteller.”
“With this funding we can expand ShapesXR onto new platforms, support more companies and make 3D content creation, collaboration and storytelling mainstream.”
— Inga Petryaevskaya, CEO and Founder at ShapesXR
“ShapesXR is leading the way in shaping the future of immersive collaboration and spatial design. As we anticipate the widespread adoption of XR applications and 3D content, the need for XR-native UI/UX tools becomes clearer each day. With its user-centric approach and exceptional leadership, ShapesXR is poised to meet this demand and become the industry standard in this space. This investment underscores our belief that ShapesXR will prove transformative for developers looking to create the most compelling XR content possible.”
— Michael Sackler, Managing Partner at Supernode Global
“I firmly believe ShapesXR is uniquely positioned to disrupt the XR landscape and revolutionize the way people work, create, and collaborate. With its exceptional leadership team, cutting-edge technology, and unwavering commitment to user-centric design, Inga and her team have all the ingredients for success. We are glad to be part of this journey and on a personal note, as an avid believer of immersive technology, I look forward to witnessing the transformative impact the platform will have on industries worldwide.”
— Bertrand Nepveu, CEO & Founder of Vrvana (an augmented reality headset startup acquired by Apple), and now Managing Partner of Triptyq Capita