The demand for 3D-native AI is surging. The gaming sector ($281.77 billion, projected to reach $655.77 billion by 2030) and industrial robotics with digital twins (market expected to hit $219.6 billion by 2033) increasingly rely on spatial data for simulation, design, and physical automation. However, 3D creation tools remain outdated, slow, and challenging for non-specialists. SpAItial is building infrastructure to solve these challenges by making 3D generation accessible, streamlining design processes, and enabling new AR/VR, eCommerce, and autonomous systems applications.
SpAItial, the startup revolutionising AI’s understanding and generation of 3D environments, has emerged from stealth mode with a $13 million seed funding round. Earlybird Venture Capital led the round, which was joined by Speedinvest and notable angel investors.
Expert angels in this round include Robin Rombach (Co-Founder and CEO at Black Forest Labs), Victor Riparbelli (Co-Founder and CEO at Synthesia), Steffen Tjerrild (Co-Founder and COO at Synthesia), Christian Stiebner, Edward Grefenstette, Maximilian Odendahl (ex-CEO of Silexica), Jon Barron, Rahul Garg, Sergej Epp (CISO at Sysdig and Palo Alto Networks), Elias Schneider (CEO of Codesphere), and Paul Whitehead (CEO of Zoopla).
With this funding, SpAItial will expand its team with AI, graphics, and 3D systems experts to develop foundational technology and accelerate the development of its first-generation Spatial Foundation Models. The company will transform early prototypes into scalable infrastructure and enhance models with advanced physics capabilities, enabling commercial pilots across entertainment, digital twinning, robotics, and beyond.
Reimagining 3D AI: Beyond pixel-by-pixel generation
Founded in 2024 by Matthias Niessner, Luke Rogers, Ricardo Martin-Brualla, and David Novotny, SpAItial is pioneering spatial foundation models (SFMs) — a groundbreaking AI paradigm that generates and reasons about the appearance and physics of real and imagined environments.
The founders of SpAItial envision spatial intelligence as AI’s next frontier, enabling a wave of new entertainment, simulation, and automation applications. Their goal is to establish SpAItial as the standard AI-native 3D generation and understanding platform, from immersive virtual worlds to real-world robotics, sparking a new era of innovation and possibility.
SpAItial’s approach to the market problem is unique: while 3D content creation is traditionally slow, expensive, and requires specialised expertise, SpAItial’s solution uses foundational AI models that generate, understand, and simulate 3D environments from minimal input. This approach makes 3D creation accessible and scalable, setting SpAItial apart in the industry.
The SpAItial team combines research excellence with commercial acumen, positioning them uniquely to lead the Spatial AI revolution. The founders bring deep industry expertise: Matthias Niessner (Professor at TU Munich, co-founder of Synthesia, formerly Stanford), Luke Rogers (ex-McKinsey, Cazoo), Ricardo Martin-Brualla (ex-Google, Project Starline, 3D Shopping), and David Novotny (ex-Meta, 3D Asset Gen Lead).
“Current AI models generate images pixel by pixel — great for snapshots, but not for immersive, coherent worlds,” said Matthias Niessner, Co-Founder of SpAItial and Professor at TU Munich. “At SpAItial, we’re building AI grounded in space and time. Our spatial foundation models are a game changer for any application that depends on 3D understanding.”
The startup’s technical team is focused on growth. Initial demos show that their model can create photorealistic 3D environments from a single image, with applications spanning immersive entertainment, robotics, and digital twinning.
Behind SpAItial: AI that understands the 3D world like humans do
SpAItial creates physics-consistent, spatiotemporally grounded AI that understands the 3D world naturally. Unlike current models — World Labs, Decart, Odyssey, and Spline — that generate pixel by pixel, SpAItial’s SFM works directly with 3D structures, bridging virtual and physical environments with unprecedented accuracy. This technology enables new AI-native 3D applications, from high-fidelity game worlds to enhanced robot navigation, impacting entertainment, urban planning, and industrial automation.
SpAItial’s spatial foundation models are a game changer in 3D creation. These models, built specifically for 3D, enable true physical simulation and temporal consistency, essential for robotics, AR/VR, and digital twins. The models generate coherent, interactive 3D worlds from minimal input, naturally integrating physics, lighting, and material properties, setting them apart from other AI techniques.
“We couldn’t be more excited to back SpAItial’s team of world-class technologists,” said Dr. Andre Retterath, General Partner at Earlybird. “While text, image, and video have seen massive generative AI progress, 3D remains stuck in the pre-AI era. SpAItial’s unique depth in both academic research and real-world product development positions them to bring spatial intelligence into reality.”
