French startup takes aim at AI 3D modeling market

AutoCAD, first released in 1982, was well ahead of its time and revolutionized the engineering field. The software essentially digitalized the design of 2D and 3D models, quickly becoming standard among engineers, designers, architects, and city planners.

It also set Autodesk on a path that would see it generate over $100,000,000 in sales by 1989, establishing itself as the de facto leader in the industry. But that’s a story for another time.

40 years later, Design as a field, is experiencing perhaps its most seismic change since the personal computer was invented. The rise of generative AI applications like Midjourney and Adobe Firefly paired with increased demand for digital assets for VR/AR/XR purposes has sprouted hundreds of startups. One of them is Chat3D.

Based in Lyon, France, the startup has developed an application for creating 3D models using just text inputs and AI. And as they shared in their interview with TechFinitive (below), down the road they expect their software to be capable of creating the kind of 3D models you might’ve previously had to use AutoCAD or similar for… which is just the kind of innovation that would’ve been unthinkable in 1982!

At CES, it debuted its first products and demoed them for anyone interested. We had a chance to meet and interview one of its Co-Founders. See below, edited for clarity.

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Could you please introduce yourself and the company?

My name is Glenn Avezoux and I work at Chat3D with Co-Founder Félix Balmonet. We are a one-year-old SaaS startup, developing generative AI products.

Our goal is to become the Midjourney of 3D assets. From a simple textual description, our solutions use generative AI to create a 3D model in less than two minutes. It can then be exported and used in video games, 3D engines, VR engines and pretty much any use case you might imagine.

We are currently running a closed beta programme, to which we are offering access so we can get feedback from users.

Do you think your solution might have applications for businesses?

The vision is to be industry agnostic. Right now the state of the art allows us to create good models for video games and VR applications. But our vision is bigger than that. We’d like to actually work with the broader design industry, the architecture industry and other spaces. We are in talks with a company that is interested in room design for the metaverse, for example.

Further down the line, we’d actually like to integrate with CAD applications. We’re working with big industrial partners right now in France and in the US to develop solutions that meet demand a couple of years into the future.

What are you guys hoping to get out of CES this year? What are your expectations?

CES made for a good deadline to actually release our first products. We’re proud to say that we’ve achieved this. We have a product in close beta right now that users can join on our websites. Being here also allows us to present and demo with videos. The increased exposure is very valuable when launching a startup.

What about 2024? What are your expectations for the year as a newfounded company?

We’ve been working for less than a year on the products with a very small team. The aim for 2024 is to raise funds and accelerate the development. We know that the field is expanding quite fast and we want to be present on the scene. We aim to recruit a larger team of developers to really drive growth with our products.

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