3D printing startup Backflip has emerged from stealth mode with $30 million in funding co-led by NEA and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The corporate, based by former Markforged executives Greg Mark and David Benhaim, goals to develop AI-powered 3D design instruments that may generate printable fashions from textual content descriptions or pictures.
The San Francisco-based firm’s first product is an AI design platform that converts consumer inputs into high-resolution, 3D-printable fashions. In keeping with the corporate, their neural illustration expertise permits 60 occasions extra environment friendly coaching, 10 occasions sooner inference, and 100 occasions the spatial decision in comparison with present strategies.
Notable angel traders within the enterprise embrace Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott, Android founder Wealthy Miner, and AI researcher Ashish Vaswani. The funding spherical displays rising curiosity in combining synthetic intelligence with conventional computer-aided design instruments used throughout manufacturing industries.
The founding workforce brings vital expertise from their earlier enterprise, Markforged, the place they developed carbon fiber and mixed-metal 3D printing applied sciences. Underneath their management, Markforged went public in 2021 with a $2.1 billion valuation, and their 3D printed components are at the moment utilized in purposes starting from the Worldwide Area Station to U.S. nuclear submarines.
The corporate’s expertise goals to handle effectivity limitations in present 3D design software program instruments. Backflip claims its platform can cut back advanced design duties from days to minutes, doubtlessly permitting smaller groups to compete with bigger engineering departments.
The platform is concentrating on customers throughout varied sectors, together with aerospace, protection, and transportation industries. events can study extra in regards to the expertise by the corporate’s web site at backflip.ai.
