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Solaya raises $2 million and launches its 3D perception mobile app

Solaya secures a $2 million pre-seed funding round led by Betaworks (NYC), with support from investors from NVIDIA, Adobe, Santander, and Google DeepMind.
At the same time, the Nice-based startup officially launches its mobile app. It transforms videos of real-world objects into usable 3D models, with no specialized hardware required. The solution is designed for broad adoption, particularly by SMBs.
Solaya already counts among its early clients major groups such as LVMH, Mattel, Karl Lagerfeld, SNCF, and Dassault Systèmes. Use cases include 3D commerce, industrial digitalization, digital twins, and robotics.
A laureate of the “Convergence AI” challenge under France 2030, Solaya builds on its expertise in computer vision and AI applied to the physical world. Its governance is strengthened by the addition of former executives from Allegorithmic (Adobe Substance 3D).

A Nice-based startup at the forefront of 3D perception

Founded in Nice in 2024, Solaya develops 3D perception technology powered by artificial intelligence to automate visual content creation. As a laureate of the “Convergence AI” program under France 2030, the startup benefits from strategic public support to develop technological solutions addressing industrial and societal challenges.

Solaya announces a funding round and the launch of its mobile app

Solaya, a France-based startup building 3D perception technology for the physical world, is officially launching its mobile app, which lets users capture real-world objects and convert them into high-fidelity 3D models using AI, no specialized hardware required.

The company is also announcing a $2 million pre-seed round led by Betaworks based in NYC (early investor in HuggingFace, AirBnb and X), and the formation of a top level board of advisors bringing together world-class business and scientific leaders in AI and 3D.

Early customers – including LVMH, Mattel, Karl Lagerfeld, SNCF, and Dassault Systems – are already using Solaya’s technology in 3D commerce, industrial digitalization, and robotics R&D, where scalable access to real-world 3D data remains a major bottleneck.

While most recent progress in generative AI has focused on text and images, Solaya is betting that the next wave will be physical. Its app sits at the intersection of mobile capture and AI reconstruction, turning quick videos taken on the fly into structured 3D assets that can be used across digital commerce, industrial workflows, digital twins, and robotics.

“Physical AI systems need an accurate understanding of the real world, and that starts with perception,” said Massimo Moretti, co-founder and CEO of Solaya. “Our goal is to make high-quality 3D data as easy to create as images are today.”

Solaya’s approach differs from many existing 3D tools, which tend to be either highly technical or limited to narrow verticals like gaming or VFX. Instead, Solaya is positioning itself as a horizontal 3D perception platform, designed to feed downstream systems, from e-commerce pipelines to industrial simulation and robotic perception, which is a market bound to represent $188B by 2030.

With the open launch of its app, Solaya is aiming at SMBs who will now be able to access its technology in self-service and build high-fidelity 3D models at a price 5-10x more accessible than its competition.

Solaya also announced the formation of a business board of advisors composed of leading members of Allegorithmic, a leading company in the 3D field which was purchased in 2019 by Adobe ($161MM exit) to become Adobe Substance 3D:

Sébastien Deguy, former CEO of Allegorithmic and VP 3D & Immersive at Adobe for 7 years.
Alexis Khouri, former CRO of Allegorithmic who contributed to scaling the company’s revenue from 0 to $100MM+ ARR.
François Cottin, former GM of Allegorithmic and former Head of Strategy, 3D at Adobe.
Nicolas Liatti, former Head of Product of Allegorithmic and Senior Director of Product Management, 3D at Adobe

The $2 million pre-seed round was raised from Betaworks and angel investors from NVIDIA, Adobe, Santander, Google DeepMind with strong backgrounds in AI, 3D, finance and enterprise software. The funding will be used to expand the engineering team, accelerate product development, and grow Solaya’s customer base.

Source: Solaya