AIRY3D secures US $3.5M seed financing

Photo of author

By Ted Liu

AIRY3D Inc., a Montreal based start-up company specializing in 3D computer vision, has raised US $3.5 million in an oversubscribed seed round co-led by CRCM Ventures and R7 Partners. Other investors include WI Harper Group, Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC), Nautilus Venture Partners and several angel investors that are affiliates of TandemLaunch, AIRY3D’s Montreal-based incubator.

Ben Buettell, General Partner of R7 Partners, Toby Zhang, General Partner of CRCM Ventures, have joined AIRY3D board of director.

The new funding will allow AIRY3D to demonstrate manufacturability with its top-tier camera sensor partner and build the world’s first commercial quality 3D sensors that combine AIRY3D’s patented Transmissive Diffraction Mask (TDM) platform with state-of-the-art, yet off-the-shelf CMOS camera sensors. AIRY3D’s single sensor solution requires no new materials or processes and is produced using standard wafer-scale semiconductor equipment.

“AIRY3D’s team has developed a breakthrough technology that significantly reduces the size, number of components and computational load required to produce 3D images,” said Zhang. “With 3D now the new battleground for smartphones, we believe the dramatic savings of AIRY3D’s computer vision platform can usher in a next generation of imaging experiences by helping to make 3D cameras and related content ubiquitous.”

“AIRY3D’s drop-in solution requires no changes to other hardware and assembly, no custom camera sensors, lenses or image processors. This is a powerful value proposition for both end-device manufacturers and camera sensor suppliers, and explains active engagement by industry leaders. With a strong base of globally issued patents and far-reaching applications, we are excited by the commercial potential of AIRY3D’s technology,” said Buettell.

“We are pleased to have Airy3D as a strategic extension of our portfolio due to its immense potential in many different markets, such as Augmented and Virtual Reality, automotive, drones, and robotics,” said Jeff Yu, Investment Principal at RBVC.

“We are thrilled to attract such an impressive group of international venture capital investors, spanning Silicon Valley, Greater China, Germany and Canada. With their support, we can accelerate the introduction of our first solutions into some of the most exciting and fastest growing markets starting with consumer electronics,” said Dr. Dan Button, President & CEO of AIRY3D.

Founded in 2006, CRCM Ventures is a premiere early stage cross-border venture capital firm based in San Francisco and Beijing. The firm actively invests in North America and Greater China across Enterprise IT, Consumer Tech, Healthcare/BioTech, FinTech, and Frontier tech sectors.

R7 Partners is a venture capital firm based in Chicago that invests in early-stage companies building transformational technologies.

Founded in 2015 and based in Montreal, Canada, AIRY3D has developed the world’s first passive single sensor solution for 3D computer vision based on off-the-shelf components that are transformed by technology first invented at Cornell University. Airy3D is a spinout of TandemLaunch, a Montreal-based incubator.

Private Capital Directory:
CRCM Ventures
R7 Partners
Robert Bosch Venture Capital (RBVC)
Nautilus Venture Partners

photo credit: AIRY3D