SHANGHAI: Vast, a 3D-modelling startup founded by a 29-year-old gamer, has raised nearly US$200mil to become the latest Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) outfit to achieve a valuation of US$1bil.
Ince Capital and a venture fund backed by China Life Insurance Co led the financing, the Beijing-based startup said in a statement.
Other investors in the round included Genesis Capital and existing backers Eminence Ventures and Primavera Venture Partners.
While the company declined to disclose its exact valuation, it said the figure now exceeds US$1bil.
The firm – also backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Baidu Inc – developed Tripo Studio, which helps developers and creative professionals generate 3D models from text and image prompts.
It charges a monthly subscription starting at US$20, plus fees based on token consumption.
The bulk of its 20 million users hail from the United States, followed by Europe, Japan and South Korea, founder Simon Song told Bloomberg News.
He said Vast could turn a profit within two years.
Vast competes with Tencent Holdings Ltd’s Hunyuan 3D and Silicon Valley startup Meshy in the development of production-grade 3D models for video games, filmmaking, 3D printing and industrial applications.
These platforms aim to replace traditional software with generative workflows similar to AI chatbots and video generators.
Yet commercially viable breakthroughs remain rare in a US$200bil gaming industry – potentially its most lucrative market – that remains largely sceptical of the technology.
“When people discuss foundation models, the conversation is almost always about language models,” Song said. “But in my view, 3D models are the most foundational because they are an uncompressed reflection of the real world.”
Vast said its latest P-series model generates game-ready assets with low-polygon frameworks – bypassing an AI limitation that usually requires hours of manual editing before a model can be used.
The company is also set to release a world model, called Project Eden, as soon as this month – a tool that generates fully explorable 3D environments rather than just flat video frames.
The startup is aiming for something similar to the Marble platform developed by computer vision pioneer Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs.
Vast is already deploying its technology through a partnership with Chinese gaming giant NetEase Inc.
In the role-playing game Where Winds Meet, players can upload photos to instantly generate interactive 3D avatars.
Beyond corporate deals, the 150-person outfit is aiming for mass-consumer adoption with an upcoming app that Song calls an “interactive TikTok”.
Instead of scrolling through short videos, users will play bite-sized, interactive experiences on the platform.
“The Internet’s third revolution could be interactive content – where AI generates tailored material and 3D becomes the main new medium,” said Joy Dai, a managing director with backer Eminence.
Song founded Vast in 2023, teaming up with technologists from his days at AI firm SenseTime Group Inc. — Bloomberg
