AR. South Korea’s RECON Labs raises $4.4M to help buyers visualize products by creating 3D models in the U.S.
Augmented reality (AR) can help customers who shop online preview products before making a purchase, and it is a growing area of investment for e-commerce businesses. According to a recent survey of 16,000 Snapchat users in 16 markets, 92% of Gen Xers want to use AR and VR for online shopping.
Now, a South Korean augmented reality (AR) startup called Recon Labs enables e-commerce customers to create 3D models in a matter of hours by taking a short video of products via its platform Plickr, has raised $4.4 million. The company will use its Series A funding to increase its headcount and enhance its platform PlicAR, which helps automatically convert a 2D image of its products to a 3D view without requiring any special skills in 3D modeling.
Seong-hoon Ban, CEO of Recon Labs, told TechCrunch that the firm works with a number of e-commerce marketplaces and retailers, including furniture companies that offer their customers products in real-life-sized 3D models in augmented reality. I want to help you imagine.
The company currently serves more than 22 small and medium companies in South Korea, and is in discussions with potential customers in the fashion, toy and food sectors, Ban said. He said retailers can save time and cost by using Plickr without having to build their own 3D modeling platform.
RECON Labs claims to have over 10,000 products that convert 2D to 3D content. The platform will allow users to download, upload, view, sell and buy 3D assets through its web-based service in the future, such as Sketchfab, which was acquired by Epic Games in 2021, Ban said.
image credit: Recon Labs
The startup recently partnered with San Francisco-based game company The Sandbox to develop a tool that would allow users to create 3D characters and items. Recon Labs says it plans to launch a 3D Creator app next year.
It also aims to open an office in Silicon Valley for US expansion in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Its previous backers, including Kakao Ventures, Shinhan Capital, Lotte Ventures and Naver D2SF, participated in the latest round, bringing its total to $4.8 million since its founding in 2019. New investors Korea Investment Partners, Hanwha Techwin and Kakao Brain also joined in. round.
“We will create a service that can easily and simply create and use 3D content like anyone creating stills or video content. Our vision is to provide any type of 3D assets for AR and Metaverse environments. To do has to evolve,” Ban said.
