The South Korean augmented reality startup enabling eCommerce retailers to create 3D models using short videos of their products, RECON Labs, has raised $4.4 million in Series A funding. The company plans to use the funds to hire new talent and further enhance its platform, PlicAR.
PlicAR facilitates the conversion of a 2D image into a 3D view of products without requiring any special 3D modeling skills. The company is working with several eCommerce marketplaces and retailers to enable their customers to visualize products in actual life-sized 3D models powered by augmented reality.
Over 22 small and medium companies in the fashion, toy, and food industries in South Korea currently use the platform to provide a better experience to their shoppers. The platform enables them to save significant time and costs, eliminating the need for 3D modeling expertise.
RECON Labs currently has more than 10,000 products on the platform converted from 2D to 3D formats. It plans to enable users to download, upload, view, sell, and buy 3D assets through a web-based service similar to Sketchfab, which was acquired by Epic Games in 2021.
The startup has also collaborated with The Sandbox, a metaverse-focused game company, to build a tool that will enable users to create 3D characters and items.
The company also plans to open an office in Silicon Valley to expand to the US by the fourth quarter of 2022. Its existing investors Kakao Ventures, Shinhan Capital, Lotte Ventures, and Naver D2SF, participated in the round to bring the total funding raised to date to $4.8 million. Korea Investment Partners, Hanwha Techwin, and Kakao Brain also got on board as new investors.
“We will create a service that can easily and conveniently create and utilize 3D content as simple as anyone creating images or video content. Our vision is to grow to provide any types of 3D assets for AR and metaverse environments,” said Seong-hoon Ban, CEO at RECON Labs.
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