Cloud Based 3D Rendering Platform Lagoa Gets $1.6 Million In Funding

By: Talha Bhatti  |   April 5th, 2013   |   Business, News, O Canada

Atlas Ventures, Real Ventures, Rho Canada Ventures and 500 Startups have recently injected $1.6 million into a cloud-based 3D design platform named Lagoa. The Montreal-based start up works with cutting edge technology in the digital rendering sphere and is led by CEO Thiago Costa. The company’s head believes the sector has lacked innovation because it is hardware dependent and has an offline nature. Costa states that, “There’s a rising need to visualize things and it’s an angle that no one talks about yet. The future of the manufacturing industry all together is the ability to design, visualize and build something while not needing the entire infrastructure for building. We hope to be there to help people do that.”

 

Lagoa allows users to create realistic Multi-Optic 3D renders extremely fast. The startup scans materials in a laboratory and this gives them the ability to present material that are very good representations of real world designs. Another plus point is that businesses can utilize the cloud based service to develop a virtual studio that can have multiple collaborators working on projects simultaneously. Lagoa claims that their customers are getting a service that no other competitor can offer.

 

Costa states that the new funds have arrived at an ideal time for the startup because of the rapid acceptance of 3D printing and visualizing. The business will use the new found cash to acquire staff and also technology. Lagoa will also be looking at gaining more customers by utilizing a subscription model.

 

Costa has worked in TV, advertising, motion graphics and the video gaming sector and is originally from Brazil. He moved to Montreal in 2009 and named his company after the area he lived in back home. He also adds that, “I wanted to give it some name to connect it to nature and I wanted to inspire the physical elements you can create with it.”

 

The three co-founders of the company have specific skills that have made them prominent in their fields. Arno Zinke is a co-founder and is also the company’s chief scientist thanks to his PHD in physically based rendering. Working in the research and development department, Zinke has spear headed the MultiOptics rendering technology that will soon be patented by the firm. Dov Amihod is the Chief Technology Officer and used to be the engineering lead at Matrox and Bluestreak. He uses his past experience to guide the engineering activities of the new firm.

 

Lagoa currently offers four different packages including ” a free service that provides five rendering hours, 1 gigabyte of cloud storage and unlimited viewing of public projects.  The “powerhouse” level provides 250GB of storage, 375 hours of rendering, and 25 private projects, costing $123.”

Source: TechVibes