Generative AI software startup Backflip has launched from stealth mode after raising $30 million in funding. Headed by CEO Greg Mark and CTO David Benhaim, who founded industrial 3D printer manufacturer Markforged, the company’s AI tool converts text and photo prompts into 3D printable parts.
Venture capital firms NEA and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) co-led the $30 million financing. Heavy-hitting angel investors also provided capital, including Microsoft CTO and LinkedIn Co-founder Kevin Scott, Android Founder Rich Miner, and Essential AI CEO Ashish Vaswani, who co-authored the 2017 AI research paper Attention Is All You Need.
Through their new company, Mark and Benhaim have set out to develop digital tools and an AI model that accelerates the 3D design process. The pair founded Markforged in 2013, successfully building the company to a 2021 SPAC merger and public listing with a peak valuation of $2.1 billion.
Backflip’s debut offering allows users to create high-resolution, 3D models from simple text descriptions or images. Complex designs that would have taken days can now be generated in minutes, the startup claims. Once generated, the models can be 3D printed in metal, carbon fiber, or plastic.
“Each era of humanity is defined by the tools we harness. The last 50 years has brought incredible improvement to the pace of innovation in software and electronics, but the design of physical products has lagged behind,” commented Mark. “We’re building a next-generation design tool that allows a small team to move with the velocity of the biggest engineering army in the world.”
Mark added that this new AI tool represents a “giant leap forward in bringing design and manufacturing back to the US,” amid efforts by the US government to re-shore production and localize critical supply chains.
Backflip’s new AI text-to-3D tool
Backflip claims that conventional 3D design software offerings, while powerful, are often slow and time-consuming, hampering the design process. They argue physical products are often launched without features and refinements that could have been added through a more efficient design process. As such Mark and Benhaim are working to streamline and accelerate design workflows. “AI language models capture how we think, vision models capture how we see, and Backflip is creating foundation models that capture how we build,” explained Benhaim.
He added that Backflip has invented a novel neural representation that “teaches AI to think in 3D, unlocking a new category of models.” According to Benhaim, this enables 60x more efficient training, 10x faster inference, and a spatial resolution that is 100x greater than existing methods. “Our series of 3D foundation models will form the kernel for building the real world,” the CTO added.
Although the founders are best known for developing 3D printing hardware, they are not without experience in the software space. While at Markforged, Mark and Benhaim developed the Eiger cloud-based CAD platform. The software is used by over 50,000 designers and engineers worldwide, facilitating the design of aerospace-grade parts in carbon fiber materials.
Lila Tretikov, Partner and Head of AI Strategy at NEA, believes the Backflip team “stands at the forefront of this new industrial age at a pivotal time revitalizing American manufacturing, strengthening national security, and accelerating economic prosperity.”
AI 3D model generators gain traction
As large language models and easily accessible AI tools like Chat GPT continue to grow, more companies are launching generative design platforms that can create 3D models from basic text and image inputs.
Previously, GPU manufacturer Nvidia published a research paper outlining , an AI-powered generative text-to-3D platform. Created in response to Google’s DreamFusion and Physna Inc.’s generative AI prototype, Magic3D uses a two-stage method that creates a rough, low-resolution model from a simple text input. This is then enhanced to a higher resolution. The tool can reportedly create a 3D mesh model with colored texture in under 40 minutes, offering value for CGI art and video game applications.
More recently, Shenzhen-based 3D printer manufacturer Bambu Lab launched PrintMon Maker. This AI model generator allows users to create 3D printable, multicolor Pokemon-like characters from text or image prompts. Launched last October, this free-to-use platform seeks to encourage creativity and lower the barrier of entry for 3D modeling.
Elsewhere, French software start-up Spare Parts 3D offers Théia, an AI-powered tool that can automatically convert 2D technical drawings into 3D printable models. Integrated into the company’s DigiPart software, the tool leverages deep-learning technology to reduce 2D-to-3D conversion times from days to minutes, reducing digitization costs in the process.
Spare Parts 3D hopes Théia will allow more companies to leverage additive manufacturing for spare parts production, reducing the need for costly physical inventories. The company claims the AI tool can collectively save $34 billion through inventory digitization each year.
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Featured image shows Backflip Founders Greg Mark (CEO, right) and David Benhaim (CTO, left). Photo via Backflip.
