Kai Backman, the original founder & CEO of Tinkercad 3D design software, last night announced that the platform has found a new home – at Autodesk. This is welcome news to many, following the announcement back in March stating the intention to wind up Tinkercad by the team to focus on a new project called Airstone. Kai and his partners have now signed a deal that will see Autocad purchasing the Tinkercad website and core technologies and allow the platform to continue and develop under the stewardship of Autocad.
The synergy between Autodesk 123D apps and Tinkercad is fairly self-evident but the two main outcomes of the deal will ensure that the Tinkercad site remains fully operational, and, effective immediately, new users can sign up for the site, which had been stopped since March. Kai also reports that, “at the request of Autodesk, we have supercharged the free plan. You can now create unlimited designs, all import and export functionality is enabled and ShapeScripts are turned on for free accounts. We have automatically upgraded all existing free accounts to this new powerful plan. This account will be offered for a limited time only so make sure you sign up as soon as possible.”
It sounds as though the deal follows some in-depth negotiations between the two parties, but the result is one that both are happy with. From the original Tinkercad team: “We were impressed by the deep insight the Autodesk team had into the Tinkercad interface and the underlying technology. There is also a strong alignment on topics like furthering education and the vision of making design more accessible. But most of all we are very excited about the roadmap Autodesk has drafted for Tinkercad.”
Source: Tinkercad
