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Rival, a startup that develops technology to enable millions of users to create and share 3D content, has emerged from stealth today and announced it has raised $4.2 million in the pre-seed round, led by Speedinvest and with participation from New Renaissance Ventures and high-profile angels. The valuation was not disclosed to TFN.
Operating in stealth mode allowed Rival to develop its groundbreaking technology away from competitors’ scrutiny while refining its approach. This strategy enabled the company to perfect its 2D-to-3D conversion technology before revealing it to the market, giving it a significant competitive edge in the rapidly evolving spatial computing landscape.
With the new funding, the company plans to grow its team with more ML/AI engineers and expand its presence in the U.S. market.
How Rival bridges the 3D content gap
Rival Technologies was founded in 2023 by Alexander Oppermann and Konrad Melzer (who previously developed security software for the German FBI) alongside a team of former Google, Meta, and Amazon engineers. Based in London, the startup aims to grow the spatial computing market by addressing the shortage of content for the expanding range of headsets.
Alexander Oppermann, CEO of Rival, told TFN: “Rival started as a small side project where we tried to produce 3D content for ourselves and our friends playing Population:One. After seeing how difficult it was to produce and distribute user-generated VR content, we developed the idea to build tools and a platform to help the creator economy transition to VR.”
The spatial computing market faces a paradox: while hardware capabilities advance rapidly with devices like Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest, adoption lags due to insufficient compelling content. This content gap presents both a challenge and a massive market opportunity, with spatial computing expected to grow from approximately $110 billion in 2023 to $1.7 trillion by 2033. Rival’s approach tackles this bottleneck by democratising 3D content creation.
Rival has created a platform that lets users browse immersive 3D short-form content in their spatial computing headset, similar to TikTok or Instagram Reels. Beyond uploading conventional 3D content, users can transform any 2D video into an immersive 3D experience using the startup’s first-of-its-kind 2D-to-3D foundational AI model. This technology leverages recent breakthroughs in AI-driven image processing, using sophisticated depth estimation algorithms and neural rendering techniques to create realistic 3D representations with appropriate textures and lighting.
Unlocking spatial computing’s potential
Oppermann told TFN: “Our product is built from the ground up around AI. To enable user-generated content, you must solve both production and distribution — it’s difficult, and no one else is doing that. Content production and editing are especially challenging compared to 2D. AI will drastically change the trajectory of spatial computing—we’re one of the first to build it for this space.”
While spatial computing hardware advances rapidly, limited content availability slows mass adoption. Rival’s 3D AI technology catalyses the unlock of spatial computing’s potential, enabling users to create, share, and explore immersive content.
Their comprehensive platform approach sets Rival apart in the 2D-to-3D conversion space. Rather than just providing conversion tools, Rival is building an entire ecosystem for creating, sharing, and experiencing 3D content. “There are several players, including YoutubeVR, whose products overlap with parts of what we do, but no one is building the entire value chain from tools to distribution to enable user-generated content in VR,” noted Oppermann.
“Rival will become the essential infrastructure for the spatial computing era, making 3D creation accessible to millions of everyday users. We’re building a platform that removes technical barriers, enabling a new generation of creators to shape immersive digital experiences. Our technology solves the critical content gap currently limiting spatial computing’s potential,” added Oppermann.
Future prospects: supporting visualisation across industries
As spatial computing evolves, Rival’s technology could enable applications ranging from immersive educational experiences to virtual shopping environments where products can be viewed in 3D. The technology could also support professional visualisation in architecture, medicine, and industrial design.
Oppermann concluded, “We will relentlessly release tech to truly enable users to produce AR/VR content, and bring millions of VR users currently scattered across the many games and hardware platforms together”
Victor Huerbe, Principal with Speedinvest’s Marketplaces & Consumer investment team, says: “Spatial computing is at an inflection point, but the biggest gap is content. Rival is solving this with AI that makes 3D creation effortless, unlocking a whole new wave of immersive experiences.
“Alex, Konrad, and the team move fast, and they’ve quietly built something game-changing. We backed them because they’re not just iterating on existing tools, they’re building the foundation for how we’ll create and consume 3D content in the future.”
The post Meet Rival: Ex-Google and Meta engineers scoop $4.2M to launch 3D content creation platform with 2D-to-3D AI technology appeared first on Tech Funding News.