Zibra AI raises $500,000 from a16z Speedrun | Pocket Gamer.biz

Ukrainian deeptech company Zibra AI, which specialises in AI-generated 3D assets for games and virtual environments, has announced that it has raised $500,000 as part of the inaugural Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Speedrun accelerator program. This funding kicks off the company’s current seed investment round, and brings its total investment to-date to $2.5 million.

2024’s Speedrun event is has just opened its doors to participants looking do likewise. Find out more here.

AI wins the big bucks

Founded in 2021, Zibra AI aims to use the funding to expand its team and accelerate the growth of its generative AI technology. This includes its flagship product, Zibra Effects, a Unity Verified Solution available on a variety of platforms which has use cases in industries such as gaming, the metaverse, and professional training. The solution automates the creation of 3D assets and visual effects, streamlining production for developers.

“It was an honour for Zibra AI to have been shortlisted in the very first a16z Speedrun this year,” said CEO and co-founder Alex Petrenko. “It’s the latest investment proofpoint which demonstrates clear investor confidence in our technology roadmap and vision for the next two years and beyond. Our generative AI tools address the two major challenges faced by developers – creating interactive VFX and generating 3D assets and characters. With this new investment, we can accelerate our plans to develop our tech and further support and streamline development for games and all virtual experiences across industries.”

“We were immediately impressed with the Zibra AI team’s ability to solve some of the most challenging technical problems in computer graphics,” added a16z investment partner Troy Kirwin. “We’re thrilled to be a part of their journey to build an end-to-end 3D content creation platform.”

Zibra AI was one of the 32 companies accepted into the a16z speedrun out of 1,600 applicants. The speedrun provides coaching and funding to the most promising pre-seed startups in the gaming and tech spaces, with each of the accepted companies receiving an initial $500,000 investment and pitching to investors at the Speedrun Demo Day in June 2023.