Press Release

Spin-off Threedy wins the Fraunhofer Founder Award 2022

The spin-off Threedy GmbH has won the Fraunhofer Founder Award, which amounts to 50,000 euros and is awarded each year by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in partnership with High-Tech Gründerfonds. Threedy impressed the jury by revolutionizing the industrial use of 3D data.

© Fraunhofer/Markus Jürgens
As part of the Fraunhofer Symposium "Netzwert", the Fraunhofer Founder Award 2022 was awarded to the founding team of Threedy GmbH: Prof. Dr. Alexander Kurz (Fraunhofer), Dr. Markus Kückelhaus (HTGF), Christian Stein (Threedy), Dr. Johannes Behr (Threedy) und Dr. Matthias Unbescheiden (Fraunhofer IGD) (from left to right)

The team that founded Threedy was able to build on 25 years of research at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD in Darmstadt before launching its technology on the market supported by Fraunhofer Venture. The spin-off was founded in 2020 and has already enjoyed some major successes, including securing 1.8 million euros in seed capital for the launch of instant3Dhub.

 

Facilitating the use of industrial 3D data

The founding team excels in its grasp of complexity and challenges when it comes to integrating industrial 3D data into modern software infrastructures and mixed reality environments. The ultimate goal is to make the use of industrial 3D data accessible to everyone and to simplify processes accordingly. 

To accomplish this mission, the team developed instant3Dhub, a highly flexible visual computing service platform. This combines the latest algorithms and research results and can be easily adapted to a wide range of application scenarios. It allows easy access to and interaction with industrial 3D data on any device. “The instant3Dhub software runs on existing cloud infrastructures, provides an excellent user experience and can perform a variety of visual computing tasks,” explains Johannes Behr, co-founder and head of products at Threedy.

© Threedy GmbH
Threedy develops and markets instant3Dhub, the first visual computing-as-a-service platform that revolutionizes the industrial use of 3D data.

From simple 3D apps to highly complex specialist tools

Building on its achievements to date, Threedy aims to not only successfully implement its marketing plans but also to steadily grow its product portfolio. This ranges from use cases of simple 3D apps for dynamic processes to highly complex specialist tools.

“The proliferation of 3D data in industrial applications, extending beyond its original focus on engineering, has been visibly gathering momentum over the past few years and will continue to accelerate as a result of megatrends such as digital twins and the industrial metaverse. This is creating enormous potential for Threedy, which we intend to harness by growing the company accordingly.”, explained Christian Stein, Managing Director of Threedy GmbH. 

Gregor Haidl, senior investment manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds, comments: “Threedy provides industrial customers with innovative future concepts for the visualization and processing of 3D data. Its visualization platform enables cross-device integration of 3D data from a variety of domains, ranging from R&D to after sales. The platform is also a potential game changer in the use of virtual and augmented reality technology in industrial applications.”

Thomas Doppelberger, head of Fraunhofer Venture is enthusiastic about the founding team of Threedy GmbH: “We are impressed by how successful Christian Stein’s team has been in convincing high-profile customers of the added value offered by instant3Dhub. This was already the case during their time at Fraunhofer IGD, and Threedy has been continuing this success story for more than two years now as a spin-off.”