Polycam has raised $18.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Polycam's investors include Electric Capital, General Catalyst, Greylock, Kairos HQ, Left Lane Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Smash Capital, Scott Belsky.
Polycam is a technology company that builds a cross-platform 3D capture app using smartphone LiDAR, photogrammetry, video, and AI to enable users to scan spaces, objects, and environments as easily as taking a photo.[1][2][5] It serves a wide range of customers, including over half the Fortune 500 companies, hundreds of thousands of individual users, professionals in architecture, engineering, construction (AEC), interior design, VFX, video game creation, manufacturing, and teams for site surveys and product design, solving the problem of making precise, professional-grade reality capture affordable, fast, and accessible without expensive hardware.[1][2][5] The company has shown strong growth momentum, with over 100,000 paying users, $6.5 million in 2023 revenue, and over $22 million raised in 2024, alongside expanding features like AEC tools, drone mapping, 360 capture, and scan-to-BIM services.[1][5]
Polycam was founded four years prior to 2024 (around 2020) by Chris Hinrich and Elliot Spellman, who previously worked at a company developing a '3D Instagram' app that relied on server-based photogrammetry processing from uploaded images—a process they found bottlenecked.[1] Frustrated by the delays, they left to create Polycam, innovating on-device, real-time 3D processing using smartphone capabilities like LiDAR for fast, local creation of 3D models.[1] Early traction came from consumer appeal, evolving into professional adoption, with pivotal growth in AEC users and features like partnerships for human-assisted CAD/BIM conversions, leading to significant funding and Fortune 500 usage.[1]
Polycam rides the trend of democratizing reality capture, shifting from expensive laser scanners to ubiquitous smartphone-based tools blending LiDAR, AI, and photogrammetry, making 3D scanning cheap and mobile for AEC, design, and manufacturing.[1][4] Timing aligns with iPhone LiDAR proliferation, drone integration, and AI advancements in computer vision, countering high-margin legacy hardware while competitors like Matterport add low-cost options.[1] Market forces favoring it include rising demand for digital twins, remote collaboration post-pandemic, and AEC's push toward scan-to-BIM automation; Polycam influences the ecosystem by onboarding pros to mobile workflows, expanding 3D data use in construction, VFX, and product dev, and building a collaborative platform.[1][5]
Polycam is poised to dominate mobile 3D capture by deepening AEC penetration with BIM/IFC enhancements, AI-driven automation, and drone/360 expansions, potentially scaling revenues beyond 2023's $6.5M amid growing enterprise adoption.[1][5] Trends like AI-refined photogrammetry, AR/VR integration, and real-time digital twins will shape its path, evolving it from a capture app to a full reality platform influencing how builders and creators document the physical world. As smartphone sensors advance, Polycam's on-device edge could solidify its lead, tying back to its founding disruption of slow, server-bound 3D tools.
Polycam has raised $18.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $18.0M Series A in February 2024.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 1, 2024 | $18.0M Series A | Electric Capital, General Catalyst, Greylock, Kairos HQ, Left Lane Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Smash Capital, Scott Belsky |
