Vizcom, the startup building an AI-powered industrial design platform, has announced a $20 million Series A funding round led by Index Ventures, with participation from notable angel investors Kyle Parrish, Steve Malouf, Ayush Sood, and Daniel Sturman. This funding follows a $5 million seed round in January 2023, led by Unusual Ventures, and brings the company's total funding to nearly $26 million at a valuation of $100 million.
Founded in 2021 by Jordan Taylor and Kaelan Richards, Vizcom has quickly gained traction among leading enterprises, including Ford and New Balance, for its innovative approach to industrial design. The platform seamlessly integrates AI capabilities into the design process, enabling designers to transform sketches into photorealistic renders, explore countless design variations, and collaborate with team members in real-time.
What sets Vizcom apart is its user-centric approach, which complements designers' existing workflows rather than attempting to replace them. "Our goal has always been to build a tool that leverages how designers already work, not replace them," said CEO Jordan Taylor in a blog post announcing the funding. "We wanted to give designers a creative accelerant that would bring their ideas to life faster and more efficiently, while still keeping them firmly in the driver's seat."
Vizcom's intuitive interface allows designers to import sketches, draw directly within the application, and use natural language commands to refine designs. The platform's Workbench feature provides an infinite canvas for ideation, version management, and collaboration, while its 3D layers capability enables designers to upload 3D models as starting points and set desired perspectives.
Nina Achadjian, a partner at Index Ventures who led the investment, was impressed by the company's rapid growth and customer adoption. "Over the course of 2023, we were so impressed by the tremendous amount of inbound they had gotten," she told Forbes. Achadjian also praised Taylor's passion and vision, comparing him to other successful young founders backed by Index Ventures, such as Figma's Dylan Field and Scale AI's Alexandr Wang.
With the Series A funding, Vizcom plans to significantly expand its product development efforts, adding even more capabilities to enhance every stage of the design process. The company will also grow its team, bringing in top talent in design and technology, and scale up its enterprise offerings to transform the way innovative companies approach design.
Looking ahead, Taylor envisions a future where designers can seamlessly move from a rendering in Vizcom to a 3D printer, streamlining the process from concept to physical prototype. "I think one day you're going to be able to upload a line drawing to Vizcom and a 3D printer goes off."