MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GridRaster, a California-based Mixed Reality (MR) startup, has built a cloud-based platform for immersive MR on mobile devices and wearables for enterprise applications. GridRaster leverages the distributed edge computing architecture and 3D vision-based AI to enable truly immersive MR experiences at scale. The company also announced today $2.4 million in Seed funding to strengthen product development and deliver on multiple pilots with select large enterprise customers in aerospace & defense, automotive, and telecommunications.
“Immersive technologies are transforming the way we visualize concepts, manipulate and collaborate on product design, provide training and service, and perform maintenance. However, enterprises are currently facing difficulty in deploying high-quality immersive systems that can provide performance and scale,” said Rishi Ranjan, Founder & CEO of GridRaster. “At GridRaster, we have developed a software platform that overcomes these challenges, and allows our customers to deploy high-performance MR applications on mobile platforms to drive innovation in the industry at speed and scale.”
Mobile devices and untethered headsets are severely limited in computation and available power because of obvious restrictions in terms of dissipating heat and battery capacity (weight). This directly conflicts with the requirement of graphically intensive rendering and real-time spatial mapping necessary for truly immersive experience. GridRaster solves this problem by performing the heavy computations on distributed servers and streaming the immersive experience to the device while maintaining ultra-low latency by using final frame rendering locally on the device. This approach reduces power requirements of the display client, increasing runtime and reducing heat. Using distributed GPUs in the server, the solution employs real time spatial mapping with high mesh density, allowing high precision object rendering. 3D vision and Deep Learning based AI is used to identify and match real objects with their digital twins and 3D models, allowing for accurate overlays of virtual objects over their real-world counterparts. Additionally, GridRaster is heavily involved in the infrastructure development for edge compute and network data centers that will enable immersive visual computing experiences for enterprise and consumer applications.
The GridRaster platform powers high-fidelity graphics at ultra-low latency for large CAD models, virtual environments and point clouds (>10x improvement) and highly accurate fusion of virtual and physical objects (< 1mm precision of overlay). With a strong portfolio of patents on its core technology, GridRaster aims to set the standard for edge cloud and 3D AI powered high-quality enterprise MR.
By providing easy API-based integration on prevalent content creation tools such as existing CAD tools, Unity, and others, GridRaster ensures that customers can seamlessly integrate it into their existing content, making the on-boarding process frictionless. “We have just begun to see the capabilities this technology can bring to customers across immersive space and are excited by the results to keep pushing the boundaries,” said Rishi Ranjan.
GridRaster’s Seed round of funding was led by MaC Venture Capital, a Los Angeles and Silicon Valley based investment firm which invests in entrepreneurs creating technology and consumer products, with participation from Exfinity Venture Partners and Blackhorn Ventures. Exfinity Venture Partners followed up on their previous investment. As part of the deal, Adrian Fenty, Managing General Partner, MaC Venture Capital and Nihar Ranjan, Venture Partner, Exfinity Venture Partners join the board.
“The GridRaster Team has worked on cutting edge technologies such as 3G, 4G, VOIP and Optical at companies like Qualcomm, Apple, Broadcom and Texas Instruments. They are using their deep expertise in computer graphics, cloud computing, AI, wireless infrastructure, optical, mobile and software development to shape the next defining computing platform,” said Adrian Fenty, Managing General Partner at MaC Venture Capital.
According to Rishi Ranjan, “We have built a strong core team, who have previously built, deployed and shipped multiple next-generational mobile and network-based products. We have also proven our core technology working with great partners in the industry. The new capital will strengthen our development team and product as we continue to establish GridRaster as the platform of choice for cloud-based Mixed Reality for enterprise applications.”
About GridRaster
GridRaster is a Mixed Reality start-up developing the software infrastructure for cloud-based high-quality immersive experiences on wearables and mobile devices; powered by distributed edge-computing and 3D vision-based AI. GridRaster is based out of Silicon Valley, California, and is backed by top VCs and influential angel investors.
