Korean startup Urbanbase secures USD 11.1 million in Series B+ round

Seoul-headquartered Urbanbase, a company that develops 3D spatial data tools for interior planning and design, announced to have raised USD 11.1 million in a Series B+ round. Hanwha Hotel & Resort, a subsidiary of Hanwha Corporation, led the funding round.

Urbanbase, founded by CEO and a former architect Jinu Ha in 2013, has now raised a total of USD 20 million. The company had secured USD 1.8 million in Series A round and further USD 1.2 million in 2017 and its first Series B round in April 2020, from supporters including Shinsegae Information & Communication, SL Investment, Woomi Construction, Enlight Ventures, Shinhan Capital, CKD Venture Capital, KDB Capital, and Breeze Investment.

The latest funds will be used for augmenting its B2B SaaS, investing in research & development for augmented reality (AR), advanced virtual reality (VR), and 3D tools, which are the main technologies of metaverse that Urbanbase plans to enter.

Companies centering around opportunities in “metaverse” are expanding as a part of a next-generation approach to developing viable business models in domains of augmented reality and virtual reality, and all software and hardware and new technologies that are being built for them.

It is worth noting that big tech companies including Facebook, Intel, Microsoft, and many others are already aiming to shift to this domain. Apple also pitched into the area of VR, working on developing a high-end virtual reality headset.

Urbanbase also is seeking to upgrade Urbanbase Studio, its home interior software platform, that has functions to revamp 2D indoor space images into 3D displays using Urbanbase’s patented algorithm based on AI technology.

Urbanbase is planning an acquisition target in the construction and prop-tech technology sectors and it is currently focusing on developing the interior tools for apartments as 70-80% of households in Japan and South Korea live in apartments.

Urbanbase has around 50,000 monthly active users, along with 70,000 registered B2C users and 50 B2B customers. The company currently operates the platform in Japanese and Korean but is anticipated to add an English language service before entering Singapore by 2021 end.

Source Credits:

https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/29/korean-3d-spatial-data-tool-startup-urbanbase-closes-11-1m-series-b-round/