Google invests $1 million in 3D design app Rooms after creating more than a million ‘rooms’

3D design app Rooms just received more funding. Launching in beta in 2023, the app from former Google employees allows users to create and code interactive 3D rooms and mini-games using a library of more than 10,000 elements, which can be modified later using the Lua programming language.

Now, Google itself invested $1 million in the app in a partnership deal that also gave Rooms early access to Google’s Gemini AI.

Founded by former Googlers, including Jason Toff, Bruno Oliveira and Nick Kruge, who have experience in AR/VR, gaming and YouTube, Rooms offers a way to create mini 3D spaces, as well as an experience of type TikTok to browse these spaces. in a vertical feed. Both a creative outlet and an introduction to coding, the experience allows “room” creators to express themselves through digital art which can then be remixed by others in rooms of their own creation.

Initially, creators built simple spaces and mini-games using the technology, but more recent trends see people building even larger spaces and using the app to tell stories, Toff tells TechCrunch.

An example of this trend comes from user named eodqueen, who first built standard rooms and then began creating even larger spaces while incorporating animation and interactivity.

The app itself was also updated to version 3.0 on November 26, 2024, with a new actions editor that allows users to bring their pieces to life without having to code. Soon, Rooms plans to leverage its access to Gemini to further improve the in-app experience via a text-to-speech mode.

Through an integration with Gemini 2.0 Flash, creators will be able to add narration and characters will be able to speak, allowing for broader storytelling capabilities.

Creators will even be able to choose the type of tone they should use when characters speak, such as angry, bored, calm, confident, enthusiastic, happy, excited and others, according to a demo of the feature posted by Rooms on YouTube.

Things, Inc., the company behind Rooms, also announced that it has surpassed one million rooms built on the platform and that more than 10,000 objects and objects are now available in its inventory for designing these small digital spaces. The latter represents an increase from more than 7,500 digital items in April 2024.

The startup doesn’t share any updates on user counts or engagement times, but last year, Rooms reached a quarter of a million registered users.

The funding, closed in December, came from Google itself (not GV, Alphabet’s venture capital arm) and was structured as a SAFE, which gives Google the opportunity to invest in the next round of Rooms, its series A. The startup has already raised $10 million. in seed funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Adobe’s chief strategy officer and vice president of design and emerging products, Scott Belsky, as well as Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, among others.

Rooms is currently available on the web and iOS. It has not yet introduced monetization.