Google Invests $1M in 3D Design App Rooms - Over 1 Million Creations

Rooms 3D Design App Secures New Investment

The 3D design application, Rooms, has recently received additional funding. Initially launched into beta in 2023, this app—developed by former Google personnel—empowers users to construct and program interactive 3D environments and miniature games.

A library exceeding 10,000 items is provided, and these assets can be further customized utilizing the Lua programming language.

Google's Investment and Gemini AI Access

Google has directly invested $1 million into Rooms as part of a collaborative agreement. This partnership also grants Rooms prioritized access to Google’s Gemini AI technology.

Founding Team and App Functionality

Rooms was established by ex-Googlers Jason Toff, Bruno Oliveira, and Nick Kruge. Their collective expertise spans AR/VR, gaming, and YouTube development.

The application facilitates the creation of compact 3D spaces and offers a discovery experience akin to TikTok, presenting these spaces in a vertical feed.

Serving as both a creative platform and an introduction to coding, Rooms allows creators to express themselves through digital artwork that can be adapted and remixed by other users.

Evolving Creator Trends

Initially, users focused on building simpler spaces and mini-games. However, a growing trend involves the construction of more expansive environments and the utilization of the app for narrative storytelling, as noted by Toff in a discussion with TechCrunch.

User eodqueen exemplifies this shift, progressing from standard room designs to larger, more intricate spaces incorporating animation and interactive elements.

Version 3.0 Update and Gemini Integration

On November 26, 2024, Rooms was updated to version 3.0, introducing a new Actions editor. This feature enables users to animate their rooms without requiring coding knowledge.

Rooms intends to integrate its access to Gemini to enhance the user experience further, specifically through the implementation of a text-to-speech functionality.

Leveraging Gemini 2.0 Flash, creators will be able to incorporate narration, and characters within the rooms will gain the ability to speak, thereby expanding storytelling possibilities.

Voice Tone Customization

Creators will have the option to select specific tones for character dialogue, including options such as angry, bored, calm, confident, enthusiastic, happy, and excited, as demonstrated in a YouTube video published by Rooms.

Platform Growth and Milestones

Things, Inc., the company behind Rooms, reports that over 1 million rooms have been created on the platform.

The available inventory of items and objects for designing these digital spaces has grown to exceed 10,000, an increase from over 7,500 in April 2024.

While specific user numbers and engagement metrics remain undisclosed, Rooms had reached a registered user base of 250,000 last year.

Funding Details

The recent funding round, finalized in December, was provided directly by Google—not through its venture capital arm, GV—and was structured as a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity).

This SAFE agreement provides Google with the opportunity to invest in Rooms’ subsequent funding round, its Series A.

Previously, the startup secured $10 million in seed funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Scott Belsky (Adobe’s chief strategy officer and VP of Design & Emerging Products), and Mike Krieger (Instagram co-founder).

Availability and Monetization

Rooms is currently accessible via web browsers and on iOS devices. The application has not yet implemented any monetization strategies.