Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has acquired Amsterdam-based Th3rd, a 3D scanning firm, for an undisclosed amount. The Dutch company confirmed this deal via a LinkedIn post.
“We are beyond proud to make this official. Last year we were acquired by Snap Inc. to be part of their newly launched AR Enterprise Services. It’s been a true rollercoaster and we couldn’t be more excited to take our tech to the next level together with the amazing team at Snap,” says Th3rd.
A spokesperson for the Amsterdam-based company told TechCrunch that four team members from the Th3rd have also joined Snap as part of the acquisition.
Digitising product catalogue at scale
Founded in 2014 by Rudo Bisschop, Esther Bisschop and Tristan Bethe, Th3rd specialises in creating high-quality 3D digital twins of people and products through its enterprise solution 3DSaaS.
It assists companies in adjusting costs and making each stage of the chain more efficient, quicker, and less expensive by utilising digital product twins throughout the value chain in various applications and use cases.
Th3rd claims it can digitise up to 50,000 items per year per scan solution and on a location of choice. The brand only spends a set amount for each digital twin (3D model), and they can select the output format and grade level.
The digital 3D models can be used for (digital) marketing, virtual reality, augmented reality, as holograms, and as a Master file in asset collection to build advertising campaigns.
Th3rd assists companies like Adidas and Vans in producing 3D product duplicates at scale. In 2020, the company partnered with Adidas to create hyper-realistic 3D shoe scans as well as digitised over 2,500 pairs of sneakers after being chosen for Adidas’ Accelerator in Europe.
The company says, “Since the beginning of 2014, we’ve done numerous bespoke projects of 3D scanning products for ad campaigns, art projects, media and television. We’ve also digitised celebrities, such as soccer players Messi and Mbappé, cyclist Tom Dumoulin and DJs Armin van Buuren and Hardwell.”
Snap’s recent developments in AR
Recently, Snap has been investing in AR-powered companies and has expanded its platform to take advantage of the technology.
On March 23, Snap announced that it would begin supplying its augmented reality tools to business clients. The company says “over 250 million people engage with our AR every day, on average.”
To assist companies in utilising AR tech, the new SaaS offering will provide a number of features like fit and sizing suggestion technology and AR try-on. Snap says brands can incorporate these AR elements right into their applications or websites.
The company’s acquisition of Th3rd is one of the several AR companies that have been acquired by Snap over the last few years.
Below are some of Snap’s previous acquisitions:
- In April 2022, the company introduced tools that convert images from retailers into 3D assets, along with “Dress Up”, an in-app location for AR fashion and simulated try-on
- In May 2021, Snap purchased WaveOptics for $500M. It is an AR startup that provided the technology for Snap’s Spectacles AR glasses
- In March 2021, Snap purchased Fit Analytics to advance its AR-driven foray into e-commerce
- In July 2021, the company acquired 3D and AR commerce company Vertebrae
- In 2022, Snap disclosed that it had acquired AR company Forma
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