CGTrader, a 3D model marketplace for artists and designers, has obtained 185,000 euro in seed funding from the Lithuanian fund Practica Capital. The site itself was established in 2011 by current CEO Marius Kalytis in an effort to encourage the trade of 3D models among artists and designers. CGTrader operates in a similar field as Estonian GrabCAD, which has secured $8.5 million in Series B funding in October 2012. Whilst GrabCAD appears to focus on the community of the 3D model designers and their cloud-based tools, CGTrader is an online marketplace.
According to Practica, said artists generally receive only 40-60% of the royalties when their work is sold. As a result, CGTrader offers a portal through which artists can trade their work and receive 100% of the revenue. The site charges a small, fixed fee when the models are put back on sale, but Practica says that artists keep an average of 94% of their revenue from sales.
In this case, the funds raised will go towards technology (there’s a new system which will be rolled out in the near future), to build the community of 3D artists and designers further, and to expand distribution channels for the designers.
Kalytis tells me that they have a userbase of about 1,500 artists and that the site receives about 65,000 visitors per month.
Recently, we wrote that Practica Capital backed Lithuanian money-transfer service TransferGo with 150,000 euro.
The image is by artist Bondiana (on CGTrader).
