Adam, a highly viral startup from Y Combinator’s Winter 2025 batch, has raised a $4.1 million seed round to fund its next phase of growth. Following the launch of its text-to-3D model app, which generated over 10 million social media impressions, the AI startup found itself in a strong position with investors.
CEO Zach Dive stated that the company received term sheets over email without any meetings. Adam selected TQ Ventures as its lead investor because both parties shared a vision for the future of computer-aided design, or CAD. They also agreed on the company’s strategic roadmap, which involves targeting consumers first before moving to enterprise clients.
This consumer-first approach required significant alignment, as Adam initially captured public attention with a mainstream product. Dive confirmed this strategy is proving successful and is paving the way for the upcoming launch of a copilot for professional-grade CAD workflows.
The startup had always intended to pursue business-to-business opportunities but felt the technology was not yet ready for enterprise use. This led to its initial focus on makers rather than engineers. However, with AI models improving faster than anticipated, Adam now plans to launch its copilot by the end of the year.
The initial tool allows creators without CAD skills to build 3D models from text prompts. Early user feedback indicated that text was not always the ideal method for interacting with 3D objects. In response, the new copilot will blend different interaction methods. For example, users will be able to select different parts of a 3D object and converse with it. This provides a point of differentiation from other text-to-CAD products, though competition also exists in the AI copilot for CAD segment.
The early viral launch was particularly beneficial for hiring, which remains a priority. Dive and his cofounder, Chief Product Officer Aaron Li, are both graduates of UC Berkeley’s Master of Design program. The startup is now seeking more AI and engineering talent to help give models the proper context for reasoning in space.
This hiring effort is supported by both capital and endorsements. Beyond lead investor TQ Ventures, participating funds include 468 Capital, Pioneer, Script Capital, and Transpose Platform. The company is also backed by angel investors such as Tim Glaser of Posthog, Trevor Blackwell of Y Combinator, and Theo Browne of T3 Chat.
Vercel founder Guillermo Rauch endorsed Adam by calling it “the v0 of CAD,” suggesting it is simpler, faster, and reaches a broader audience.
Adam is already building that broad audience, with tens of thousands of individual users and a growing base of paying customers for its Standard and Pro plans, which start at $5.99 and $17.99 per month, respectively. The startup has not yet begun to monetize its upcoming enterprise offering but has testers validating different features.
This testing phase is essential, as there is a significant difference between helping amateurs print 3D models and supporting engineers in their professional work. Dive clarified that the startup’s goal is not to replace engineers but to streamline time-consuming tasks, such as applying the same change across multiple CAD files.
With an initial focus on mechanical engineering, the startup aims to help professional users generate feature-rich parametric designs within popular CAD programs, starting with Onshape. Dive predicted that just as Onshape brought CAD to the cloud and reshaped workflows, the same will be true with the integration of AI.