Tech investment firm GP Bullhound has invested in a Swedish firm whose 3D tools are used by smash hit game Monster Hunter: World.
The Manchester-based firm joined Swedish investment firm Back in Black to invest in Quixel as part of a funding round worth £2.2 million.
Quixel was founded in 2011 and develops tools for 3D artists, primarily in the video gaming and film industries.
The company's main product is Megascans, the world's largest and fastest growing library of scanned 3D objects and materials.
The funds raised will be used to accelerate the growth of the library and build an ecosystem of time-saving creative tools around Megascans.
One of the first users of Megascans objects and materials was MPC, the production company behind Disney's Jungle Book, which used an early version of the library to create the film's Oscar-winning 3D environments. Two of the most current games using Megascans are Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World and the remake of Shadow of the Colossus.
"When we founded Quixel we had a vision of a future where game environments would become completely photorealistic and where a majority of films would rely entirely on computer-generated environments. This future would be characterised by high-quality 3D scanning,” said Quixel CEO and founder Teddy Bergsman.
“We have therefore developed our own hardware and software and established a scanning team all over the world who worked for several years to create the world's largest library of objects and materials.
“The production of the Jungle Book was at the cutting edge of 3D cinema production, with not a single camera shot taken outside of MPC’s studio in Los Angeles. It proved to work perfectly with our technology.
“We anticipate that the gaming, film, advertising and architectural industries will all converge towards using standardized workflows to create their content and we want to offer all the tools needed for artists to create photorealistic environments with simplicity."
Joakim Dal, partner of GP Bullhound Asset Management, said: "Teddy is a brilliant example of today's entrepreneur – an expert in his field even before he turned 30.
“We think it's very exciting to collaborate with Quixel and contribute to their continued growth."