Zoo

Zoo

GPU-powered hardware design toolkit and services

Overview

KittyCAD.io provides infrastructure for hardware design, offering a GPU-powered engine with remote streaming and an Open API to support both pre-built tools and client-developed applications. Its Modeling AppPublic Alpha combines point-and-click CAD with code editing, and its Text-to-CAD interface helps automate workflows. The product suite accelerates design processes through machine learning and autoscaling infrastructure, while reducing hardware requirements and costs. KittyCAD.io differentiates itself with a GPU-accelerated, streaming-enabled platform that works across devices and operating systems, and by offering customizable tooling via an Open API, allowing hobbyists, startups, and enterprises to build, deploy, and scale hardware design tools more efficiently. The company’s goal is to save engineering time and resources, enable flexible tool development, and lower the barriers to hardware design by providing scalable, automated infrastructure.

About Zoo

Simplify's Rating
Why Zoo is rated
C
Rated C on Competitive Edge
Rated B on Growth Potential
Rated D+ on Differentiation

Industries

Hardware

Industrial & Manufacturing

Enterprise Software

AI & Machine Learning

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Seed

Total Funding

$5M

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Founded

2021

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • SOC 2 Type II compliance builds enterprise trust for secure hardware design.
  • Free desktop app with 40 AI credits attracts hobbyists and startups broadly.
  • ML-ephant APIs deliver predictive manufacturing feedback, accelerating iterations.

What critics are saying

  • Autodesk Fusion 360's $70 pro plans capture 10M users, eroding Zoo subscriptions.
  • Zookeeper hallucinations produce invalid B-rep geometry, risking manufacturing lawsuits.
  • SolidWorks 2026 native Text-to-CAD pulls enterprises with validated 5M licenses.

What makes Zoo unique

  • Zoo Design Studio launches first GPU-based, cloud-scalable geometry engine in May 2025.
  • Text-to-CAD and Zookeeper enable seamless hybrid workflows of prompts, code, and clicks.
  • Generates editable B-rep models without meshes, supporting Git version control.

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Funding

Total Funding

$5M

Above

Industry Average

Funded Over

1 Rounds

Seed funding is usually the first official round after pre-seed, when a startup has a prototype or concept. It’s typically used to develop the product, test the market, and start building the team. Investors here are often angel investors or early-stage venture capitalists.
Seed Funding Comparison
Above Average

Industry standards

$3.3M
$2M
Netflix
$2.3M
Instacart
$3M
Robinhood
$5M
Zoo

Benefits

Health Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

Hybrid Work Options

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Remote Work Options

Stock Options

Competitive Equity

Wellness Program

Company News

PR Newswire
May 28th, 2025
Zoo Launches Zoo Design Studio

The First Professional CAD Platform Powered by Generative AI LOS ANGELES, May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Zoo, a company that creates infrastructure for hardware design, today announced the launch of Zoo Design Studio, a unified CAD suite for engineering and manufacturing companies of all sizes. Included in Zoo Design Studio is Text-to-CAD, a feature that enables design engineers to leverage the power of generative AI to create complex designs in seconds.  The new service is available via subscription, starting from free and with advanced features included in paid tiers, from $99 per month. Zoo Design Studio allows customers to flexibly weave edits to their designs between traditional point-and-click interactions, programmatic interactions with code, and text prompt interactions via Text-to-CAD. This allows the customer to choose any of these three approaches within one common environment. Zoo Design Studio is built using their proprietary geometry engine, which is the world's first to be GPU-based, cloud-implemented, API-accessible, and dynamically scalable

VC News Daily
Oct 5th, 2023
Kittycad Closes $5M Seed Financing

KittyCAD Closes $5M Seed Financing Back to HomeMALIBU, CA, KittyCAD a company developing advanced tools for hardware design, has closed a $5M Series Seed financing led by Venrex Partners.KittyCAD a company developing advanced tools for hardware design, has closed a $5M Series Seed financing led by Venrex Partners, a UK-based Venture Capital firm. The round also included participation from USC's Viterbi School of Engineering, Gaingels, Kelvin Beachum, Matt Terrell, Undeterred Capital, Liquid 2, Tom Preston-Werner's Family Office, Madrona Venture Group, Bernie Lagrange, and Nat Friedman.(c)2011-2020 by Massinvestor, Inc. For contact info, please check out our about page

Peerless Media
Oct 4th, 2023
KittyCAD Updates API, Adds Geometry Engine

KittyCAD, a company that develops advanced tools for hardware design, has released geometry engine capabilities on its application programming interface.

PR Newswire
Oct 3rd, 2023
KITTYCAD ANNOUNCES UPDATED API WITH HIGHLY ANTICIPATED GEOMETRY ENGINE CAPABILITIES

/PRNewswire/ -- KittyCAD, the world's only company to develop advanced tools for hardware design, announced today the release of first-ever geometry engine...

Alumni Ventures
Aug 19th, 2022
One of the Most Active Venture Firms in the US - Alumni Ventures

Our venture capital portfolio is fueled by our network: a community of experts, innovators, and investors who come together to build great companies.

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