Full-Time

Research Engineer

3D World Models

SpAItial

SpAItial

11-50 employees

Develops AI for 3D world generation

No salary listed

London, UK + 1 more

More locations: Munich, Germany

In Person

Bachelor's, Master's

Category
AI & Machine Learning (1)
Required Skills
LLM
Python
Neural Networks
PyTorch
Machine Learning
Computer Vision

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Requirements
  • A Bachelor's or Master's degree, or equivalent project or research experience, in computer science, machine learning, computer vision, graphics, robotics, or a related field.
  • Strong fundamentals in deep learning and generative models, particularly diffusion models and transformers.
  • A solid understanding of 3D processing concepts such as camera geometry, depth, reconstruction, point clouds, meshes, or Gaussian splats.
  • Proficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch, with experience in model training and optimization.
  • The ability to implement research papers, run experiments, and iterate quickly on new ideas.
  • Strong coding skills and experience building reliable, scalable machine learning systems.
Responsibilities
  • Design and develop generative 3D machine learning methods for creating high-quality 3D content from images, video, and other inputs.
  • Build, train, optimize, and evaluate models for 3D reconstruction, novel view synthesis, and world generation.
  • Implement and experiment with state-of-the-art 3D representations including point clouds, meshes, and 3D Gaussian Splatting.
  • Develop training pipelines and loss functions that improve geometry accuracy, visual fidelity, and consistency.
  • Collaborate with researchers to integrate physics-aware priors and world model capabilities into generative systems.
  • Analyze model performance, debug failure cases, and iterate to improve quality and robustness.

SpAItial develops Spatial Foundation Models (SFMs) that understand, generate, and reason about 3D environments with space-time and physics. The models work natively with 3D structures, capturing geometry, material properties, and physics from minimal inputs such as a single image, a short video, or text, to produce photorealistic and physically consistent virtual worlds. The company plans to license its foundation model to developers as a business model and envisions broad applications across gaming and entertainment, CAD engineering, VR/AR experiences, digital twins, robotics, and immersive experiences. SpAItial differentiates itself by focusing on 3D-native, spatio-temporal and physics-aware AI rather than 2D pixel- or text-based generation, leveraging the founders’ deep backgrounds in AI, computer vision, and 3D content creation. Its goal is to create AI that can seamlessly navigate and connect virtual and physical realms.

Company Size

11-50

Company Stage

Seed

Total Funding

$13M

Headquarters

London, United Kingdom

Founded

2024

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • SpAItial launched Echo-2 on April 28, 2026, showing product velocity after stealth.
  • The June 30, 2026 partner program offers free credits and priority API access.
  • Job postings in March 2026 signal active hiring in London and Munich.

What critics are saying

  • Echo-2 lacks a proven enterprise customer base, exposing SpAItial to pilot churn.
  • SpAItial must raise again in 2026 to fund compute-heavy model training.
  • By 2027, open-source 3D world models commoditize Echo's licensing business.

What makes SpAItial unique

  • Niessner, Martin-Brualla, and Novotny bring Synthesia, Google, and Meta 3D pedigrees.
  • Echo-2 generates spatially persistent 3D scenes from one image, not frame-by-frame video.
  • The June 2026 Startup and Creative Partners programs create a developer ecosystem.

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Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

22%

1 year growth

22%

2 year growth

4%
Tech.eu
Apr 16th, 2026
European 3D AI startup SpAItial raises $13M, says sector is "where ChatGPT was five years ago

SpAItial, a Munich and London-based 3D AI foundation model startup, says 3D AI models are "where ChatGPT for language was five years ago". The company, which raised $13 million in seed funding last year, has built its first 3D AI model and is seeking commercial licensing partners. CEO and co-founder Matthias Niessner, who took leave from leading the visual computing and AI lab at the Technical University of Munich, says the company plans to raise additional funding this year. However, he emphasised they won't pursue billions immediately, preferring a "step by step" approach. SpAItial's models create 3D worlds from text and image inputs, with potential applications spanning video games, robotics, construction and housing industries. Niessner attributes continued investor interest to AI's massive opportunity and the ability to build with small teams using AI coding agents.

Tech.eu
May 27th, 2025
SpAItial emerges from stealth with $13M Seed for AI-native 3D applications

AI startup SpAItial has emerged from stealth mode with a $13 million seed round led by Earlybird Venture Capital, joined by Speedinvest and several high-profile angels.

TechCrunch
May 27th, 2025
One of Europe’s top AI researchers raised a $13M seed to crack the ‘holy grail’ of models

One of Europe’s most prominent AI researchers, Matthias Niessner, is now the CEO of SpAItial, a startup working on spatial foundation models.