AI company Schemata has come out of stealth and announced $5 million in seed funding to accelerate the development of its training platform.
The company’s 3D reality capture, spatial AI, and contextual information can help the defense and enterprise sectors more rapidly and cost-effectively create photorealistic and interactive training programs. The new platform is already being piloted by the Department of Defense.
Schemata’s technology converts 2D images into photorealistic 3D environments using 3D reality capture. It then uses spatial AI to apply contextual information to those assets, as well as an AI Instructor so that users can engage with the 3D simulations through voice or text. The result is personalized AI-enabled training assistance that can be created 10 times faster and up to 85% more cost-effectively than traditional content creation means, the company said.
The startup’s origins trace back to Stanford University, where founders James Brown and Huy Nguyen first developed the concept for an AI-driven simulation platform leveraging Brown’s insights on military training and simulation and Nguyen’s expertise in 3D graphics and computer vision. The pair brought on former congressional staffer and co-founder Quin Roberts, and left Stanford last June to build Schemata.
“By harnessing the latest advances in generative AI’s reasoning capabilities, we can more effectively parse complex 3D data—and, in turn, gain deeper insights into real-world environments,” said Brown, Schemata CEO, i an statement. “In the Marine Corps, everything I did was centered around large-scale physical operations on complex terrain and equipment. At Stanford, we saw how AI was transforming knowledge work, and we wanted to bring those same advancements to those who work out in the physical world”.
3D reality capture is the process of using technologies like laser scanners, drones, and photogrammetry to digitally reconstruct physical spaces in 3D. The result is a highly accurate virtual model of a real environment.
Spatial AI refers to AI systems that can understand and interact within these spaces – in other words, machines navigating the environments with human-like perception. By combining these two technologies, Schemata can quickly generate a lifelike virtual replica of any location and embed an intelligent virtual instructor to guide users through it.
Within these digital environments, the AI Instructor can dynamically interact with end-users: answering questions, highlighting objects, and adapting scenarios in real time. For example, an operator using a device loaded with Schemata’s models can ask a question out loud and receive instant guidance. Training modules that once took specialists months to build can now be generated in hours directly from a company’s existing training materials.
“Our AI Instructor is like having a dedicated expert by your side 24/7 in a physical environment,” said Quin Roberts, Schemata’s COO, in a statement. “It can instantly analyze a 3D scene, point out safety hazards or operational steps, and respond to the user’s voice or text queries in real-time. This level of interactive, on-demand instruction simply isn’t available with conventional tools.”
The timing of Schemata’s innovation aligns with a surging demand for virtual training across defense and industry. In the defense sector, the U.S. military already invests over $12 billion per year in simulation-based training. Yet, these investments have primarily focused on high-end systems for pilots and specialized units. Schemata’s platform aims to broaden that reach.
The platform is already being piloted in sectors like defense, energy, and infrastructure, where training often involves complex environments and high stakes. Demand is strong, with Schemata already being awarded $3.4 million in Department of Defense (DoD) contracts over the past eight months.
Schemata’s oversubscribed funding round includes investments from prominent venture capital firms, led by Owl Ventures, with participation from a16z speedrun, Alumni Ventures, Anorak Ventures, and Time Zero Capital. Last summer, Schemata was selected for the third cohort of a16z’s speedrun startup program, with an acceptance rate of less than 1%.
“We see a future where spatially-aware AI agents operate with a full context of the physical world—just like frontier language models now operate across digital systems,” said Nguyen, Schemata CTO, in a statement. “That’s why we’re connecting AI to rich 3D environments with embedded semantic data. Virtual training is just the beginning of what it can unlock”.
