Bentley Systems Awards $1 Million to 3D Tech Startups for Infrastructure Innovation

Bentley Systems has announced the recipients of its 2025 iTwin Activate accelerator program, awarding a total of up to $1 million to four early-stage startups that are leveraging 3D technology to revolutionize infrastructure design and maintenance.

Each of the four selected companies will receive up to $250,000 in funding, as well as extensive technical and market support from Bentley product leaders over a four-month period.

The program’s focus this year is on startups building solutions using 3D geospatial data and the Cesium and 3D Tiles open standard (Cesium was acquired by Bentley in 2024).

The goal, according to James Kress, Director of Digital Acceleration for iTwin Ventures, is to “grow an ecosystem of folks building on our platform technology,” which will ultimately help Bentley fill technology gaps and offer more comprehensive solutions to its users.

The 2025 iTwin Activate Cohort

The selected startups represent a diverse range of applications, from urban asset management to railway maintenance:

  • AERO AI (Las Vegas, U.S.): Transforms drone scans and other data into fully immersive, explorable 3D environments for better planning and management of infrastructure projects.
  • The Cross Product (TCP) (France): Automates the processing of LiDAR data for railway and highway inspections and inventories over vast distances. (This is TCP’s second year in the program).
  • Jakarto (Montreal, Canada): Uses digital twin and AI-powered solutions to map, visualize, and manage urban assets—including street signs, trees, and overhead networks—to reduce field visits and accelerate decision-making.
  • SuperDNA 3D Lab (Amsterdam, Netherlands): Primarily creates photoreal CGI visuals for e-commerce (clients include Amazon and Meta) but is expanding its technology to support transportation use cases.

Bentley’s commitment aims to ensure that as infrastructure grows more complex, its users have access to a robust array of innovative tools built on open standards to design, manage, and maintain the built world, from roads and railways to the electric grid.

 

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