Thursday was a surreal day for Gabe Paez, founder and CEO of virtual and augmented reality startup The Wild.
That morning, an acquisition deal that had been in the works for a while between the 5-year-old startup and California software stalwart Autodesk, was announced. The Wild is being acquired and will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Autodesk (Nasdaq: ADSK).
Terms were not disclosed but everyone involved made clear that Paez and The Wild’s vision for extended reality — a combination of AR and VR — would be central to Autodesk’s XR strategy.
“This was an early acquisition. I didn’t expect it,” said Paez, who said that selling so soon was definitely not part of his plan. “You can’t time these things. As a founder you can only do so much to plan and predict your future and the rest comes down to opportunity and these moments of potential and you capitalize on them or you don’t.”
Paez was gearing up to raise another investment round coming up off an incredibly strong 2021. But he received an email from the team at Autodesk looking to talk about their partnership with The Wild.
The Wild makes an AR and VR collaboration tool that allows users in separate locations to work in and manipulate the same virtual space. It is focused on the architecture, engineering and construction industry, or AEC.
That industry is dominated by tools built by Autodesk and as such, The Wild’s software integrates with those tools.
“A convergence of events makes this the right time for Autodesk’s acquisition of The Wild’s talent and technology as the foundation of Autodesk’s XR journey,” said Nic Fonta, General Manager of XR at Autodesk in a written statement.
This deal is a good outcome for the company, but it just came quicker than Paez imagined. In fact, Autodesk’s interest in the vision that Paez has been building is huge validation of years of work.
“So many times I second guessed (myself). Is this vision even real?” he remembered asking himself. “Then the worldwide leader in this space says, yes, this vision is real and we want to make this a core part of our future. That’s mind-blowing.”
This deal means he can continue to build the future of XR collaboration, not just for the AEC industry but for others as well. Autodesk is big in the AEC industry, but its 3D design software is in other industries as well, including product design, manufacturing, media and entertainment.
“That is the legacy I want. I want this to be bigger than me,” Paez said. “With Autodesk behind us this can be the next revolution, not just in what AEC needs, but XR.”
While the deal was in the works, the company did pause its aggressive hiring plans, but Paez said that is back on the table.
“We got the funding we needed to move forward,” with this transaction, he said. “It’s a different form than venture funding. In many ways this is still the beginning of the journey.”
Paez and The Wild team will work within the Autodesk XR group. Paez will still lead the The Wild team and its products as head of product for XR.
