The Blender Foundation, which handles the financing of the open-source Blender application’s development, just had an amazing summer. Several new companies have sponsored the company, two at the highest Patron level, while also adding a gold level sponsor. This is a chart showing the financial commitment for each corporate backer tier:
Two new Patron backers means that Blender now has at least an additional €480,000 in financing to hire developers and manage expenses.
The first new Patron level supporter for Blender is PICO, creators of XR headsets. From the announcement of support for Blender, PICO said:
PICO stands as the first XR platform to partner with Blender to optimise the 3D creation experience within virtual reality. Both PICO and Blender share a unified vision for transforming 3D content creation. By merging PICO’s deep expertise in XR hardware and software with Blender’s powerful, open-source tools, this partnership is set to:
- Unleash Innovative XR Creation Tools: Empower artists and developers to transcend the limitations of traditional mouse and keyboard interfaces.
- Deliver Intuitive, Immersive and Efficient Workflows: Drastically improve creative productivity through streamlined processes.
- Drive Widespread OpenXR Adoption: Champion the OpenXR standard to ensure cross-platform compatibility.
More recently, Wacom, the creators of graphic tablets announced they would be upping their contribution from the Gold tier to the Patron tier. This announcement came in response to Blender announcing tablet and mobile touch friendly versions of Blender under development. Wacom had the following to say of their contribution to the Blender Foundation:
As part of this enhanced relationship, Wacom will upgrade its support to Patron-level sponsorship of the Blender Development fund program. The partnership focuses on the optimization of the pen and touch performance and the development of a next-generation Blender experience for Android tablets – a critical step in making 3D creation more mobile and intuitive for artists, educators, and innovators worldwide.
“We see a deep, shared understanding between Blender and Wacom of the transformative value of creative tools,” said Wacom President and CEO Nobutaka Ide. “Our joint responsibility and passion for the creative community drives us to enhance how creators interact with their tools – whether in studios, classrooms, or on-the-go.”
“Our collaboration with Wacom is a major step in making Blender more intuitive on pen and touch devices,” said Francesco Siddi, COO at Blender. “It’s about bringing the full power of Blender to where artists are—on tablets, on the move, and beyond the mouse and keyboard.”
This partnership includes:
- Collaboration with Blender’s developer community to ensure seamless integration with Wacom’s hardware and software technologies to enhance pen and touch experience.
- Support for the development of a mobile Blender platform, aligning with Blender’s roadmap to make 3D accessible on tablets—beginning with iOS and expanding to Android with Wacom’s support.
- Joint community engagement initiatives, including events, showcases, and educational outreach, to connect with and inspire the global Blender and Wacom creator communities.
Finally, Chaos, the makers of the V-Ray rendering system sponsored the Blender foundation at the Gold tier level.
Key Links
Wins all around for Blender! You can learn more about the new financial support the Blender Foundation has received in the video below.