YZi Labs Backs Funes to Preserve Global Heritage in 3D

Key Insights:

• Funes preserves human heritage with AI, turning temples and towers into detailed 3D digital records.
• YZi Labs invests in Funes to grow the world’s largest open archive of architectural 3D models.
• Using crowdsourced images and computer vision, Funes builds a public database of global architecture.

YZi Labs, formerly Binance Labs, has made an investment in Funes, a digital heritage platform focused on preserving architecture through open-access 3D modeling. The project uses AI and community-sourced photogrammetry to document cultural structures from around the world.

To date, Funes has created digital models of nearly 1,000 sites, including temples, ruins, monasteries, and modern buildings. The archive is designed to grow continuously, with over 1,000 new models expected to be added each year.

Building a Digital Archive of Human Construction

Funes aims to preserve the built environment before it disappears. The platform captures detailed 3D representations of physical structures using images contributed by the public and reconstructed through computer vision. These models are paired with visual, written, and structural metadata.

The archive serves researchers, developers, and educators looking for accurate references of historic and contemporary architecture. The long-term goal is to assemble a lasting, open-access database of human construction—from sacred sites to everyday buildings.

A Long-Term Strategy for Culture and Data

The investment aligns with YZi Labs’ interest in projects combining cultural value, machine learning, and real-world data. Hanyang Wang, co-founder of Funes, said,

“Funes has already become the largest online database of real-world 3D architectural models… [It] will also lay a solid foundation for future commercial applications, especially those that naturally integrate with the emerging paradigms of LLMs and new computer vision technologies.”

Dana H., investment partner at YZi Labs, added,

“Funes is like a GitHub for the physical world—where users create, store, and share detailed 3D models of culturally important architectures.”

Expanding Access Through Technology

Funes plans to improve its online platform and integrate AI tools such as 3D Gaussian Splatting, Radiance Fields, and large language models. These updates will support education, research, and new digital applications.

The platform continues to operate as an open archive, inviting public contributions and offering access to an expanding record of global architecture. The aim is to ensure that future generations can access and learn from the built heritage of the past.