Lightbeans's Business Model Explained

In the field of architectural design and visualization, the selection of interior and exterior finishes increasingly relies on photorealistic renderings during early project stages. To make this new reality possible, Lightbeans develops and operates advanced technologies for material digitization, selection support, and digital asset distribution.

Lightbeans' business model is based on a dual-sided platform that bridges the gap between building material manufacturers and design professionals by offering high-resolution, manufacturer-specific 3D textures and digital samples. Our revenues mainly come from building product manufacturers, who pay to have their materials digitized, published, and promoted on the Lightbeans texture library, as well as for our 3D rendering and texture creation services.

Lightbeans was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Quebec City, Canada.

Users: Architects and Designers (A&D)

Architects and designers can access Lightbeans' texture library free of charge. They can browse, select, and download 3,000+ digitized materials to use in their renderings and project presentations. As photorealistic visualizations are becoming the norm in architectural communication, Lightbeans provides enabling resources to help A&D meet these new expectations.

This free access is made possible through the support of manufacturers. In return, A&D users agree to provide information about their practice and projects. This data helps establish relevant, high-quality connections between A&D and manufacturers, who may use this insight for product development, marketing, or direct outreach.

Our vetted users include North America's largest architecture and design firms.

Customers: Building Product Manufacturers

Lightbeans collaborates with manufacturers to digitize their product lines and produce high-quality, photorealistic textures. These assets are utilized on the Lightbeans platform and by manufacturers in their promotional efforts, such as on their websites.. Manufacturers pay to digitize their materials into design tools and gain visibility among architects and designers (A&D), with the goal of increasing specifications in real-world projects.

Lightbeans also supports manufacturers with rendering services and the integration of textures into marketing and visualization tools such as configurators and virtual scenes.

Users may also receive newsletters from Lightbeans and, where applicable, from manufacturers. However, A&D professionals can opt out of manufacturer communications at any time. If a manufacturer fails to respect this preference, Lightbeans will intervene directly. Users can also leave the network entirely by ceasing to use Lightbeans textures and tools.

Building Trust and Value

Lightbeans regularly surveys both A&D and manufacturers to better understand their evolving needs and to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship built on trust and transparency. This two-way feedback is central to Lightbeans' mission: to empower A&D with the tools they need to deliver stunning visualizations, while helping manufacturers get specified earlier and more often.

This is our commitment at Lightbeans.