Check out the pitch deck 3D software company ThreeKit used to raise $20 million from Salesforce Ventures and ex-NFL star Steve Young

• Chicago-based tech startup ThreeKit recently raised a $20 million Series A from Shasta Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, serial entrepreneur and investor Godard Abel, and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young.
• The company uses Hollywood-style special effects technology to produce 3D images of items for retailers.
• ThreeKit's founder Ben Houston previously worked on visual effects for the "Harry Potter" and "Avengers" franchises.
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Chicago-based 3D software startup ThreeKit has raised a $20 million Series A from a number of high-profile investors to expand its product offering as it looks to disrupt the $2 billion photography industry.

Founded in 2005 by Hollywood special effects veteran Ben Houston, ThreeKit uses 3D software to provide realistic product renderings for online retailers. The company raised the funding from Shasta Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, serial entrepreneur and investor Godard Abel, and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young.

Houston worked on the CGI and special effects for films including "Titanic" and the "Harry Potter" and "The Avengers" franchises in the past and now serves as the company's CTO. ThreeKit has raised $30 million to-date.

Salesforce Ventures' portfolio companies receive funding, alongside access to Salesforce's massive cloud ecosystem and guidance from the firm's innovators and executives. The company helps software startups leverage its customer relationship management infrastructure which is a useful boon for expanding businesses such as ThreeKit.

"ThreeKit's integration with Salesforce Commerce Cloud enables companies to seamlessly embed interactive 3D models into their websites, providing customers with unparalleled immersive commerce experiences," said Matt Garratt, Managing Partner at Salesforce Ventures.

For example, furniture retailer Crate & Barrel used ThreeKit's to make 50,000 images of their sofas and tables in one weekend allowing them to put 100% of their catalogue on their website faster than regular photography could accomplish.

Abel, who previously cofounded BigMachines (which was bought by Oracle in 2013) and pricing software SteelBrick (which Salesforce snatched up in 2015), also backed the company's seed round.