Ten (More) Questions with Paruey Anadirekkul, CEO at Spacely AI

It's not often we do a follow-up interview with a founder, certainly not within two years of the original (read it here), but we're willing to make an exception with Spacely AI.

Spacely came to our attention when the startup, originally a rendering solution for architects and interior designers, won the Pitch Club competition at the Proptech and Portal Watch conference in Bangkok 2024.

After announcing itself as one of the first serious AI players to break through in the APAC region, Spacely has now closed a $1 million seed funding round as it prepares to pivot into a marketplace business and expand into the United States.

There was plenty to discuss with CEO Paruey Anadirekkul. Here's what we spoke about...

Spacely started as a rendering solution for architects and interior designers. Today, it is an architectural visualisation marketplace. Why?

We now describe ourselves as a generative AI visualisation marketplace. It all began with AI rendering for interior designers—using Spacely AI to turn their 3D models into photorealistic images. One fun moment was when the Hello! Magazine editors used our tool to redesign Buckingham Palace with AI.

As we grew, we noticed architects using our platform for exterior renders—offices, museums, even stadiums. Then came real estate agents, construction firms, and furniture retailers who wanted to use AI for virtual staging or product visualisation.

The core business model hasn’t changed—we’re still a usage-based subscription—but our technology now supports a much broader set of users and industries.

How have your strategic priorities changed since you pitched at the PPW conference in 2024?

Like most startups, our priorities evolved. At PPW, we were still focused on homeowners. Since then, we’ve shifted to professionals—architects, interior designers, and soon real estate firms—who use our platform weekly, not just once. That change brought more consistent usage and stronger product feedback.

What Spacely.ai use cases are you seeing for consumers, portals, and agents?

Visualisation helps consumers see what life could look like in a space—whether it’s a future home or office. It boosts emotional connection and increases the chance of engagement or purchase.
For portals and agents, our tools like AI virtual staging and furniture removal save time, reduce costs, and elevate property listings. One portal in Thailand now uses Spacely AI to streamline its listing process. They’ve seen higher conversion and better lead quality.

How do we get virtual staging products like Spacely into the hands of more industry stakeholders?

Most people struggle to imagine an empty or outdated room as their dream space. Virtual staging bridges that gap—it makes the invisible, visible.

We’ve grown mostly through organic search. That’s a signal of demand. But to reach more stakeholders, we need better awareness, education, and some calculated risk-taking from big portals. The ROI is there—it just needs to be shown more clearly.

How will you monetise new audiences (like portals) and consumers in the future?

We run on a usage-based subscription model. Designers sign up, pick a plan, and pay based on usage and features. We’re now expanding to real estate agents and portals. For now, we aren’t monetising consumers directly—but if they come through our partners, that’s a win.

What is on your roadmap, and how do you see the product evolving?

We want to make it easy to create a digital twin of any space. That means automating the tedious 3D modelling and visualisation tasks using AI.

Instead of designers needing multiple tools and workflows, Spacely AI will offer everything—from 2D input to full 3D output. Our future lies in AI-powered layout planning, furniture automation, and creative suggestion tools—all to help professionals bring ideas to life faster.

When we previously spoke, your ambition was to enter the US market. How is this expansion going?

We see huge potential for Spacely AI in the US—especially among architects and real estate firms. But we’ve learned that cracking this market might require boots on the ground and a local team.
We’re planning our US push for late Q3 or early Q4 this year. Right now, we’re focused on refining the product, building customer relationships, and figuring out the right GTM strategy before we dive in fully.

Congratulations on your recent $1M seed round. What numbers can you share about the business today, and how you plan on using the funds?

Thanks! In short, we’ve now served 1,500+ design firms across 50+ countries.

We’ll use the new funding to expand in the US and accelerate development of our 3D automation tools—specifically, turning 2D floor plans into fully-furnished, render-ready spaces with minimal manual work.

What is your message to founders who are raising seed funding?

Raising in Southeast Asia is tough—there’s less capital, and many investors are still learning about AI.

What we did right: pitching early at PPW Conference 2024, showing traction, and being clear about our vision and global potential.

Where we went wrong: not preparing our corporate structure earlier. It caused delays and confusion. If I could do it again, I’d get the legal and financial backend in place from day one.

Where do you see the biggest opportunities and threats for AI in real estate? This is still a new space and we’re learning more every day…

The biggest opportunity is that AI makes the design and decision-making process 10× faster and more personalised. Real estate is visual, and AI helps make things visual at scale.

The biggest threat is not adopting it! Teams that don’t experiment with AI will fall behind. In a few years, it won’t be a “nice to have”—it’ll be the default.