Volkswagen backs the Blender Development Fund

Volkswagen has become the latest firm to back the Blender Development Fund, with its Corporate Patron membership guaranteeing at least €120,000/year in funding for the open-source 3D software.

The news makes Volkswagen the first major automotive firm to back the development fund, and was prompted by the “steadily growing Blender user base within the VW Group”.

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Volkswagen’s Corporate Patron membership of the Blender Development Fund means a financial commitment of at least €120,000/year: roughly the salaries of two full-time Blender developers.

That puts it on a par with tech giants like Amazon, AMD, Intel, Meta and Nvidia, and large software developers like Epic Games and Unity.

Volkswagen becomes the first major automotive firm – and one of the first outside the entertainment market – to fund development of Blender.

In a LinkedIn post, Ali Varol, business partner manager at Volkswagen AG, said that backing Blender was “a wish of our steadily growing Blender user base within the VW Group represented by 12 strong brands”.

Read the official announcement that Volkswagen has joined the Blender Development Fund