# Simon Song

> Simon Song (Yachen Song) is the founder and CEO of Tripo AI (registered as VAST), a company building large-scale, general-purpose 3D foundation models. Born in 1997 in Hangzhou, he studied philosophy and Middle East politics at Johns Hopkins, worked in the CEO's office at SenseTime, and co-founded the Chinese AI unicorn MiniMax before starting VAST in 2023 shortly after Google's DreamFusion showed text-to-3D was possible. A self-described gamer and anime fan, Song wants to let anyone create 3D content with zero barriers and zero cost, and has grown Tripo Studio past 6.5 million users with clients including Tencent, Sony, Microsoft and Pop Mart.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Tripo AI (VAST)
- **Organizations:** Tripo AI, VAST, MiniMax, SenseTime
- **From:** Hangzhou, China
- **Nationality:** Chinese
- **Education:** High school, The Stony Brook School, Studies including Middle East politics (also studied Hebrew and Arabic), Johns Hopkins University
- **Known for:** Founded and leads Tripo AI (VAST), widely described as the leader in general-purpose 3D AI foundation models, Grew Tripo Studio to more than 6.5 million users, Reached $12M+ in annual recurring revenue with a profitable business

## Career timeline

- **pre-2020** — Studied in the United States for more than eight years; attended The Stony Brook School and Johns Hopkins University
- **pre-2021** — Joined SenseTime, working in the CEO's office on AI gaming, 3D animation and AIGC tools
- **2021** — Co-founded MiniMax, one of China's 'AI tiger' unicorns (behind Hailuo AI)
- **2023** — Founded VAST (Tripo AI) in Beijing, shortly after Google's DreamFusion, to build large 3D foundation models
- **2025** — Launched Tripo 3.0; passed $12M+ ARR, 3M+ professional users and 40,000+ studio partners
- **2026** — User base surpassed 6.5 million; company raised a Series A round (reported ~US$50M led by Alibaba and Baidu Ventures)

## Achievements

- Founded and leads Tripo AI (VAST), widely described as the leader in general-purpose 3D AI foundation models
- Grew Tripo Studio to more than 6.5 million users
- Reached $12M+ in annual recurring revenue with a profitable business
- Signed enterprise clients including Tencent, NetEase, Sony, Microsoft, HTC, Stability AI and Pop Mart
- Shipped Tripo 3.0, described as the first pipeline-ready, industrial-grade AI 3D model
- Company published 50+ research papers, 30+ at top AI conferences
- Co-founded MiniMax, a leading Chinese AI unicorn, before VAST

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — VAST/Tripo AI raised a Series A round (reported around US$50M, led by Alibaba and Baidu Ventures).
- **2026** — Tripo AI user base more than doubled, passing 6.5 million from 3 million in August.
- **2025-09** — Launched Tripo 3.0 with its most accurate, detail-rich geometry yet; ARR passed $12M.

## Links

- Website: https://tripo3d.ai
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-yachen-song

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/simon-song
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-29