In a shifting real estate market, the guidance and expertise that Inman imparts are never more valuable. Whether at our events, or with our daily news coverage and how-to journalism, we’re here to help you build your business, adopt the right tools — and make money. Join us in person in Las Vegas at Connect, and utilize your Select subscription for all the information you need to make the right decisions. When the waters get choppy, trust Inman to help you navigate.
Virtual real estate image company Matterport announced this week that it had acquired its second company this year as it continued a period of rapid growth.
Matterport acquired VHT Studios, a company that specializes in providing brokers and agents with high-quality photography and other marketing services, Matterport said in a statement.
The companies didn’t announce the terms of the deal. But they make clear that Matterport remains on track to offer more services to more sectors of the real estate market including residential, multi-family, retail and hospitality.
“We are not only excited for how we can transform the customer experience in the real estate industry, but also how we can apply VHT Studios’ expertise to our growing enterprise business as demand for digital twin technology continues to surge,” RJ Pittman, CEO at Matterport, said in a statement.
Matterport provides digital twin models of homes, photos, virtual tours and other services that have helped to accelerate innovation around real estate listings.
VHT was founded in 1998, offering high-end photography, drone imagery, floor plans, virtual tours and other marketing services. The companies said in a joint statement that “seven of the top 10 brokers in the United States are customers of VHT Studios” for their listings.
“When combined with Matterport digital twins and collaboration tools, the newly expanded solution not only helps brokerages and agents save time with an easy-to-order and comprehensive source for their digital marketing needs but also reduces their costs with comprehensive marketing packages along with flexible, optional add-ons,” the companies said in a statement.
Matterport is now a publicly-traded company after taking the fast-track route to an initial public offering and merging with what’s known as a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) last year.
The company had $600 million cash on hand at the end of March before the VHT deal and after it acquired Enview in January. That acquisition added scalable, artificial intelligence for 3D spatial data to Matterport’s portfolio.
In June, the online listing service CoStar unveiled its highest level of service to its clients, which it called the “Listing of the Future.” A significant portion of the service involves working with Matterport to provide renters with 3D virtual tours of apartments.
The services offered by Matterport’s acquisition of VHT Studios are expected to be available to clients in the third quarter of this year.
