Iniciar sesiónMatterport Adds Leading Strategic Investors to Expand its Disruptive Virtual Reality (VR) and 3D Immersive Media Solutions into New Markets
CBRE, News Corporation, Luminari Capital, and Sound Ventures Join As New Investors
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — August 9, 2016 -- Immersive media technology company Matterport today announced that it has received strategic investments from several of the world's preeminent real estate and media firms. The new investment group is comprised of CBRE Group, Inc., News Corp, Luminari Capital, and Sound Ventures. Other existing investors include Lux Capital, DCM Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Navitas Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, GIC, iGlobe, Greylock Partners and Y Combinator.
Matterport’s end-to-end 3D immersive media platform has gained strong momentum since its launch in 2014. The company’s technology has been adopted rapidly in real estate, travel and hospitality, and construction, and is seeing growing demand in a number of other verticals. Since launch there have been more than 60 million “visits,” globally, to Matterport’s collection of digital real-world spaces. The strategic investments, along with new relationships, solidifies ties between Matterport and leading firms in commercial real estate, vacation rentals, business listings, publishing, and retail planning.
“We're excited to welcome strategic investors who believe in the power of 3D immersive media, VR, and Matterport's ability to transform industries," said Bill Brown, CEO of Matterport. "They bring a wealth of experience in residential and commercial real estate, travel and hospitality, vacation rentals, and media publishing, and they share our vision of giving people the freedom to experience any place at any time."
Matterport has also seen significant growth in non-U.S. markets where the demand has grown entirely organically. This organic growth has resulted in a global customer base representing over 60 countries and multiple verticals. In May, Matterport formally entered the UK, Canadian, and Australian markets. In July, Matterport acquired a virtual tour services company, Virtual Walkthrough, to help grow the UK and EU markets. The strategic investments will further opportunities for global expansion in conjunction with this recent acquisition.
Matterport’s disruptive reality capture and content distribution technology powers business uses for 3D and virtual reality. Matterport’s Pro Camera, cloud management and hosting service, and 3D Showcase player, allow anyone to digitally reconstruct real-world spaces and distribute them via an ecosystem of VR, Web and mobile applications. Matterport has already become the underlying platform for myriad business applications by enabling people to interactively experience real-world places in ways never before possible.
There is tremendous potential for 3D and VR content to be leveraged in practical applications across a wide range of industries. According to Goldman Sachs, virtual reality and its cousin, augmented reality, will be a $25 billion annual industry in non-entertainment applications alone, by 20251.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm.
News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content to consumers throughout the world. News Corp owns digital real estate services leader Move, Inc., which operates move.com and realtor.com. News Corp also has a forty percent interest in REA Group, an international digital advertising company focusing on real estate. REA Group announced an acquisition of iProperty in November 2015, and has an ownership position in hipages, which helps people find electricians, plumbers and other home-related services, among others.
Luminari Capital is a digital media fund focused on the innovation and disruption occurring globally throughout the video ecosystem.
"Through the introduction of virtual reality and 3D immersive media, countless industries are on the cusp of changing the way they create and distribute their visual stories," according to Daniel Leff, Founder and Managing Partner of Luminari Capital. "Matterport is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this movement through their camera, software and expertise across multiple vertical industries."
Sound Ventures was launched in March 2015 by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary, and has focused on investing in revolutionary technology startups.
"Matterport stands out as a great example of the kind of technology company Sound Ventures loves to invest in," according to Ashton Kutcher, Co-Founder of Sound Ventures. “We look to invest in companies that are disruptive in their industries and have developed technological barriers to entry, and believe that Matterport can have a significant impact on industries such as travel and hospitality, entertainment and beyond.”
ABOUT MATTERPORT
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, Matterport is an immersive media technology company that delivers an end-to-end system for creating, modifying, distributing, and navigating immersive 3D and virtual reality (VR) versions of real-world spaces on Web and mobile devices, as well as a Samsung Gear VR headset and Google Cardboard. The Matterport Pro Camera and Cloud Services make it quick and easy to turn real-world places into immersive virtual experiences.
