2011–2013: Founding as a startup
Matterport was founded as a private startup in 2011 by Matthew Bell, David Gausebeck (known for Gausebeck–Levchin test used in CAPTCHA technology) and Michael Beebe. The company was established after Bell and Gausebeck developed a prototype camera for capturing 3D images inside a room using the PrimeSense camera-on-a-chip, and later recruited Beebe for his expertise in 3D modeling and medical device design.[3] In early 2012, the company joined the startup accelerator Y Combinator to incubate their project.
In April 2012, Matterport claimed that its prototype camera could scan 3D objects "20 times faster" and "18 times cheaper" than their competitors, and initiated collaborations with real estate and video game developers.[8] In that year, the company secured US$1.6 million in seed funding. Subsequently, by March 2013, Matterport raised another US$4 million from 39 investors to initiate a Series A round of financing.[9][10]
In July 2013, Matterport announced plans to release its first camera to the public.[11] In November 2013, Bill Brown became the CEO of the company.[12]
2014–2018: Early growth
Matterport launched their first camera named 'Pro 3D' on March 13, 2014.[13][14] In June 2014, Matterport competed against 14 other early-stage real estate startups in Realogy's FWD Innovation Summit, a real estate technology competition, and emerged as the winner.[15] Subsequently, the company raised US$16 million in a Series B funding round, in part to bring its 3D mapping technology to mobile devices.[16]
In June 2015, Matterport raised US$30 million in a Series C funding round with the goal of diversifying from its camera products and enhancing its software for stitching images together in virtual reality.[17] The company began scaling operations and shifted its focus to the consumer by accelerating the development of content-capturing capabilities on mobile devices and expanding its developer platform across its web and mobile apps.
2019–2021: COVID-19 pandemic and SPAC merger
In April 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Matterport laid off 90 of its employees or roughly one-third of its workforce.[19]
On February 8, 2021, Matterport announced its intention to go public by merging with Gores Holdings VI, a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in a US$2.9 billion deal.[20][21] The merger and deal were completed on July 23, 2021, and Matterport began publicly trading on the Nasdaq as MTTR.[22][23]
Around the same time in July 2021, Bill Brown, the former CEO, sued Matterport over a bylaw regarding the SPAC merger acquisition that prevented him from trading shares of the new company following the merger.[24]
2022–onwards: Post-merger and acquisition by CoStar
On January 5, 2022, Matterport completed the acquisition of Enview, a company that specializes in artificial intelligence for 3D spatial data, for a total of US$37 million.[28][29] Subsequently, in July 2022, Matterport acquired VHT Studios, a real estate marketing agency, for an undisclosed amount.[30]
In July 2023, Matterport announced a restructuring of the company, which resulted in the layoff of 170 employees (equivalent to 30% of its workforce) as a cost-cutting measure.[31]
In September 2023, Matterport was sued by investors for "allegedly allowing self-dealing by insiders".[32]
On April 22, 2024, it was announced that Matterport would be acquired by the
