CoStar Group Inc., a global real estate information marketplace, will acquire Matterport, which pioneered the development of “digital twins”: the 3D capture method which can deliver photorealistic, virtual home tours.

Founded in 2011, Matterport’s patented technology enables anyone to digitize a property using just about any camera, including ones found on smartphones.

“CoStar Group and Matterport have nearly identical mission statements of digitizing the world’s real estate,” Andy Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar Group, said in a press release.

“The world has changed and today, a Matterport is the new open house or property tour. People now select their next home, apartment, office, store, hotel or warehouse on their mobile device,” Florence added, saying that CoStar Group will invest in developing Matterport’s spatial technology, in particular its application of artificial intelligence (AI) to extract information from the 3D data, as well as the use of generative AI to reimagine physical space.

“This transaction is another significant milestone that acknowledges the groundbreaking work Matterport has accomplished in 3D digital twin technology and AI-driven property intelligence,” Matterport Chair and CEO RJ Pittman said.

Based on the closing price for CoStar Group’s stock on April 19, the corporate transaction represents an equity value of approximately $2.1 billion for the company and an enterprise value of approximately $1.6 billion.