The 3D imaging industry will soon get a boost as Matterport receives $16 million in funding. The company is looking to expand and improve its technology and introduce more high-end 3D cameras, as well as, bring it to mobile devices in the near future.
Matterport is working with Google at present to bring the 3D technology to the Project Tango tablet, which will be available before 2014 ends. The developer version will be released first.
To initiate the project, Matterport asked for investors to help them. New investors now include DCM and AME Cloud Ventures. Other investors already helping the company are Lux Capital, Greylock Partners, AMD Ventures, Rothenberg Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Navitas Capital, and Felicis Ventures. Individuals like Gordon Segal of Crate & Barrel and Blake Krikorian of Sling Media also joined the roster.
Earlier this year in March, Matterport introduced a high-end 3D camera which is worth $4,500. The cam is meant for businesses like interior design and real estate.
Matterport's Series B funding is meant to advance the 3D virtual tour technology, lower the price of 3D scanners and cameras and bring it to mobile gears.
"We hadn't planned on mobile hitting [until] some time in 2015. Because the timetable moved up we need to make the investments we need in mobile without taking away anything we are doing in the professional market," Bill Brown, CEO of Matterport said.
Matterport has been a leader in 3D computational photography and computer vision and the company will only continue to move forward with the help of investors who believe in them.
"3D is going to happen much quicker than most people think, especially when you think of mobile devices enabled by 3D sensors and consider all of the market activity in that space. Matterport is leading the creation of that 3D future," DCM general partner Jason Krikorian said.
The new funding will enable Matterport to continue innovating 3D technology. The company is expected to bring a more affordable follow up to the Web-based Player, Cloud Service, 3D Capture iPad App and Pro 3D Camera--all Matterport products.
