Zillow Group is continuing its quest to become a one-stop shop to serve all the needs of a real estate agent. On Tuesday, the residential real estate giant announced the acquisition of Virtual Staging AI (VSAI).
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2023 by Michael Bonacina and Mikhail Andreev, VSAI helps home sellers, agents and photographers create digitally staged images of a listing, eliminating the need for physical furniture in the home.
“We’re excited to bring this technology to real estate professionals as part of Zillow’s broad suite of software and advertising solutions,” Zillow wrote in a blog post on its investor site. VSAI offers the next generation of listing innovation to elevate the listing experience on Zillow for home shoppers.”
Agents and real estate professionals can upload photos to the platform and then select and a room type and furniture style. They will then receive fully staged images that they can continue to edit to their liking.
The technology can be used on any listing photo, not just ones on Zillow, and users have access to the product through VSAI’s website. However, according to the company’s blog post, Zillow is also working to integrate the technology into Zillow Listing Showcase.
“The acquisition of VSAI underscores Zillow’s commitment to enabling the real estate industry to become more digital, integrated and productive,” the blog post stated. “By leveraging Zillow’s tech, AI and product expertise, real estate professionals can focus on serving their clients with the high-value, person-to-person work that makes a customer experience exceptional. “
Most of VSAI’s team is based in Munich, but as part of the acquisition they are joining Zillow’s AI and technology teams.
Zillow launched Listing Showcase in June of 2023. The platform uses AI to help agents improve their listings and marketing material.
