April 2, 2020 – Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group (owner and operator of 380 IKEA stores in 30 countries) has today announced that it has acquired Geomagical Labs, a US-based development company of 3D and visual AI solutions for interactive home furnishing inspiration, based in Silicon Valley, California.
Ingka Group stated that in order to better meet the increasing needs of its customers, it is continuing to invest as part of its digital transformation. The 3D and AI technology developed by Geomagical Labs will be used by the Group to bring out the uniqueness of IKEA to life, digitally, by allowing customers to capture and furnish their homes using photorealistic 3D representations of their furnishings.
“With Geomagical Labs onboard, we can bring our home furnishing expertise to many people in new ways and assist them in their unique design needs. In a time when people spend more time at home, we can support our customers with their everyday life through an enhanced digital meeting,” said Barbara Martin Coppola, Chief Digital Officer at IKEA Retail (Ingka Group).
Geomagical Labs develops solutions that allow people to take 3D photos from their rooms and experiment with home furnishing solutions to fit their needs, from any location – opening up home and office design to many users.
Brian Totty, Founder and CEO of Geomagical Labs, commented: “Our work has focused on using technology and magical experiences to enable people’s creativity. We are thrilled to join one of the world’s most beloved brands and are excited to work together to transform the way people interact and purchase home furnishings by bringing together inspiration, imagination and world-class design”.
Customers will be able to access the platform via a full integration into the IKEA app and IKEA.com, where they can also purchase directly within the app. Through this, Ingka Group aims to offer an affordable and seamless online shopping experience.
“Digital development is at the very core of our transformation to meet new and changing customer needs. We are now taking a more dynamic approach to digital investments and acquisitions so we can strengthen our IKEA Retail business and target companies with new digital capabilities and services,” said Krister Mattsson, Managing Director of Ingka Investments at Ingka Group.
Ingka Group now owns 100% of Geomagical Labs, which will operate as an independent subsidiary and continue to be based in Mountain View, California.
Video credit: Geomagical Labs/Vimeo
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Sam Sprigg
Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.
