Zillow Group announced Thursday that it acquired Milwaukee, Wis.-based marketing service VRX Media, a move that broadens its suite of listing services it sells to agents and brokers.
VRX offers real estate-focused content such as aerial drone photography, virtual staging, 3D tours, and high-definition images. The company operates in more than 60 U.S. metros. It was founded in 2015 by former real estate agents Seth Green and Nathan Strom. VRX’s services will be released alongside Zillow’s other offerings in 2023.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The purchase marks Zillow’s 18th acquisition to date.
Zillow CEO Rich Barton wrote in his third quarter letter to shareholders that the company was bundling its real estate listing services under one umbrella brand called ShowingTime+. The company has been able to assemble the pieces for the suite of services through a series of acquisitions and in-house development. The new bundle includes:
- Dotloop, software that helps real estate brokerages manage documents digitally. (acquired in 2015)
- Bridge Interactive, a listing data management service. (acquired in 2016)
- ShowingTime, a software to facilitate home showings. (acquired in 2021)
- Rich Media Technology, an AI-generated floor plans and 3D home tours.
- VRX Media (2022)
“We expect the combination of ShowingTime+’s software capabilities and Zillow’s audience reach and proprietary technologies to allow us to access listing agent wallet share through both software and marketing spend, further broadening our reach within the addressable market we are going after,” Barton wrote in the shareholder letter.
Zillow has struggled amid the broader housing market downturn, with its stock down more than 43% since the start of the year. In a series of cost-cutting measures, the company confirmed in October that it laid off around 300 employees. It also said that it would tighten discretionary spend and reduce marketing costs.
