Reno-based real estate valuation technology company Clear Capital announced last month the acquisition of CubiCasa, a Finland-based proptech startup. Financial terms were not disclosed. According to a Sept. 22 press release from Clear Capital, CubiCasa will continue to operate with autonomy while expanding its “revolutionary mobile technology that automates floor plan sketch creation and digitizes property data collection.” “As a key part of Clear Capital's mission to modernize the appraisal process, we needed to find a way to make floor plan sketches more accurate and easier to create,” Duane Andrews, Clear Capital CEO, said in a statement. “We evaluated every option available, and CubiCasa’s technology far exceeded anything else in the marketplace.” According to the release, CubiCasa’s mobile capture technology can be used without prior training by anyone with a smartphone. From a simple walk-through of a home, the technology produces a highly precise floor plan sketch and calculates gross living area aligned with American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards. “Square footage is the second-highest driver of a home’s value (the first being location), and CubiCasa’s technology helps minimize inconsistencies and variations in the property data collection and inspection process,” per the release. “Companies can easily embed CubiCasa’s scanning technology into their existing mobile applications through APIs and mobile SDKs.” “The CubiCasa team is incredibly excited to be joining forces with Clear Capital, which has been an excellent partner to us for more than a year now,” Harri Pesola, founder and executive director of CubiCasa, said in a statement. “Clear Capital is the ideal partner to help us grow and revolutionize the way property data is collected now and in the future.” As part of the merger, Jeff Allen, who has served as executive vice president of innovation labs at Clear Capital, has advanced to president at CubiCasa. “We’re thrilled with the CubiCasa product, but also with their tremendous team,” Allen said in a statement. “What they've already built can serve as an industry utility to help modernize the valuation industry, and we're excited by the additional innovations our investment can bring to the product. We think there's major change coming to our industry in years ahead, and we want to help lead it, not just react to it.” Before the acquisition, Clear Capital was CubiCasa’s first customer for its Digital GLA product, which is integrated into ClearInsight, Clear Capital’s proprietary mobile app that enables highly efficient and precise property data collection. Of note, the acquisition comes as Clear Capital marks the 20th anniversary of its founding.
