Hover raises $25 million to turn pictures of homes into 3D models

Hover, a startup developing AI-imbued apps that create customizable 3D models of homes from smartphone photos, today announced that it has raised $25 million in series C funding from Menlo Ventures, with participation from previous investors, including GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Standard Industries. This brings the company’s total venture capital raised to $87 million and will be used to grow Hover’s team and further develop its technology, according to CEO and cofounder A.J. Altman.

“Hover gives homeowners the information needed to maximize the value of their largest economic asset. In a world where you can buy and sell your home online, you should also have the ability to plan and complete renovation projects from the palm of your hand,” Altman added. “With Hover, we are transforming homeownership by dramatically improving a notoriously frustrating process. [C]ontractors can give a quote to the homeowner during their first visit … This inevitably increases their chance of closing the deal on the spot.”

Hover leverages cloud-hosted computer vision algorithms to generate 3D models with as few as eight pictures taken from different angles. Its tools allow homeowners and contractors to extract measurements in PDF or Excel format or to visualize different products, colors, and materials (including roof, siding, windows, doors, brick, stone, and trim) on the models they’ve captured. They’re able to share links to those models via the messaging channels of their choice and to purchase materials directly through Hover from partners like The Home Depot, roofing manufacturer GAF, and materials distributor Beacon.

Hover says its apps have “hundreds of thousands” of users representing “tens of thousands” of home improvement companies and claims that it works with five of the top 10 U.S. insurance carriers, who use its technology to “reduce claim adjusting costs, decrease cycle times, and improve the overall customer experience.” For instance, Hover says it’s able to provide a roof square estimate within 30 minutes of photos’ capture.

“Hover has become the defacto standard for how professionals sell and homeowners buy even the most sophisticated home improvement projects,” said Menlo Ventures partner Matt Murphy, who plans to join Hover’s board of directors. “Hover is leveraging the best and brightest in computer vision to reinvent a massive market and is creating a 3D system of record for home data that will benefit homeowners, contractors, home products companies, and insurers.”

Hover, which was founded in 2011 and is based in San Francisco, says it has doubled its staff in the past eight months.