FARO expands digital twin product suite with HoloBuilder acquistion

FARO® Technologies, Inc., a global leader of 3D measurement, imaging, and realization solutions for the 3D Metrology, AEC (Architecture, Engineering & Construction), and Public Safety Analytics markets, announced the acquisition of HoloBuilder, Inc.

HoloBuilder brings to FARO its leading photogrammetry-based 3D platform, which delivers hardware agnostic image capture, registration and viewing to the fast-growing Digital Twin market. With an initial focus on Construction Management, HoloBuilder’s technology platform provides general contractors a solution to efficiently capture and virtually manage construction progress using off-the-shelf 360° cameras.

HoloBuilder's SaaS platform will add fast and easy reality-capture photo documentation and added remote access capability to FARO's highly-accurate 3D point cloud-based laser scanning to create the industry’s first end-to-end Digital Twin solution—all without leaving the FARO ecosystem. The combined solution will provide comprehensive scanning and image management capabilities for the Digital Twin market including robotic assembly 3D simulation, construction management, facilities operations and management, and incident pre-planning.

"The high-value that digitalization brings to the AEC and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) industries creates significant market opportunity for FARO," stated Michael Burger, FARO President and CEO. "The addition of HoloBuilder to our offering accelerates the reality of a true end-to-end Digital Twin solution and advances our strategic objective of increased recurring revenue through market share gains in this large and growing segment."

"HoloBuilder and FARO together furthers our vision of digitizing the physical world to enable process automation and workflow optimization," added Mostafa Akbari-Hochberg, HoloBuilder President & Founder. "The powerful combination of high accuracy laser scanning with real-time 360° photo capture and collaboration will empower both Company’s customer bases with a comprehensive Digital Twin solution."

Under terms of the agreement, HoloBuilder shareholders received a cash payment of $34 million. As of April 30, 2021, HoloBuilder had $4.0 million in annual recurring revenue with a compounded annual growth rate of nearly 75% since 2019. The transaction closed on June 4 and was funded with available cash reserves. Alantra acted as exclusive financial adviser to HoloBuilder.