A local commercial real estate startup known for its visual media offerings has been acquired by another Midwest-based firm.
Oval Room Group, housed in Cincinnati’s West End neighborhood, has been bought by Buildout, a Chicago commercial real estate software company.
Terms of the deal, finalized Jan. 1, were not disclosed.
For Oval Room Group, it caps three years of rapid growth, CEO Alex Taylor told me. Taylor and principal Tim Haines acquired the company, formerly 513 Oval Room, in 2019.
While Oval Room initially specialized in 3D home tours, the two quickly made a pivot to commercial real estate, offering aerial visuals, photography, videography, concept planning, renderings and more.
That’s spurred more than 200% year-over-year growth since their takeover. Taylor said it’s also given Oval Room Group name recognition among the common clients it has with Buildout.
“It’s a big deal for the city,” Taylor said. “This company has been completely bootstrapped by Tim and I, and to sell in under four years is pretty rare from a timeline standpoint. It’s a great thing to see for commercial real estate tech born in Cincinnati.”
All 12 Oval Room Group employees will be retained in the deal. The company also will maintain its brand name for the time being as well as its office in the historic Mohawk building along Central Parkway. Taylor, as part of the transition, will move into a VP of media role with Buildout, while Haines will serve as a long-term consultant.
Taylor, one of the ground-floor employees at Dotloop, a real estate tech startup that celebrated one of the city’s most notable exits when it sold to Zillow for $108 million in 2015, called the acquisition an effectiveness play for Buildout that will improve how clients market their properties. Buildout offers a variety of solutions for the national CRE industry to aid with property sales and leasing marketing campaigns. Its software, for example, allows clients to automate the creation of materials, property websites, proposals, emails and more. Its broker customers include Lee & Associates, Coldwell Banker Commercial and NAI Global among others.
Buildout said the deal creates a “truly one-of-a-kind industry resource” that opens the doors to a full spectrum of CRE visual media.
“To say the modernization of commercial property marketing is moving fast would be an understatement. Yesterday, quality visual media was a competitive advantage. Tomorrow it’s table stakes,” Kris Krisco, co-CEO of Buildout, said in a release. “In talking to Oval Room Group, Buildout discovered a mutual belief — that brokers and property owners shouldn't be handicapped by their ability to showcase properties to the fullest extent.”
Buildout said the deal was executed in conjunction with its primary investment partner, the Riverside Company. The New York City private equity firm first invested an undisclosed amount in Buildout in July 2020. Prior, Buildout had raised more than $8 million since its founding in 2010.
The company in the last year has announced two other acquisition deals, including Denver’s Apto and Prospect Now, based in Los Altos, Calif.
