Shutterstock dishes out US$75m to ramp up 3D content with TurboSquid buy

Creative stock library platform Shutterstock is acquiring TurboSquid to ramp up its 3D marketplace offering for US$75 million of cash payable at closing. TurboSquid has been a 3D industry leader, offering a unified 3D workflow, and operating a marketplace offering of more than one million 3D models, a 2D marketplace derived from 3D objects, and a digital asset management solution offered on a SaaS basis.

Since its inception in 2000, TurboSquid has enabled the creation, optimisation, publishing and monetisation of 3D models, while accelerating time to market and reducing development hours via its proprietary technology. Stan Pavlovsky, CEO of Shutterstock said the growth of 3D, AR and VR content and the potential to engage consumers with this disruptive technology is at an all-time high, and TurboSquid's “industry-leading platform allows Shutterstock to make the distribution of 3D accessible to Shutterstock's community of creators and marketers across video, gaming, e-commerce, and beyond.”

"At Shutterstock, we are constantly at the forefront of innovation, monitoring the creative roadmap through our clients," said  Pavlovsky.

According to reports on FastCompany, the acquisition is expected to add 2% to 3% to Shutterstock’s overall revenue. Quoting Pavlovsky, the article says that the move also adds on to Shutterstock’s ambitions to go beyond just stock content and image editing tools and make it easier for marketers and content creators to have the latest technology. The acquisition also comes on the back of Shutterstock Studios being launched late last year.  Shutterstock positions Shutterstock Studios as a “remote creative solution” designed to help brands and agencies meet growing content demands and navigate the ever-evolving path to production. Shutterstock Studios offers a full creative team dedicated to researching and developing a campaign tailored to a brand’s vision from market research to creative ideation.

Now, the acquisition of TurboSquid establishes Shutterstock as the premium destination for 3D models. In addition, TurboSquid's PixelSquid offering provides access to content sourced from 3D models in an easy-to-use 2D format, which allows users to tap into the power and flexibility that comes with 3D. TurboSquid's SaaS offering, Kraken, is a solution that companies use to manage their own libraries of models and streamline 3D asset management.

TurboSquid's CEO Matt Wisdom added, "Nobody in the world understands the creative landscape better than Shutterstock. The visionary leadership and tech innovation make it the perfect place for TurboSquid and its employees to continue what we do best -- creating and building a 3D powerhouse and cloud-based digital asset management solution."

CapM Advisors acted as financial advisor to Shutterstock, and Raymond James acted as financial advisor to TurboSquid.

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