State Auto’s innovation unit invests in 3-D mapping firm

State Auto Financial’s innovation arm has made its first investment.

State Auto Labs has taken a stake of undisclosed size in Matterport, a Silicon Valley company that does 3-D mapping of homes and businesses. Such technology can be important to help insurers get a more accurate view of property they are insuring, and to help in handling claims.

“Matterport has positioned itself as an invaluable solution for insurance professionals and property owners by providing a more transparent, dimensionally precise means of documenting residential and commercial properties,” said Bill Brown, Matterport’s CEO, in a statement.

“Our technology can significantly aid in protecting a person’s most valuable assets, and this strategic investment will enable us to accelerate our growth in this important sector.”

State Auto Labs announced in September that it would start a corporate venture fund and invest $25 million to find the next great thing in insurance. State Auto Labs is collaborating on the effort with Rev1 Ventures, a technology-business incubator in Columbus.

Matterport, which is based in Sunnyvale, California, has built a platform for quickly and easily creating, understanding and distributing 3-D models of real-world space. It also has nearly 1 million models of these spaces.

The platform allows customers to document and visualize properties in 3-D on the web, on mobile and in virtual reality. That includes a property’s features, dimensions, condition and contents.

Such technology can be used by property owners and claims professionals to more thoroughly document the condition of assets.

State Auto Labs’ investment will go toward accelerating Matterport’s expansion in the insurance industry.

Matterport serves customers in industries such as real estate, vacation rentals, hotels, architecture, engineering and construction.