Home at last with Homie3D
Imagine this: you are in a new home with the power to install the fixtures and furniture you like. The white kitchen countertop doesn’t seem to match the décor, so in a blink of an eye, you change it to a more polished black. You see how high the ceiling is and know that a chandelier would look amazing in the hallway. The best part? This house has not even been built yet.
No, this is not The Sims. It is a 3D virtual reality (VR) application brought to you by Homie3D.
When Homie3D founder Jesse Broadhurst had this idea five years ago, he approached specific people with their own niche expertise to form his dream team. Every single one of them said yes, excited to turn this vision into a (virtual) reality.
Today, Homie3D has created a 3D Property Marketing Solution that uses VR hardware and software and cloud-based applications. It provides customers with a virtual property tour where they can explore different designs, floorings, fixtures and even pick furniture – all in real time. Instead of relying solely on their imagination, homebuyers can now have a more accurate vision of the final product.
“You are digitally in the house, walking around a property that hasn’t been built, with the certainty that this is what you want to buy,” said Jesse.
The element of gamification also appeals to young homebuyers who have grown up with video games and are now ready to purchase a property.
“2.5 billion people now identify as gamers,” Jesse explained. “Why not have a sales process that they identify with already, something that feels familiar and is fun?”
Paul Diamond, Director of Strategic Relations at Homie3D, laments that the home-buying process is complicated enough. Thus, simplicity is a key focus of their product and business.
“We want to keep our part as simple as possible and make it fun, because outside of our control, it’s so complex,” said Paul. “In the midst of all the paperwork, there is one bit of fun that we can give them.”
Despite their passion for the technology, they were unenchanted with VR when it first burst onto the scene.
“The first time I put an [oculus] headset on, I threw up,” said Jesse, referring to the VR motion sickness experienced as a result of time lags.
“Bad products came out and gave VR a bad rep,” said Paul. “We don’t want to be a part of that.”
However, the lacking state of VR spurred them on to constantly improve on the product, making it seamless and simple to use on any digital platform without the use of a headset.
The secret to creating such a cutting-edge product? They waited.
While biding your time is not the most popular course of action among startups, it was almost a necessity for Homie3D. Just six months ago, the pixel streaming technology that they currently use did not even exist.
“Instead of trying to stream everything happening on that server to a user screen, the new tech allows us to convert it into a media format,” said Jesse. “It is now smaller and faster to run, like a YouTube video.”
“Now, there’s no limitation as to what you can put up there. Whereas previously, there was nothing but, which is why we chose to scale back.”
For the past five years, the team have gone through four iterations of their product which involved throwing away the guidebook and using their own logic to build their own system.
“We didn’t have forums to dive into to solve our problems because we were right on the cusp of new technology, so we are inventing it in a way,” said Paul.
Although they could spend as long as six months to solve a problem, Jesse never wanted to give up.
“If I were looking at the bigger picture and how many obstacles I have to get through, I’ll probably just give up,” he admitted. “But if you segment the problem and just focus on one specific thing at a time, you can move forward. You’ll always hit another obstacle.”
“That’s why it took so long to get to where we are. I’m happy with the first version that we will be releasing to the public.”
Although startups often share the view of Redi Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, who famously said, “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late”, Jesse disagrees.
“I think that quote is true with software apps, but if you’re trying to show somebody what the product will look like in the future, it needs to be spot on,” he said. “Especially in our industry, where everything is all about visuals and built on it.”
“I wasn’t prepared to release something that not anyone could pick up. Until we were at that point and until I was confident about the product, I wasn’t ready to launch,” said Jesse.
Finally, after five years of refining their product, Homie3D is officially having a public launch this November.
Homie3D credited the LaunchHUB intensive for accelerating their growth to a launch-ready stage.
"Before LaunchHUB, we thought we were doing well,” said Jesse. “But we’ve accomplished more in business development over the last two months at LaunchHUB than we have over the past five years.”
“The mentors and coaches have been amazing. It’s good to have someone outside our organisation look at our pitch deck with fresh eyes,” said Paul.
“Not just fresh eyes,” Jesse quipped. “Educated eyes! Someone who has been through the rounds, has experience pitching to clients, who can take our content and tell us it’s rubbish.”
“I thought I was smart and had business sorted. Then I came [into LaunchHUB] and realised, nope! Now I feel a lot smarter,” said Paul.
“This is like school, the fourth level of university!”
We have no doubt that Homie3D’s hard work will pay off and go on to transform the VR and property market.
Are you a passionate founder looking to grow your startup and yourself? Applications are now open for our LaunchHUB accelerator program. The 12 week experience is designed to amplify your startup journey’s success by providing the accountability, support and resources you need to get you to market faster.
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