Blippar buys ANZ AR leader Plattar

Global augmented reality platform Blippar has acquired Plattar, a 3D product configuration and AR commerce company that Blippar describes as profitable and a market leader across Australia and New Zealand. Plattar's software lets retailers and other businesses present products online through interactive 3D and AR formats - rotating a product, viewing details, or visualising an item in a real space through a phone camera. Its client base spans retail, property, manufacturing and eCommerce, with brands including BedShed, Hommey, Valley Eyewear and ShadowSpec. Plattar will keep operating under its own brand with no changes to staffing, day-to-day operations or product delivery for existing customers. CEO Rupert Deans stays on to lead the business while also taking on responsibilities across the wider Blippar group. "We remain the same team with the same focus on our customers, but now with the backing, scale and ambition of a global AR platform," Deans said. For NZ businesses using or considering AR product visualisation, the deal signals consolidation in a market that has mostly been served by small regional specialists - worth watching for how pricing, support and roadmap priorities shift as Plattar plugs into a larger international platform.