Paris-based PhotoRoom bags €19M to help resellers, small businesses create studio-quality images

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Paris-based PhotoRoom, an AI-based image-capturing app that lets users create studio-quality product pictures in seconds, announced on Monday that it has raised $19M (approximately €19M) in a Series A round of funding.

A  former member of the 2020 Y Combinator cohort, this funding round takes PhotoRoom’s total raised funds to $21M (approximately €21M).

The Series A round was led by Balderton Capital. The VC focuses on backing the best European-founded technology companies. In the two decades since its founding, Balderton has worked with hundreds of founders and raised $4.5B across 10 funds to support businesses at both early and growth-stage.

Besides Balderton, Angel investors from Facebook, Hugging Face and Disney+, and Adjacent (that led the Seed round) also participated in this round.

Capital utilisation

PhotoRoom says it will use the funds to develop its software, improve generative AI features and increase its workforce in Europe. PhotoRoom’s aim is to become the number-one photo editing platform in the world by democratising access to studio-quality photography and collaboration tools.

PhotoRoom CEO and co-founder, Matthieu Rouif, says, “With PhotoRoom we’re democratising access to tools that can transform how entrepreneurs and creators produce images. You’re now 10X faster, 10X cheaper, and 10X better than those big corporations. Working with Balderton Capital, we know we can bring these essential tools to more people, sellers, entrepreneurs, and marketplaces worldwide.”

Bernard Liautaud, Managing Partner at Balderton Capital, says, “By focusing intently on user needs, Matthieu and Eliot have created a product that stands out from the rest. The importance of online photography is immense and PhotoRoom has both the traction and the ambition to become a market leader.”

An all-in-one creative photo editing platform

Founded in late 2019 by Matthieu Rouif and Eliot Andres, PhotoRoom claims to have become the go-to editing app for consumers, entrepreneurs and businesses looking to elevate their online imagery. 

The AI in PhotoRoom enables users to modify photographs in a matter of seconds by using deep learning to convert pixels into objects.  Using the Magic Retouch tool, the software can be used to remove undesirable elements and do other things like changing, removing, or blurring backgrounds.

Generative AI is a perfect fit, says PhotoRoom. The company’s initial open source initiative was speeding stable diffusion. Users can now make marketing product pictures using just one image of the product and a brief written description according to its most recent innovation, which is now in beta. This means the company’s merchants will now be able to create product pictures with any setting and accessories in a matter of minutes, as opposed to spending weeks and hundreds of thousands of dollars on studio photography.

Recently, PhotoRoom also rolled out a web-based version of its software, making it easier to access and utilise professional tools and also allowing PhotoRoom users to collaborate on photographs.

The company’s AI processes more than 3 million high-quality and accurate images a day from a growing global user base. Currently, the app is available in 28 languages. More than 40 million people have downloaded the app since it was first released, and it has been profitable for the past two years.

The power of high-quality images

When small companies use PhotoRoom’s tools to create and distribute high-quality photographs, their conversion rates may rise by as much as 31 per cent, according to the company’s own research.

Director of image operations at Wolt and PhotoRoom user Jeff Strauss, who formerly oversaw a group of 700 picture editors at Amazon, says, “When I was at Amazon, we required one image to list an item, this creates consistency while enhancing customer experience. Getting 100 per cent coverage with images you are proud of is hard, it quickly becomes your brand identity and hiring a professional can become expensive. Right now, I believe we are seeing yet another revolution in photography, like the digital takeover in 2000 that killed Kodak and Polaroid. Why? We can now pair the smartphone high-end camera in our pocket with PhotoRoom magic editing tools. This is a game changer for e-commerce photography, allowing businesses to have more control over the cost and creation of the images that create their brand.”

Additionally, PhotoRoom claims that its product and machine learning innovation have reduced editing time for company owners by 10X, allowing them to focus on more crucial activities like customer support, social media advertising, shipping, and stock management.

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Vishal Singh

Vishal Singh is a News Reporter and Social Media Marketing Lead at Silicon Canals. He covers developments in the European startup ecosystem and oversees the publication's social media presence. Before joining Silicon Canals, Vishal gained experience at the Indian digital media outlet Inc42, contributing to its growth with insightful content. Despite being a college dropout, his passion for writing has driven his career in journalism.

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