Photoroom Secures $43 Million in Funding to Fuel AI-Powered Photo Editing Growth
Parisian AI photo editing app Photoroom has closed its Series B funding round, securing $43 million at a $500 million valuation. Co-founded by Matthieu Rouif and Eliot Andres, the company has experienced rapid growth, processing 5 billion images annually and attracting over 150 million downloads across its mobile, web, and API interfaces.
This funding round comes amid strong market competition, with rivals like Picsart boasting nearly $200 million in funding. However, Photoroom differentiates itself by prioritizing the development of its own AI models rather than relying on pre-trained solutions. This commitment to in-house development necessitates significant investments in compute power, image rights acquisitions, and R&D talent. This targeted approach allows for more efficient and operationally optimized models, as evidenced by Photoroom’s claim of a 40% faster image generation compared to other platforms.
Beyond its technical prowess, Photoroom emphasizes user-centricity. The company continuously introduces new features like Photoroom Instant Diffusion, which helps online sellers create consistent product photography regardless of location or setup. Other functionalities include AI-generated backgrounds, scene expansions, image generation, and a comprehensive suite of editing tools. Additionally, Photoroom caters to businesses managing large image volumes by offering automated bulk editing capabilities.
The funding will fuel further expansion, with Photoroom aiming to double its 50-person workforce by year-end. This growth will primarily focus on technical talent to enhance model efficiency and operation.
Investors participating in the round include Balderton Capital, Aglaé, Y Combinator, and undisclosed additional investors. Existing backers include Kima Ventures, FJ Labs, Meta, and prominent individuals like Yann LeCun, Zehan Wang, Hugging Face executives, and Disney+ representatives. This latest infusion brings Photoroom’s total funding to $64 million since its inception four years ago.
Quotes:
- Matthieu Rouif, CEO and co-founder of Photoroom: “The foundation model is the next step in empowering businesses to create amazing product photos without needing to be an expert at prompt engineering or photography. Our model has been trained to excel at product photography and can quickly adapt to user needs and feedback.”
- Bernard Liautaud, managing partner at Balderton: “Balderton has witnessed Photoroom’s remarkable journey from its inception, and we are continually impressed by their ability to lead and execute on their user-centric vision. Photoroom’s generative AI capabilities are unparalleled, and we have no doubt that they will continue to lead the way in this rapidly evolving landscape.”
This news is still developing, and we are pursuing further interviews with both Rouif and an investor for a more comprehensive perspective.