Company:Picsart

From HandWiki
Short description: Image editing and social networking company
Picsart
TypePrivate company
IndustryInternet
Founded2011; 13 years ago (2011)
FounderHovhannes Avoyan
Artavazd Mehrabyan
Mikayel Vardanyan
Headquarters
Miami, Florida, United States Yerevan, Armenia
Key people
Hovhannes Avoyan (CEO)
Artavazd Mehrabyan (CTO)
Craig Foster (CFO)
Mikayel Vardanyan
(Chief Product Officer)
ProductsPhoto and video editing suite
Total equity$1.5 billion
Number of employees
1,000
Websitepicsart.com

Picsart is an Armenian-American technology company based in Miami, Florida and Yerevan, Armenia that develops the Picsart suite of online photo and video editing applications, with a social creative community. The platform allows users to take and edit pictures and videos, draw with layers, and share the images on Picsart and other social networks. It is one of the world's most popular apps, with reportedly more than 1 billion downloads across 180 countries.[1]

The company was founded in 2011.[2]

History

Picsart was founded in November 2011 by Armenian entrepreneur Hovhannes Avoyan, and Armenian programmers Artavazd Mehrabyan and Mikayel Vardanyan.[3] Its founders developed the first Picsart application as a stand-alone tool to help people alter a photo image on their phone, and additional capabilities were added over time.[4] The first PicsArt app launched in November 2011 on Android devices.[5]

In January 2013, Picsart for iOS was released for the iPhone.[5] In May, it was released for the iPad.[6] In late 2013, Picsart photo editor became available for Windows Phone.[7]

In January 2014, Picsart became available on devices supporting Windows 8.[8]

By April 2015, the company reportedly had seen 250 million downloads for its iOS and Android apps, and had 60 million monthly active users.[9]

In 2016, Picsart reached 75 million monthly active users.[10]

In 2017, Picsart launched Remix Chat, a messaging system where users can share images directly or in groups and edit them collectively with friends.[11] The company also launched a feature to let its user community create and share custom stickers for free. Picsart also announced that it reached 90 million monthly active users.[12][13]

In July, Russian supermodel and philanthropist Natalia Vodianova joined Picsart to help increase social engagement and activism within the Picsart photo community.[14] In October, the company reached 100 million monthly active users and began announcing partnerships with major consumer brands and celebrities.[15]

In March 2019, Picsart reached 130 million monthly active users.[16] Also in 2019, the company was ranked by app analytics company Sensor Tower as the #4 top grossing social photo and video editing app, after Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.[17]

In January 2020, the company launched an artificial intelligence lab in conjunction with the American University of Armenia.[18] Also in July, the company reported over 1 billion app downloads to date.[19]

On August 26, 2021, Picsart CEO Avoyan announced that the company had raised $130 million in Series C funding from Softbank, Sequoia, G Squared, Tribe Capital, Graph Ventures and Siguler Guff & Company with a company valuation nearing $1.5 billion, making it the first tech unicorn born in Armenia.[1]

In February 2022, Picsart acquired Code Republic, a learning platform, to be part of its education division, Picsart Academy.[20]

Also in February, the company launched a new API program called Picsart for Developers, allowing partners to implement Picsart features on their own platforms.[21]

In March 2022, Picsart released AI fonts, a new collection of fonts created with generative AI.[22] [23]

In November 2022, Picsart added an AI Image Generator and an AI Writer to its platform, which make images and copy using generative AI.[24] [25][26]

The company launched its AI Avatar feature in December 2022.[27][28] In January 2023, Picsart launched a new standalone app called SketchAI, which uses generative AI to turn sketches into digital art.[29][30]

Products

Picsart develops mobile apps, and a set of web browser tools for editing videos and photos. The app and website tools support social networking activities. A superb feature of this app is the AI image generator tool to convert our text into an image, as well as a background eraser to erase unwanted objects and replace the background. Its unique filters like blur, retro, VHS, or Y2K create dramatic images like a piece of art.

The apps include:

  • Picsart Photo & Video Editor - a photo and video editing app with tools to add filters and various effects, with social network integration. The app is free to use and offers in-app purchases of stickers and other graphic elements.[31]
  • Picsart Animator - an animation app allowing the creation of cartoon videos, GIFs and other animation.[32]
  • Picsart Color - a drawing and painting app[33]
  • Picsart GIF & Sticker Maker - an animated GIF and sticker generator[12]
  • SketchAI - an app that turns drawings and photos into digital art using generative AI [34][35]

The apps are available on iOS, Android, and Windows mobile devices.[36]

Picsart's web browser tools for PCs have the same features as the Picsart Photo & Video app, but are designed for web browsers on PCs running Windows 8.1 or higher.[37]

Built-in social networking features with the apps and website tools allow users to comment, favorite, and follow others using the tools.[31]

Operations

Picsart is headquartered in Miami, Florida.[38] The company has additional offices in Yerevan, Armenia; Beijing; Moscow; Tokyo; Los Angeles; Glasgow, Scotland; and Bangalore, India.[39][38] In March 2019, the company reported that 70 percent of its then 360 employees worked in engineering and product development, and half of those employees were female.[15]

Funding

As of August 2021, the company had received $195 million in cumulative venture funding from Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, and others, giving it a reported post-money valuation of roughly $1.5 billion.[40][41][42][9][1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Picsart Is Tech's Newest Unicorn — And Adobe Should Be Afraid". August 26, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2021/08/26/picsart-is-techs-newest-unicorn---and-adobe-should-be-afraid/. 
  2. ↑ "Photo editing app Picsart will use $20M funding round for Asia expansion". April 20, 2016. https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/blog/techflash/2016/04/photo-editing-apppicsart-will-use-20m-funding.html. 
  3. ↑ "Picsart Gold – Super Advanced Photo Editor App". April 24, 2020. https://www.newsgaze.com/picsart-gold/. 
  4. ↑ "Finding The Art In Building A Business". April 18, 2013. https://www.fastcompany.com/3008477/finding-art-building-business/. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Photo app PicsArt expands its focus from Android to iOS". December 17, 2012. https://www.fiercewireless.com/developer/photo-app-picsart-expands-its-focus-from-android-to-ios. 
  6. ↑ "AppAdvice App of the Week for January 7 2013" (in en-US). January 7, 2013. https://appadvice.com/appnn/2013/01/appadvice-app-of-the-week-for-january-7-2013. 
  7. ↑ "Picsart photo editor jumps from Phone to Windows 8.1 and wins our affection" (in en-US). June 25, 2014. https://www.windowscentral.com/picsart-photo-editor-windows-81-hidden-gems. 
  8. ↑ "Picsart expands its Windows Phone 8 availability". January 7, 2014. https://www.windowscentral.com/picsart-expands-its-windows-phone-8-availability. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Picsart, a mobile photo-editing app, to raise $15 million". April 13, 2015. http://fortune.com/2015/04/13/picsart-raises-15-million. 
  10. ↑ "San Francisco-based photo editing app Picsart will use $20M funding round for Asia expansion - Silicon Valley Business Journal". April 20, 2016. http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/blog/techflash/2016/04/photo-editing-apppicsart-will-use-20m-funding.html. 
  11. ↑ "Edit. Share. Repeat. Picsart adds new chat feature to encourage remixing photos". February 21, 2017. http://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/picsart-adds-remix-chat. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Picsart's custom stickers (and export option) could make basic effects look boring". March 21, 2017. http://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/picsart-custom-stickers. 
  13. ↑ "Picsart's custom stickers (and export option) could make basic effects look boring". Feb 21, 2022. https://editorsmodapk.com/how-to-make-a-sticker-on-picsart/. 
  14. ↑ "Natalia Vodianova Joins Picsart As The Head Of Aspiration". June 22, 2017. https://www.musttechnews.com/natalia-vodianova-picsart-head-aspiration/. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Creative-focused app Picsart hits 100M MAUs". October 31, 2017. https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/31/creative-focused-app-picsart-hits-100m-maus-attracting-brands-tired-of-trolls/. 
  16. ↑ "Picsart hits 130 million MAUs as Chinese flock to its photo-editing app" (in en-US). March 20, 2019. http://social.techcrunch.com/2019/03/20/picsart-china/. [yes|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  17. ↑ "Creative-focused app Picsart hits 100M MAUs". August 2, 2019. https://sensortower.com/blog/top-grossing-photo-and-video-apps-worldwide-q2-2019. 
  18. ↑ "AUA and Picsart Announce the Launch of the AI Lab" (in en-US). January 9, 2020. https://mirrorspectator.com/2020/01/09/aua-and-picsart-announce-the-launch-of-the-ai-lab/. 
  19. ↑ "What does acquiring 1 billion users teach you about mobile user retention?" (in en-US). August 1, 2020. https://johnkoetsier.com/what-does-acquiring-1-billion-users-teach-you-about-mobile-user-retention/. 
  20. ↑ "Wednesday Digest: USF's biggest gift ever; S.F. developer buys Berkeley apartments" (in en-US). February 2, 2022. https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2022/02/02/sfbt-digest-wednesday-sobrato-usf-divcowest-paypal.html. 
  21. ↑ "Picsart brings its creative tools to developers with new API" (in en-US). February 9, 2022. https://techcrunch.com/2022/02/09/picsart-brings-its-creative-tools-to-developers-with-new-api/. 
  22. ↑ Kulp, Patrick (March 16, 2022). "Visual Editor Picsart Launches AI-Powered Font Generator" (in en-US). https://www.adweek.com/commerce/visual-editor-picsart-ai-powered-font-generator/. 
  23. ↑ Navlakha, Meera (2022-03-24). "Picsart is using AI to create new fonts" (in en). https://mashable.com/article/picsart-artificial-intelligence-fonts. 
  24. ↑ Kulp, Patrick (November 3, 2022). "Picsart Now Lets Users Generate Images and Text With AI" (in en-US). https://www.adweek.com/commerce/picsart-now-lets-users-generate-images-and-text-with-ai/. 
  25. ↑ Malik, Aisha (2022-11-02). "Picsart adds an AI Image Generator and AI Writer to its suite of creative tools" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/02/picsart-adds-an-ai-image-generator-and-ai-writer-to-its-suite-of-creative-tools/. 
  26. ↑ Moreno, Johan. "Picsart Adds AI-Powered Image Generation And Copywriting Tools" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/johanmoreno/2022/11/02/picsart-adds-ai-powered-image-generation-and-copywriting-tools/. 
  27. ↑ Growcoot, Matt (2022-12-24). "Picsart Launches AI Selfie Generator Allowing Users to Create Unique Avatars" (in en). https://petapixel.com/2022/12/24/picsart-launches-ai-selfie-generator-allowing-users-to-create-unique-avatars/. 
  28. ↑ "Picsart adds AI Avatar tool, here is how to use it" (in en). 26 December 2022. https://www.financialexpress.com/life/technology-picsart-adds-ai-avatar-tool-here-is-how-to-use-it-2927040/. 
  29. ↑ Navlakha, Meera (2023-01-06). "Picsart's new SketchAI app is transforming images into digital art" (in en). https://mashable.com/article/picsart-sketchai-app. 
  30. ↑ Wiggers, Kyle (2023-01-05). "Picsart's AI-powered SketchAI app turns images and outlines into digital art" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/05/picsarts-ai-powered-sketchai-app-turns-images-and-outlines-into-digital-art/. 
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Picsart (for iPhone) Review". October 5, 2016. https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/picsart-for-iphone. 
  32. ↑ "Here are the top 9 Google Play apps of 2017 for enterprise use". October 5, 2016. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/here-are-the-top-9-google-play-apps-of-2017-for-enterprise-use/. 
  33. ↑ "Picsart Color Paint app update brings improved video export, brush previews and support for more languages". March 7, 2017. https://nerdschalk.com/picsart-color-paint-app-update-brings-improved-video-export-brush-previews-and-support-for-more-languages/. 
  34. ↑ Wiggers, Kyle (2023-01-05). "Picsart's AI-powered SketchAI app turns images and outlines into digital art" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/05/picsarts-ai-powered-sketchai-app-turns-images-and-outlines-into-digital-art/. 
  35. ↑ Navlakha, Meera (2023-01-06). "Picsart's new SketchAI app is transforming images into digital art" (in en). https://mashable.com/article/picsart-sketchai-app. 
  36. ↑ Graham, Jefferson (March 1, 2014). "Scribble on your pics with versatile Picsart photo editor". https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/talkingtech/2014/03/01/talking-tech-picsart-studio-app-review/5826921/. 
  37. ↑ Saleem, Hammad (November 30, 2001). "Picsart is an excellent and popular photo editing app for Windows 8.1". http://www.winbeta.org/news/picsart-excellent-photo-editing-app-windows-81. 
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Portero, Ashley (February 24, 2022). "Picsart moves corporate headquarters to Miami Beach as part of global expansion". https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2022/02/24/picsart-moves-hq-san-francisco-to-miami.html. 
  39. ↑ "Armenian businesses record success on international level". July 27, 2020. https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1023175.html. 
  40. ↑ "Picsart, A Photo Editing App With 200M Downloads, Lands $10M From Sequoia". February 5, 2015. https://techcrunch.com/2015/02/05/picsart-10-million. 
  41. ↑ "PicsArt Raises $15M To Build A Community Around Photo Editing". June 4, 2015. https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/04/picsart-raises-15m-to-build-a-community-around-photo-editing. 
  42. ↑ "Photo app PicsArt gets $20M to grow its user base in Asia". April 20, 2016. https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/20/picsart-asia. 



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