123RF

123RF

123RF

Stock photography agency founded in 2005


123RF, a branch of Inmagine Group, is a stock photos agency founded in 2005 which sells royalty-free images and stock photography. The company also has an expansive collection of vector graphics, icons, fonts, videos, and audio files.

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History

In 2000, 123RF founder Andy Sitt left his job at a British company that sold stock images in CDs while showing customers printed catalogs. Andy launched his e-commerce business by setting up Inmagine, selling premium large-format photo prints. Working together with co-founder and current CEO Stephanie Sitt,[1] Inmagine Group is one of the few technology companies to have bootstrapped globally from Asia.[citation needed]

From the beginning, Inmagine produced proprietary content which required in-house photographers, graphic designers, professional models, makeup artists, and a sales team to cater to demand.[citation needed]

In 2005, Inmagine set up 123RF, which offers royalty-free stock images, videos, and audio clips. Unlike the previous business model, 123RF allows photographers around the world to sell their work on the platform under a crowdsourcing model.[2]

In 2011, Inmagine established a global presence with 44 regional offices worldwide.[3] Offices were founded in North and Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Australasia.[4]

In 2019, Inmagine consolidated and streamlined its offerings into three main products: 123RF, Pixlr, and Designs.ai. The launching of Pixlr Market (now Stock by Pixlr) and Pixlr Editor commences.[5]

In 2020, the company launched its first artificial intelligence platform, Inmagine Brain.[6] In November 2020, the company confirmed that it had been subject to a data breach, with 8.3 million customer records available for sale on the dark web.[7]

Through 123RF, Inmagine created a visual guide in 2021 to predict image search trends.[8]

In June 2022, the company launched its free images section where audiences can download images for free, but with only a limited amount of daily downloads.[9]

Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI-Powered Tools

In 2023, 123RF launched its AI-powered Search for more precise and intuitive searching.[10] AI Image Variations, a feature that uses machine learning to generate multiple unique variations of a single image[11] and AI Image Generator,[12] a tool that generates custom images based on users' specific prompts.

Acquisitions

In March 2017, 123RF acquired TheHungryJPEG, a UK-registered font and graphics marketplace and its sister company Craftbundles for an undisclosed sum.[13][14]

In April 2017, 123RF acquired Pixlr, an online web-based image editor from Autodesk for an undisclosed sum.[15]

In November 2017, 123RF acquired Vectr, a web-based vector editor and Story & Heart, a video education platform.[16]


References

  1. Tan, Tee May (11 October 2017). "5 Of The Most Common Startup Pain Points—Solved By This M'sian Startup Worth US$220 Mil". Vulcan Post. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  2. Administrator, Systems. "Inmagine – About". Inmagine. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  3. Administrator, Systems. "Inmagine – Contact". Inmagine. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  4. "123RF's visual guide to image search trends and colours in 2021". www.marketing-interactive.com. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  5. "123RF acquires design marketplace TheHungryJPEG". www.dealstreetasia.com. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  6. "Malaysia: Digital stock media firm Inmagine Group buys two US companies". www.dealstreetasia.com. Retrieved 19 November 2017.

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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 123RF, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.