Paris-based Photoroom, maker of the popular AI-powered photo editing app, has raised $43 million in Series B funding to further develop its technology and launch new features that enable businesses to quickly create high-quality product images.
The round was led by previous backer Balderton Capital and new investor Aglaé Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator. It brings Photoroom's total funding to $64 million since its founding in 2019.
Fueling the company's rapid growth is an AI-based editing engine that has appealed to over 150 million casual users and businesses alike. Photoroom now processes 5 billion images per year for customers ranging from individual online sellers to major corporations like Bulgari, Netflix, and Warner Bros.
"Photoroom shattered all expectations," said Cameron Curtis, EVP of Worldwide Digital Marketing at Warner Bros. "Its unparalleled ease of use became the catalyst for propelling the Barbie Selfie Generator into the digital spotlight, and captivating audiences worldwide."
Photoroom's new suite of features includes Photoroom Instant Diffusion (Photoroom ID), a foundation model tailor-made for product photography. This first-of-its-kind model ensures that images from different sources look consistently styled, as if shot in the same setting. The company's custom architecture also increases the speed of image generation by up to 40%, allowing users to generate and iterate on images much faster than on any other visual AI model.
According to CEO Matthieu Rouif, Photoroom ID focuses on "speed, quality, and control" to help merchants easily produce consistent, high-quality product photos without professional equipment or expertise. The model can adapt quickly based on user feedback and new AI advancements.
In addition to Photoroom ID, the company is launching a range of new AI photo-editing tools that give businesses more creative control over their product images. These include AI Backgrounds, AI Expand, AI Images, AI Fill, Auto-rotate, AI Upscale, and an Image Editing API.
The new features are designed to help small businesses create professional-quality product images, offering more creative control and flexibility. For businesses that edit a high volume of images, Photoroom has focused on automating photo-editing workflows for teams. The company's Image Editing API already lets teams like Smartly, Printify, Faire, Bulgari, and Netflix edit images by the thousands or millions, and will soon make its newest generative AI features available through the API.
The new funding will be used to accelerate Photoroom's innovation in generative AI, expanding its model capabilities, securing imagery from leading image providers and photographers, and doubling the size of the team by the end of 2024 by hiring the best AI talent.