The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words. Raleigh startup Photofy is giving mobile users a way to add just a few more words to those photos, plus some creative designs to boot.
Photofy has launched a mobile app that lets users add text, designs, frames and other enhancements to their photos. Users can use stock content or create their own designs or employ some combination of the two, said Jon LaNasa president and co-founder of Photofy.
“It’s Photoshop meets Shutterstock with professional content,” LaNasa said.
Photofy started as a photo enhancement app offering typography Users could attach words to their photos phrases like “Happy Birthday” or “I love you,” which could then be shared with other users. That beta version launched last September. The beta drew 150,000 users across the world and more than 4,500 reviews. It got lots of kudos. But some users also panned it.
“You hate to see those one star reviews because it’s really painful, but it’s those 1-star and 2-star reviews that you learn from,” LaNasa said.
And what Photofy learned was that while some users like the stock, pre-designed content many others want the ability to create their own designs. So LaNasa and Jesse Flores, co-founder and creative director of Photofy, went back to the drawing board. Flash forward to this month and Photofy is now launching version 2.0 of its app. Flores said this version has features that allow users to be more creative. Users can use a photo sticker option to produce their own designs. A text tool allows users to choose from fonts.
The Photofy app is now available for iOS and Android devices. It’s free now but eventually the company will move to a pay-to-play model. What makes Photofy stand out compared to other photo apps, LaNasa said, is its library of content. The company has amassed thousands of pieces from designers all over the world. Some of the designers are partners. Other content comes from relationships that LaNasa and Flores have with had with designers in the past.
Photofy’s demographic targets are teenagers, college students and parents with children. LaNasa said that women are also a target, as women tend to post photos more than men. In time, Photofy plans to market the app to businesses, which could use its functions to share information about sales or specials.
Looking to Hire
Photofy has six employees in Raleigh and a mobile web development team of seven located in the Ukraine. LaNasa said Photofy is currently looking to hire another designer. Other hires in coming months will come in sales and marketing. By May or June, LaNasa says the Photofy could employ as many as 12 in Raleigh.
LaNasa had previously founded and sold InvitationBox.com, a web-based retailer for the invitation, stationary and gift market. Photofy launched about a year ago and LaNasa bootstrapped the company until receiving a $600,000 investment last November led by Capitol Broadcasting Company.
Capitol Broadcasting is parent to WRALTechWire. Jimmy Goodmon, Jr., vice president of CBC New Media Group, is a member of Photofy’s board of directors. That investment financed the development of the 2.0 version of the Photofy app.
Photofy’s goal in the next few months is to build the user base for the app, then seek another round of capital, LaNasa said. The $1 million to $2 million from that round would be used to build yet another version targeting businesses and brands, enabling them to promote and share content.
