Blipfoto secures investment for global growth

The new funding takes the total investment in Blipfoto to over £900,000 (approx $1,475,000 ).

The funding round, which was led by ESM Investments, includes fresh private investment from North America. And, in a show of continued support, Blipfoto has also secured additional funding from existing investors, including technology entrepreneur and Blipfoto Chairman Ian Ritchie, former MIT Managing Director Ken Morse and the Scottish Investment Bank.

Over the past year, Blipfoto founder and CEO Joe Tree has focused on building links for the business in the US. He says that the latest round of funding will be used to continue to fuel Blipfoto’s global growth, in particular building on the alliances that have now been forged in the United States:

Tree added: “We've built an incredibly strong investor group over the last couple of years, and I'm delighted to have their continued support. We've brought some fresh investment in from the US too, where we're now focussing much of our time and energy. I'm confident the relationships we've built over there this year will drive a whole new phase of international growth in 2014.”

Meanwhile, Blipfoto has also appointed former Vodafone marketer Shane Heenan to take on the newly formed Director of Sales and Marketing role. Heenan – who was previously Commercial Development Manager at Vodafone's Global Enterprises division – will become responsible for Blipfoto's international customer acquisition as well as marketing and PR activity.

Blipfoto, which helps its users share one photo a day on their online photo journal, already has a global user base, delivering around 18m monthly page views to visitors in 185 countries. The platform is home to almost 4 million days of human existence – each of the 4 million photos representing an individual day in someone's life.

ESM Investments’ Steven Morris said: “ESM remains supportive of Blipfoto's Vision to encourage loyal and new members around the world to save your life by posting images daily.”

Kerry Sharp, Head of Scottish Investment Bank said: “We have been working with Blipfoto since 2010 and we’re pleased to see them continue to expand into the global marketplace and look forward to working with the company as they push their business forward.”

Ian Ritchie added: “This investment will enable Blipfoto to expand its international presence as the leading site for the preservation of key memories through great photographs.”