Blipfoto secures new funding for international growth

Blipfoto has secured a substantial new round of investment, which will allow the Edinburgh-based photo-sharing platform to focus further on international growth.

The funding round was led by Steven Morris of the ESM Investments syndicate and includes Gareth Williams, co-founder and CEO of fellow Edinburgh-based online firm Skyscanner.

Blipfoto has also attracted new private investment from North America, while additional funding has been added by previous investors, technology entrepreneur Ian Ritchie, former MIT managing director Ken Morse and the Scottish Investment Bank.

The new funds take the total investment in Blipfoto up to almost £700,000 (approx $1,120,000 ) and will be used by the company to build a scalable customer acquisition model and fuel growth.

Speaking of the investment, Blipfoto founder and CEO, Joe Tree said: "This is a massive step forward for the company, and provides the funding to build quickly on our established worldwide audience. Our new investors bring renewed strength and the experience of building big consumer brands online, so I'm really excited about this next phase of growth. 2013 is going to be a huge year for Blipfoto."

Blipfoto, which allows its users to share just one photo a day on their online photo journal, already has tens of thousands of users globally, with around 17m monthly page views. The platform is home to almost 2.5 million images - each representing a single day in someone's life.

Blipfoto's growth is set to be fuelled further by the release of a major new iPhone App. The new app – which is just the first in an armoury of releases – will look to build on the strong community aspects of Blipfoto's existing online presence.

Blipfoto, which counts Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak among its high profile users, has also worked with a host of international brands on partnerships and projects, including Calumet Photographic, Channel 4, the Scottish Government and the Edinburgh Festivals.

Gareth Williams said: “Blipfoto is a great concept, excellently executed, that creates a wonderful mode of personal expression that builds over time.”

Ian Ritchie added: “I was delighted to invest in Blipfoto, a superb Scottish company with a genuine global scope. This is the site for people around the world who care deeply about the quality of the photographs that they take, and who want to share them with others who feel the same."

ESM Investments’ Steven Morris said: “Nearly 1 minute in every 5 minutes spent online is now spent on social networking sites, whereas this category accounted for only 6% of time spent online in March 2007. The Blipfoto platform maps to this growth trend by delivering a clearly differentiated product that adds real value across many demographics and cultures."