Photoroom is an AI photo editor that helps break down the creative barriers to doing business. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Photoroom CEO and co-founder Matthieu Rouif to learn more about the company.
Matthieu Rouif’s Background
Rouif studied at Stanford and then founded several startups, including HeyCrowd and then Replay, a video editor that was eventually acquired by GoPro. And Rouif said:
“I worked as a product manager for GoPro for many years, and while I was there, I realized how challenging it was to do simple editing tasks like removing backgrounds from photos. I decided this was a problem I wanted to solve, and so I went back to school to study machine learning. After the course, I met Eliot Andres, Photoroom’s co-founder and CTO, and together we built the first version of Photoroom in just two weeks.”
How Photoroom Works
What is Photoroom, and how does it work? Rouif explained:
“Photoroom is the world’s most popular AI Photo Editor. We use the power of artificial intelligence to help sellers of all sizes quickly and affordably create studio-quality, high-performing images that are unique to their brand. Our app has been downloaded over 100 million times in over 180 countries.”
“Photoroom offers a range of innovative generative AI features, including:
1.) Instant Backgrounds: An AI image generator that creates realistic, studio-quality backgrounds in seconds.
2.) Instant Shadows: Uses AI to generate 3-dimensional shadows that mimic natural lighting conditions and add realism and depth to any object.
3.) Custom prompts: Use your own text or image-based prompts to create any image.”
“Some of Photoroom’s most exciting new features in the near future include ‘prop generation’ – the ability to add new elements to any image, and a new “custom scenes” feature that lets brands input their own content to generate new custom images.”
“Our intellectual property as a company is really our unique dataset, architecture, and neural network. Our background removal feature uses a custom algorithm. For our new content-aware generative AI feature, we are building and training a new custom model. We also leverage Apple CoreM to build on-device machine learning and offer the best experience to our users. As a result of the quality of our algorithm, we were awarded ‘App of the Year’ by Google and ‘Editor’s Choice’ by Apple in 2023.”
Formation Of Photoroom
How did the idea for Photoroom come together? Rouif shared:
“I was working at GoPro, and one day, I needed to quickly mock up an image for a presentation. It took me hours in Photoshop just to remove the background from an image. I quickly realized I wasn’t the only one who had this frustration and that there was a demand for a quick and easy solution to the most time-consuming parts of editing photos.”
“I went back to school to study machine learning and developed some prototypes that mixed machine learning with a mobile app. After the course ended, I met Eliot (Photoroom’s co-founder and CTO), who is an expert in machine learning. Together, we created the first version of Photoroom and then were accepted to Y Combinator to keep developing our app. We got great feedback from users, developers, computer vision experts, and designers early on and released it on the App Store. The response from users was overwhelmingly positive, and so we kept going, building new features that would help simplify design tasks for users.”
Evolution Of Photoroom’s Technology
How has Photoroom’s technology evolved since launching? Rouif noted:
“Our focus has always been on using technology in ways that are useful and accessible to users. We started by creating a tool that could remove backgrounds better than anything else on the market, but quickly realized how big the opportunity for generative AI was going to be, and so last year we built the first version of what became Instant Backgrounds, our generative AI background creator.”
“Most recently, we’ve created our own generative model, which means that Photoroom now owns our entire ML technology stack. The benefit for users is that it will produce images with greater speed and higher quality imagery and allow a much greater degree of control and oversight, eliminating unsafe or violent content. It also means that we can work directly with content creators to ensure they’re being properly compensated when we use their work to train our algorithm.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Rouif reflected:
“So many! I loved that when we moved into the new office and started meeting our new neighbors. The new office is in a very nice part of Paris with a lot of small independent shops. We introduced ourselves, and the team interviewed a lot of them to understand how we could improve the app. It turned out a lot of them were already using Photoroom and gave us a lot of great feedback. It was a great moment to see the team connecting with users in our neighborhood and also to realize that we’ve reached the point where Photoroom is starting to become ubiquitous.”
Challenges Faced
What have been some of the challenges that Rouif faced in building the company? Rouif acknowledged:
“Working in generative AI, the biggest challenge for us is scaling GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), especially when we doubled our growth in 6 months. This became a real bottleneck when launching our latest feature, Instant Shadows. We had this amazing model that creates realistic shadows but had to wait 3 weeks to launch it to ensure we had enough GPUs.”
“We’re working with partners – like Google and Amazon – to help us scale, but we’re reaching the point where our impact on their GPUs is non-trivial, and as Photoroom’s growth accelerates, we expect this to be a continuing challenge.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Rouif cited:
“The big milestone was moving from being an iPhone app to being a multi-platform app, so we could really be everywhere our users are. It felt like a big risk at the time, but that bet paid off so quickly in terms of user growth, and we have never looked back.”
“Another significant milestone was when we decided to go full-on with generative AI. We very quickly realized how important generative AI was going to be, and this was a very successful bet for us. We were the first to market with our AI background generator and Instant Backgrounds, and this helped us quickly build momentum – just a year later, we’re now the leader in AI photo-editing.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Rouif about customer success stories, he cited:
“Here are two customer stories from Photoroom, the first from a top seller on Poshmark who boosted revenue with Photoroom, and the second from our Barbie Movie partnership with Warner Bros.”
1.) How Ashley, a top seller on Poshmark, boosted revenue by 45x with high-quality listing photos
“As a Top Seller on Poshmark and eBay, Ashley faced the challenge of providing high-quality images to attract customers while balancing her full-time job in the healthcare industry. With a growing community of 33k followers, Ashley needed to find a way to continue to effectively showcase her thrift items for sale.”
“She quickly realized that images play a crucial role in online sales and that quality pictures can make a significant difference in attracting and informing customers. However, using photo editing software proved to be both time-consuming and difficult.
‘Even though buyers are purchasing second-hand products, there is still an expectation that the items they’re buying will be of good quality,’ Ashley explained.”
“Ashley sought a solution to streamline her image production and enhance her sales efforts. With her growing inventory, the challenge of consistently offering quality images was daunting. Ashley’s goal was to increase her supplementary income while still working a 9-5 job.”
“Like many other sellers on second-hand marketplaces, Ashley relies on her phone to take photos. Traditional photo editing software requires knowledge and skills, plus work on computers only. That’s where Photoroom comes in. With its ability to automatically edit photos directly on her phone, Ashley can quickly and accurately enhance her images without the added hassle of switching between devices. One of the most valuable aspects of Photoroom for Ashley is its emphasis on quality. With its clear images and ample brightness, buyers can see exactly what the item looks like. Photoroom’s features, such as removing background, centering, resizing items in the image, and retouching, are especially useful for sellers like Ashley.”
“Efficiency is also a key factor, and Photoroom’s bulk editing feature is a game-changer. It allows Ashley to edit multiple images at once, streamlining her sales process and saving her precious time.”
“With her efficient process using Photoroom, Ashley can upload 45-60 items by effortlessly editing a whopping 200-250 images per week. Photoroom enables her to instantly process images, saving her valuable time and effort.”
“Thanks to Photoroom’s high-quality results, Ashley’s images stand out. As her strategy for selling online evolved, Ashley identified her higher margin opportunities in the mid-tier and luxury items market. In this sector, it’s crucial that the images showcase the items in the most desirable way possible, and with Photoroom, Ashley is able to do just that.”
“Thanks to her efficient process and stunning images, Ashley’s monthly income from sales on marketplaces has soared to an impressive $20,000.”
2.) How Warner Bros. Amplified Their “Barbie the Movie” Social Media Campaign with the Speed and Efficiency of Photoroom API
“Warner Bros. (WB) faced the challenge of promoting the launch of their new movie “Barbie” on social media. Their objective was to create a viral moment while amplifying the trailer launch with digital user-generated content (UGC) that could be easily shared. However, they needed a high-quality solution to remove the background from user-generated images, which was crucial to provide the best possible output and encourage shareability.”
“After considering various solutions, WB decided to leverage Photoroom’s AI-powered photo editing API. Photoroom provided WB with a high-quality and instant solution to remove backgrounds from UGC creative, enabling a sharable output. The speed and efficiency of Photoroom’s features played a key role in addressing the challenge. The reliability of the solution, able to deliver quality in less than 300 ms, was also crucial. The instantaneity of the Photoroom API and the engaging creative of the campaign created the buzz. From a tech standpoint, the solution was easily built in. The API was implemented in less than an hour, providing instant integration of user photos into Barbie movie posters.”
“All together, BarbieSelfie.ai handled millions of calls volume, and superior output quality was instrumental in meeting WB’s creative needs.”
“‘Photoroom, the groundbreaking technology powering BarbieSelfie.ai, shattered all expectations by seamlessly integrating user photos into captivating Barbie movie posters. Its unparalleled ease of use became the catalyst for a viral sensation, propelling the Barbie Selfie Generator into the digital spotlight and captivating audiences worldwide,’ said Cameron Curtis, EVP of Worldwide Digital Marketing at Warner Bros.’”
“By utilizing Photoroom’s solution, WB achieved a viral, global moment that captivated fans, brands, influencers, and celebrities. Photoroom’s high-quality background removal solution enabled the Barbie Movie posters to be shared more than 13 million times on social media. The campaign resulted in significant social media engagement, driving discussions and amplifying excitement around the “Barbie” movie. WB experienced tangible business benefits from the campaign, including increased ticket sales and brand engagement.”
“‘I would recommend Photoroom’s solution to other marketers looking to leverage their brand identity to personalize the experience for users,’ Curtis said.
Funding/Revenue
When asking Rouif about funding and revenue information, he highlighted:
“1.) Photoroom has over 100 million consumer downloads in over 180 countries
2.) We hit $20 million in ARR on just $2 million invested.
3.) In just three years, Photoroom has grown to $50 million in ARR, with a revenue per employee (RPE) of over $960,000.
4.) As a former member of the 2020 Y Combinator cohort, Photoroom has raised $21 million in funding, with its latest Series A funding round taking place in November 2022. The funding will be used to develop Photoroom’s existing software further, improve generative AI features and keep hiring the best talent in Europe.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Rouif assessed:
“There are 5.2 billion smartphone users in the world, and 4 in 10 have a photo-editing app installed on their phone. Targeting only the existing audience of photo editors gives Photoroom a potential global audience of over 2 billion users and a total addressable market of $145 billion.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Photoroom from its competition? Rouif affirmed:
“Photoroom has a unique set of advantages, namely deep expertise and exceptional speed.”
“We have really strong AI DNA and are hyper-focused on product photography. We’ve been working in the photo field for a long time–I’ve been in the industry for 15 years, and we’ve hired experts that have given us a very strong focus and deep knowledge of the field and our audience.”
“We also started from a blank page at the right time. When you’re a big incumbent like Adobe, they have existing customers, existing priorities, and a culture that you’re pushing against to innovate, which means they can’t move as fast. We have optimized our team for speed, and we don’t have the baggage or the inertia of the incumbents.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of Photoroom’s future goals? Rouif emphasized:
“Our main goal is for Photoroom to power 80% of commerce photography by 2025. We want to help people make amazing photos for their business, whether it’s a small business that can’t afford a professional photographer or enterprises trying to automate manual tasks and optimize image performance.”
Opportunities/Challenges Of Working In AI
What are the opportunities and challenges of working in artificial intelligence? Rouif pointed out:
“Generative AI is the biggest cultural shift – and opportunity – in software development in the last decade.”
“It’s really a case of shuffling the cards in the industry deck. A lot of incumbents will quickly become irrelevant unless they can pivot and adapt. I believe most businesses will have to reinvent themselves in the next few years in order to stay ahead.”
“The opportunity is to quickly assimilate these new technologies and capabilities and to move from being a tool to delivering deeper value to customers. I think the value of AI for users is to put manual tasks like photo editing on “autopilot” whilst still maintaining brand integrity and creative control. That’s what we’re trying to unlock for our users at Photoroom.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics to discuss? Rouif concluded:
“One of the most exciting developments for Photoroom is our move upmarket – we’re now attracting bigger companies who see the value of Photoroom and our API, from marketplaces and fashion brands to food delivery apps.”
“For example, we’re now working with a number of food delivery apps, like Wolt, to help make the photos in their app better. People eat with their eyes before they eat with their stomachs, so having high-quality food photography is essential to restaurants, but it is hard to do well and is time-consuming. The value of Photoroom for a company like Wolt is that we can take all the photography created by restaurants and use AI to bring them up to a studio-quality standard almost instantly, reducing time to market and cost per image whilst maintaining brand integrity for their merchants.”
“Our ultimate goal for brands like Wolt is to become the commerce photography ‘autopilot’ – you turn on the engine by taking a photo, but then Photoroom is going to get you to your destination without you even having to touch the wheel.”
