Photographers Website Meero Raises $230 Million
Paris, 19th June 2019 – Less than a year after its B Series of $45 million, Meero has announced a third fundraiser of $230 million led by Eurazeo Growth and Prime Ventures.
The startup revolutionizing the world of professional photography has made a real accomplishment by raising the largest C Series in France to date only 3 years after its creation. It expects to end the year with 1,200 employees spread across 5 offices around the world.
To achieve this fundraising, which will bring nearly $300 million of finances to the company, Eurazeo, Prime Ventures Avenir Growth and GR Capital have joined together with renowned investors like Global Founders Capital, Alven, Aglaé Ventures, White Star Capital and Idinvest Partners. Also, Sake Bosch, Managing Partner of Prime Ventures and Yann du Rusquec, Managing Director of Eurazeo Growth, joined Meero’s board as non-executive members.
This new financing will allow Meero to continue its mission of boosting the creativity and freedom of photographers. This is done by guaranteeing them:
- Additional revenue from photoshoots for major brands, and soon individual consumers
- Tools to simplify the daily tasks of the job as well as inspire them and help them develop as professionals
- An expanding creative community that already holds monthly meetups in 35 different countries
“Art and creativity are probably innate in human beings and are only lost over the course of time. In societies where logic and competition are at the heart of the education system, creativity is perceived as a crossroads at best, if not a path towards marginalisation.” says Thomas Rebaud, CEO and founder of Meero.“It’s even more sad that this is undoubtedly what separates the human race from all others. We have to fight for the creative among us to be able to use their time and energy to create.”
In terms of additional revenues, the startup aims to continue its progress into the world of services valued at over 100 billion dollars (real estate, marriages, e-commerce, etc.) by developing its solutions for new audiences in new environments. With over 31,000 clients in over 100 different countries, the startup plans to offer its photography services previously reserved to professionals to individual clients.
This will also give the startup the chance to develop its services dedicated to its photographers’ community. Starting with the selection of tools for mymeero (file compatibility, CRM, marketing, etc.) designed to simplify the business side of photography, Meero also plans to announce a panel of solutions for photographers’ daily work, as well as masterclasses, documentaries, meetings with other photographers, a magazine in several languages, and the creation of a foundation to support photography. These and many more projects will be launched by Meero to focus on the mission which has driven the startup since its creation.
Finally, these funds will allow it to perfect its automatic photo editing and content enrichment technology – editing being a time-consuming and tedious job for the majority of photographers. The “tech” team, currently 80 employees strong, plans to grow to 300 by the end of next year.