123RF, a branch of Inmagine Group, is a stock photos agency founded in 2005 which sells royalty-free images and stock photography. The company also has an expansive collection of vector graphics, icons, fonts, videos, and audio files.
Company type | Privately held company |
---|---|
Industry | Stock photography, stock footage, stock music |
Founded | 3 April 2005 |
Founder | Andy Sitt, Stephanie Sitt |
Fate | Active |
Headquarters | Selangor, Malaysia |
Number of employees | 350 (2015) |
Parent | Inmagine Group |
Website | 123rf |
In 2000, 123RF founder Andy Sitt left his job at a British company that sold stock images in CDs while showing customers printed catalogs. Andy launched his e-commerce business by setting up Inmagine, selling premium large-format photo prints. Working together with co-founder and current CEO Stephanie Sitt,[1] Inmagine Group is one of the few technology companies to have bootstrapped globally from Asia.[citation needed]
From the beginning, Inmagine produced proprietary content which required in-house photographers, graphic designers, professional models, makeup artists, and a sales team to cater to demand.[citation needed]
In 2005, Inmagine set up 123RF, which offers royalty-free stock images, videos, and audio clips. Unlike the previous business model, 123RF allows photographers around the world to sell their work on the platform under a crowdsourcing model.[2]
In 2011, Inmagine established a global presence with 44 regional offices worldwide.[3] Offices were founded in North and Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Australasia.[4]
In 2019, Inmagine consolidated and streamlined its offerings into three main products: 123RF, Pixlr, and Designs.ai. The launching of Pixlr Market (now Stock by Pixlr) and Pixlr Editor commences.[5]
In 2020, the company launched its first artificial intelligence platform, Inmagine Brain.[6] In November 2020, the company confirmed that it had been subject to a data breach, with 8.3 million customer records available for sale on the dark web.[7]
Through 123RF, Inmagine created a visual guide in 2021 to predict image search trends.[8]
In June 2022, the company launched its free images section where audiences can download images for free, but with only a limited amount of daily downloads.[9]
In 2023, 123RF launched its AI-powered Search for more precise and intuitive searching.[10] AI Image Variations, a feature that uses machine learning to generate multiple unique variations of a single image[11] and AI Image Generator,[12] a tool that generates custom images based on users' specific prompts.
In March 2017, 123RF acquired TheHungryJPEG, a UK-registered font and graphics marketplace and its sister company Craftbundles for an undisclosed sum.[13][14]
In April 2017, 123RF acquired Pixlr, an online web-based image editor from Autodesk for an undisclosed sum.[15]
In November 2017, 123RF acquired Vectr, a web-based vector editor and Story & Heart, a video education platform.[16]