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PicsArt Secures $10M in Funding and Partners with Sequoia to Beautify the World


WEBWIRE

San Francisco, Calif. — Feb 5, 2015 — PicsArt, the largest mobile community empowering creatives to make beautiful images, today announced that it has partnered with Sequoia and raised $10 million in series A funding. The new investment marks the first-ever institutional round of funding for the previously bootstrapped and profitable mobile community.

Unlike other applications that are focused on capturing and sharing images, PicsArt has cultivated a massive following of consumers interested in creating and collaborating. They use the app’s powerful editing tools to remix each other’s photos, images and drawings. The startup has driven more than 200 million organic app downloads and has nearly 60 million monthly active users, ranking toward the top of global charts on Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

The partnership with the Sequoia team that has backed the founders of celebrated apps like Instagram and WhatsApp was led by Sequoia partner and AdMob founder Omar Hamoui. He will also join PicsArt ’s Board of Directors.

“The first generation of photo apps were based primarily on sharing,” said Omar Hamoui, partner at Sequoia. “PicsArt is leading a significant evolution in the category: now the co-creation and editing of one another’s photos is driving viral adoption. PicsArt’s rapid, organic growth makes the case that the next era of expression will be based not only on sharing, but creativity and collaboration as well.”

PicsArt also recently debuted a major update that makes it easier than ever to discover and collaborate on mobile art. Together, these announcements cement PicsArt’s place as one of the world’s best and largest mobile community of creative collaborators.

“The creativity and collaborative spirit of our users sets PicsArt apart. People connect and build friendships around style, hobbies, and images,” said Hovhannes Avoyan, founder and CEO of PicsArt . “Thanks to this partnership with one of the world’s most successful investors, we can accelerate our mission to beautify the world through images .”

Anyone with a smartphone can download the PicsArt app from the App Store , Google Play , Amazon or Windows . To learn more, go to www.PicsArt.com .

About PicsArt

PicsArt is the largest mobile community of creatives and creative images. The company’s U.S. office is based in San Francisco, California with a focus on enabling anyone to be creative, share, socialize, discover, learn and be inspired. The app has been installed over 200 million times and continues to expand and improve, so anyone can unleash their creativity and discover their inner artist. For more, please visit www.picsart.com

About Sequoia

The Sequoia team helps a small number of daring founders build legendary companies. We spur them to push the boundaries of what’s possible. In partnering with Sequoia, companies benefit from our unmatched community and the lessons we’ve learned over 40 years working with Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, John Morgridge, Jerry Yang, Elon Musk, Larry Page, Jan Koum, Brian Chesky, Drew Houston, Adi Tatarko and Jack Dorsey, among many others. In aggregate, Sequoia-backed companies account for more than 20% of NASDAQ’s total value. We’re proud that their success also fuels great causes: since 2000 alone we have returned more than $10 billion to non-profits like the Ford Foundation, Mayo Clinic and MIT.

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