| 123RF | |
| Logo Alt: | This is a logo of 123RF, an internet-based company that offer Stock Photos, Vectors and Royalty Free Images. |
| Type: | Privately held company |
| Industry: | Stock photography, stock footage, stock music |
| Fate: | Active |
| Founder: | Andy Sitt, Stephanie Sitt |
| Hq Location Country: | Selangor, Malaysia |
| Num Employees: | 350 (2015) |
| Parent: | Inmagine Group |
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.
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.
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.
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]