Snappr Explained

Snappr
Type:Private
Foundation:2016
Founders:Matt Schiller (CEO)
Ed Kearney (COO)
Location City:San Francisco
Location Country:U.S.
Areas Served:United States, Australia
Industry:Photography
Services:On-demand professional photography, Photo analysis tools

Snappr is a technology company headquartered in San Francisco whose primary business offering is an on-demand professional photography booking service. The company also offers a free photo analysis tool for use with social media profiles. Snappr's key investors include seed accelerator Y Combinator.

History

Snappr was founded in May 2016 by Matt Schiller and Ed Kearney in Sydney, Australia.[1] The two met while attending the University of New South Wales and, while still at the university, founded prior venture, online graduation retailer, GownTown.[2] The company initially serviced Australian cities of Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.[3] By August 2016, the company had raised $500,000 AUD in pre-seed funding[4] with notable backing from Australian test cricket captain, Steve Smith.[2] In early 2017, the company received backing from the U.S. startup accelerator, Y Combinator, and opened a San Francisco office. By February 2017, the service was available in most Australian capital cities along with the U.S. cities of San Francisco and San Jose.[5] The same year, it raised a $2 million seed funding from investors that included Airtree Ventures, Google Maps co-founder Lars Rasmussen, and co-founder of Zynga Justin Waldron.[6] [7] Also in 2017, the company introduced its Photo Analyzer feature for use with websites such as LinkedIn.[8] [9] Mattermark also ranked it the fastest growing startup in Y Combinator Winter 2017.[10]

Technology

The company's primary business offering is an on-demand professional photography booking marketplace. The service links pre-vetted professional photographers to consumers wanting a photoshoot.[11] Photographers are required to undergo a photography portfolio review, an equipment review, a review of any past professional photography work, and a customer service interview. Around 5% of applicants are selected to be on the Snappr service.[11] [1] Snappr's pricing is fixed based on the number of hours the photographer works and the number of photos the client wants to keep. Clients are matched with photographers based on proximity, availability, and specialization.[1] Snappr also produces the free Snappr Photo Analyzer tool. It uses artificial intelligence to gauge the efficacy of professional headshots on websites like LinkedIn.[11] [8] Snappr has also published anonymized reports detailing industry-based and other trends in professional photographs of tens of thousands of users.[9] [12] [13]

Notes and References

  1. News: Tepper. Fitz. Snappr makes it affordable to order a professional photographer on demand . TechCrunch . February 13, 2017 . October 16, 2017.
  2. News: Griffith. Chris. Cricket test captain Steve Smith invests in photo startup Snappr . The Australian. August 22, 2016. October 16, 2017.
  3. News: Sadler. Denham. How two-month old startup Snappr raised over $200,000 in 30 days . SmartCompany . June 24, 2016. October 16, 2017.
  4. News: Leigh. Liz. Sydney startup Snappr connects professional photographers to consumers on-demand . Startup Daily . August 3, 2016. October 16, 2017.
  5. News: Swan. David. Accelerator YCombinator backs Aussie start-up Snappr . The Australian. February 10, 2017. October 16, 2017.
  6. News: Tepper. Fitz. Snappr raises $2M to grow its on-demand photography service. TechCrunch. 14 September 2017.
  7. News: Castles. Angela. Photography Startup Snappr Raises $2.5 Million From Prominent Investors as it Takes on the $10 Billion US Market. Smart Company. 12 September 2017.
  8. News: Campbell. Leigh. This Site Tells You If Your LinkedIn Headshot Is Professional . The Huffington Post . February 22, 2017. October 16, 2017.
  9. Which Companies Have The Most (And Least) Smiley Employees? . Forbes . August 28, 2017. October 16, 2017.
  10. News: Frost. Nick. The Top 25 Y Combinator Winter 2017 Demo Day Startups. October 16, 2017. Mattermark. 21 March 2017.
  11. News: Arlington. Kim. Surgery to Snappr: how graduate doctor Matt Schiller caught the start-up bug . The Sydney Morning Herald. February 20, 2017 . October 16, 2017.
  12. The Professions with the Best (and Worst) LinkedIn Profile Photos . Forbes . March 31, 2017. October 16, 2017.
  13. News: Langlois. Shawn. This is the ‘smiliest’ company in America . MarketWatch . August 17, 2017. October 16, 2017.