The Shutterstock Mafia

khanak

October 10, 2024

Jon founded Shutterstock in 2003 with thousands of his own digital photographs. A serial entrepreneur, he recognized the need for licensable images at an affordable cost and created the first global subscription image marketplace.

Since then, Shutterstock has grown into a portfolio of brands serving businesses, marketing agencies and media organizations around the world with all the creative and editorial assets needed.

Jon holds an MS in Computer Science from Columbia University and a BS in Computer Science and Mathematics from The State University of New York at Stony Brook. He serves on the Columbia Engineering Board of Visitors since 2019 and the Board of Directors for the Partnership for New York since 2013.

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Shutterstock is a global platform offering licensed images, videos, and music for businesses and individuals. Users can access a vast library of royalty-free content for various projects, from marketing campaigns to website design. Contributors can also upload and monetize their own content on the platform.

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The Shutterstock Mafia

The Shutterstock Mafia has founded 26 companies and raised $526 million.

PS: Are you an Shutterstock Mafia member interested in bringing your community together to invest in innovative ventures (and enjoy potential profits and other perks along the way)? Or perhaps you're part of another dynamic group that could be a fantastic source of startup investments? 😉 Then sign up to our waitlist.

List of all the amazing companies covered:

Daily
Constructor
Smartrr
Vendelux
Phair Technologies
Rarify Labs
Designstripe
Helius
Novel
The Luupe
BurnerPage

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Daily.co

Founder: Doug Brunton

Shutterstock Role: Software Engineer

Capital Raised: $62.2M

Investors: Tiger Global Management

Stage: Seed

Daily.co offers video chat as an API such as real-time voice, video, and AI for developers.

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Constructor

Founder: Eli Finkelshteyn, Dan McCormick

Shutterstock Role: Software Engineer, Data Science, Adviser, CTO Office

Capital Raised: $61.1M

Investors: Silversmith Capital Partners

Stage: Series A

Constructor is an AI-first search and product discovery that increases conversions and revenue.

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Smartrr

Founder: Rob Hoffmann, Roger Beaman

Shutterstock Role: Software Engineers

Capital Raised: $17.3M

Investors: Canvas Ventures

Stage: Series A

Smartrr is the mobile-first design, retention tools, and subscription management services for any Shopify brand.

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Vendelux

Founder: Alex Reynolds, R. Stefan Deeran

Shutterstock Role: VP & GM, Head of New Business

Capital Raised: $17.1M

Investors: FirstMark

Stage: Series A

Vendelux is a provider of an AI-powered event intelligence platform that helps marketers make more data-driven decisions around event attendance, sponsorship, and hosting.

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Phiar Technologies

Founder: Chen-Ping Yu, Xinyu Li (Ivy X. L.)

Shutterstock Role: Computer Vision Intern, Data Scientist

Capital Raised: $15.3M

Investors: Y Combinator

Stage: Series A

Phair is an advancing vehicle AI with ultra-lightweight tech for real-time edge processing. Intelligent AR Navigation for safer driving, to next-gen connected cars and ADAS services.

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Rarify Labs

Founder: Revaz T.

Shutterstock Role: Principal Product Manager

Capital Raised: $12M

Investors: Greycroft

Stage: Series A

Rarify Labs advancing the next-generation interoperability rarimo protocol.

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Designstripe

Founder: Francois Arbour

Shutterstock Role: VP Product, Video & Music

Capital Raised: $10M

Investors: Insight Partners

Stage: Seed

Designstripe offers customizable content and easy-to-use tools for consumers and businesses. With a vast library of design assets, users can quickly create and export illustrations without starting from scratch.

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