Picsart, a San Francisco-based creative startup, has raised $130 million in Series C funding to expand its creative platform.
The Series C round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and counted with participation from G Squared, Tribe Capital, DCM, Graph Ventures, and Siguler Guf & Company. This round brings the total funding raised by the startup to $195 million.
The startup has reached a valuation of over $1 billion, gaining unicorn status. Serena Dayal, Investment Director at SoftBank Investment Advisors, will be joining Picsart’s board of directors. She referred to the firm’s participation by stating:
“We believe content will continue to be central to the digital economy. We expect growth in this space will continue as Millennials and Gen Z create e-commerce shops, market businesses, and build followings across platforms. As a leading visual content creation and editing platform serving the most engaged global creative community, we believe Picsart is well-positioned to lead this growth.”
The startup, which was founded by Hovhannes Avoyan, has grown over the years to have more than 800 employees in more than 12 countries around the world including San Francisco, Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Los Angeles, Moscow, New York, Tokyo, and Yerevan. This diversity is also reflected in its user base, which spawns 180 countries and counts with more than 150 million active users.
The funding will be used to continue developing its AI-driven technology and prosumer tools, as well as explore acquisition options and expand its team. Mr. Avoyan, who also acts as Picsart’s CEO, referred to the startup’s success and future plans by stating:
“Picsart is powering visual culture and breaking barriers between inspiration and creativity. We want to make the world more creative and have users in every country of the world designing, remixing, editing, and sharing on Picsart and beyond. This additional capital, led by powerful partners, will enable us to further strengthen our position as the backbone of the creative generation.”
With its app being installed in more than 1 billion devices, the creative startup is aiming to position itself as the leading platform for creators while already having been recognized as one of Inc’s Fastest Growing Companies of 2021.
