Freepikthe image bank Spanish characterized by offering both free and paid photographs, icons and presentations, now looks at the video resourcesso that users can have this new service towards middle of this yearas explained Joaquin CuencaCEO of the company.
This commitment of the company arises after having achieved 61.5 million euros of turnover in 2021, a record figure that represents a growth of 37% over the previous year. These results far exceed the 44.8 million euros obtained in 2020, the year in which the passed into the hands of the Swedish investment fund EQT for around 250 million euros. Freepik currently has 561,000 subscribers, 34% more than in 2020. In total, the platform accumulates 41 million monthly users.
«It has been a year of consolidation of what we had achieved in 2020, when there was a massive transition to using digital products«, assured Cuenca to the media Business Insider Spainadditionally pointing out that he sees in the video an element that is part of the “niches” that Freepik wants to reach, which also includes other resources such as animated icons, 3D content, and mockups.
«We know many people in photography and illustration, and many who have worked in video. We have activated contacts to create video production, and we want the videos to be available for Freepik users in the first half of this year»added the CEO of the company.
Brief history of Freepik
The story of Freepik Company dates back to 2010, a time when Alejandro and Pablo Sánchez Blanes founded the project together with Joaquín Cuenca. Since then, the company has dedicated itself to providing quality graphic resources to thousands of users around the world, a catalog of stock images that now has more than 10 million images. Likewise, the company has two image bank sub-platforms for specific formats: flat icon (specialized in icons); Slidesgo (focused on presentation templates); Y Wepik (a free online tool to create designs).
During these years, Freepik has become a leading platform under its freemium business model, that is, it has a significant stock of free images, but offers the possibility of accessing paid premium content (monthly subscription, packages or single downloads) with a greater variety and quality of images. This allowed them to consolidate as direct competition from Shutterstock, Depositphotos and other large companies in the sector.
The content of the platform belongs to thousands of collaborators from all over the world -the company’s own team and external individuals-, who contribute their work in exchange for mentions and financial compensation. In 2021, between 18,000 collaborators were distributed more than €13 million in earnings, a 22% more than in 2020.
Since the Swedish group EQT is the majority shareholder of Freepik, the company has managed to exceed half a million subscribers at the end of 2021. According to data from the same website, the startup has 4.5 million graphic resourcesand perform some 100 million downloads a month. Also has 18 million users unique and 50 million views monthly.
A record sale in the Spanish startup sector
When the purchase of Freepik was made public in 2020, it drew a lot of attention because the transaction took place within a context marked by the coronavirus pandemic and the curb that mergers and acquisitions have had, which shows that Freepik’s business evolution is positive.
The company has been characterized because historically it had not received external investment since its foundation, while the Blanes brothers controlled 95% of the company. The other co-founder, Joaquín Cuenca, in 2005 created panoramaa company that allowed tag photos in Google Earth and Google Maps.
in fact the same Google bought Panoramio in 2007turning the company into the internet giant’s first acquisition of a Spanish companyhowever, closed in September 2014.
During these years, Freepik has become a great reference for design, marketing and professionals, also appearing in the Financial Times FT1000 ranking during recent years.
Photo: Freepik
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