Company: BeFunky
Website: www.befunky.com
Headquarters: San Francisco
Founders: Tekin Tatar and Kemal Ozisikcilar
Investors: Golden Horn Ventures
Year Founded: 2007
Company Description: BeFunky is the photo editor that truly leaves all creative control with you. It prides itself on putting amazing artistic effects you can’t find anywhere else at your fingertips, while staying incredibly easy to use. And everywhere you are, so is BeFunky: it’s the only photo editor available on all platforms.
By Tekin Tatar, co-founder and CEO
Founders’ Story
BeFunky began with the dream of making it possible for anyone to turn their photos into incredible works of art without any of the technical knowledge that’s usually required. We understand that everyone enjoys taking pictures, and we believe that making them look great and applying creative effects shouldn’t be something that’s only enjoyed by a select group of people. To accomplish this, we developed sophisticated software that automates the process of editing photos, making it so that people can apply amazing effects with just a simple click.
In September 2007, BeFunky launched our flagship product, Cartoonizer, which enabled people to turn their photos into cartoons. We were selected by TechCrunch as one of the 40 hottest new startups from around the world and we presented the product over a two-day period at the Disrupt conference in San Francisco.
BeFunky’s launch proved that the public’s hunger for powerful photo editing effects was unprecedented, so we quickly introduced more photo effects to meet demand. The team has been working hard ever since to bring the rich variety of effects to our photo editor that you see today, on every device imaginable. We still believe that amazing photo effects shouldn’t be available to only a select group of professionals, so we strive to bring truly powerful photo editing tools to as many people as we can. To achieve this goal we’ve made our applications available on as many devices as possible, and are constantly developing new effects to share with our users.
Marketing/Promotion Strategy
While much of BeFunky’s tremendous success has come from word of mouth, that is about to change. We have begun to create a number of creative grassroots campaigns to reach our audience directly, which we will be rolling out in late 2012. Our goal is to communicate the idea that people should have as much fun editing their photos as they do taking them. This concept is something that will be more directly incorporated into our products and will be communicated to our audience through our marketing efforts.
How We Differentiate from the Competition
One of the major differentiations between BeFunky and other photo editors is that it’s available on every platform. Regardless of whether someone prefers Android or Apple, own a Tablet, smartphone, or both, BeFunky has an app for them. Each of our applications are developed with the user in mind, which means that BeFunky’s web app is designed so that people will want to play around for hours with the tools we have at hand, while our mobile app keeps people on the go in mind and gives them flexibility, just more streamlined.
With the idea that people should have as much fun editing their photos as they do taking them, the BeFunky team has made countless creative effects that aren’t offered anywhere else, while still giving people all the features they have come to love and expect. Additionally, it’s a photo editor that offers people exceptional control over how they edit their images, all while remaining super easy to use. BeFunky is the photo editor that people love to play and get creative with, and because of this, its users spend significantly more time using BeFunky compared to other photo editors.
Business Model
Since BeFunky is available on a number of different platforms, the apps are structured in such a way that is relevant to each product.
BeFunky’s online application offers our users a ton of flexibility, and we also offer a number of different premium packages to meet each person’s needs. When it comes to the apps available on tablets and phones, we offer both paid and free versions in the Google Play and the iTunes app store. In the future, we plan to make the effects that are the highest in demand available for purchase in additional ways.
Current Needs
We are currently looking into additional funding opportunities for product expansion and business development. We are also looking to hire applicants who specialize in non-traditional marketing.
BeFunky – www.befunky.com
