INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Sweet Escape, a startup founded in Indonesia that helps connect photographers with customers, is all smiles today after it announced a $6
Openspace Ventures and Jungle Ventures, with participation from Burda PrincipalInvestments
Existing investors, which include Beenext, SkyStar Capital and GDP Venture, also took part
take great holiday photos, and get them back quickly
formalizing the process of booking photo shoots
headed toward just 24 hours.Sweet Escape founders Emile Etienne (left) and David Soong (right)When TechCrunch spoke to the company last
year, it said it had served 10,000 customers and worked with more than 2,000 photographers across over 400 cities in some 100 countries
While they declined to give figures, Soong said the customer numbers have doubled over the corresponding eight months, with Indonesia and
the Philippines its largest markets
Beyond consumers, Sweet Escape has begun to tap the corporate market, giving companies a platform to secure photo shoots.Indeed, calling
Sweet Escape a photo site for travelers is underselling its direction
As well as catering to corporate customers, it works closely with photographers to help them increase their business.Aside from driving
customers, that also covers photo editing, which Sweet Escape takes care of
In particular, it is working to automate much of the basic editorial process to enable its human editor to focus on tasks that require skill
editing, which is mostly touch-ups, with areas like color enhancement left to the human editing team.Sweet Escape aims to use tech to
automate many of the monotonous edits its team makes to customer photosThe efficient approach is also designed to increase turnaround time,
meaning customers get photos as quickly as possible, leaving photographers with satisfied reviews and more time to focus on actually taking
Beyond that, Sweet Escape also wants to provide the tools and expertise that will enable photographers to develop their ability and
photographer marketplace and editing tools for pros, became a unicorn thanks to a $230 million Series C deal
Jakarta (HQ), the Philippines, London and Singapore and a workforce of 109, with more plans for expansion
The company is eyeing offices in Thailand, Korea and Japan as part of an expansion to 200 staff, which will include a mixture of roles,
including hires to the tech team.While there is early product-market fit, the founders are aware that China and the U.S
are larger markets that may require significant investment in resources to take the business to the next level
