Pond5
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | stock footage, stock music, sound effects, and stock photography |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founder | Tom Bennett (founder) Marcus Engene (founder) |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York , U.S. |
Number of locations | New York, London, Dublin, Prague |
Area served | Global |
| Products | Stock Footage Stock Music Sound Effects Stock Images Pond5 Select Pond5 Subscriptions |
| Services | Licensing of stock media |
Number of employees | 175 |
| Parent | Shutterstock |
| Website | www.pond5.com |
Pond5 is a New York–based online marketplace for royalty-free media. The company licenses stock footage, stock music, stock photography, sound effects, Adobe After Effects templates, and 3D models. Pond5 claims to have the world's largest collection of stock footage,[1] and that they host more than 38 million clips as of September 2023.[2]
The company originally focused on selling video clips, but began to expand into other asset types following its 2013 acquisition of Pixmac, a stock photography site based in the Czech Republic.[3][4] The acquisition added Pixmac’s 6,000+ photographers and support for 17 languages to the Pond5 marketplace.[5]
History
[edit]Pond5 was founded in 2006 as a way for video producers to license content to third parties.[6] It subsequently expanded into other media types, including photos, music, sound effects, 3D models, and Adobe After Effects templates.[3][4] Pond5 does not own the content on its site, but instead aggregates and sells content created and owned by its contributors. These contributors determine the selling price, and earn 50% of revenue.[3][4][5][6]
In July 2014, venture capital firms Accel Partners and Stripes Group invested $61 million in series A financing into Pond5.[7][8] In May 2022 Pond5 was acquired by Shutterstock for $210 million USD.[9]
Products and partnerships
[edit]In January 2014, Pond5 partnered with Adobe to create a plugin for Adobe Premiere Pro integrating the Pond5 video collection with the editing suite.[10]
In early 2015, the company launched the Public Domain Project, a free online repository of nearly 100,000 digitalized media assets.[11]
The original business model focused on licensing individual video clip sales. However, in February 2016, the company unveiled a subscription product.[12]
In late December 2016, the company rolled out extended licenses aimed at attracting large enterprise customers.[13]
In December 2018, the company announced a partnership with the Tribeca Film Institute, launching a program to provide grants of up to $7500 as well as mentorship, content and education to independent filmmakers.[14][15]
In June 2019, the company launched partnerships with Reuters, Cover Video, and Newsflare to create the world's largest collection of royalty-free editorial video. [16]
See also
[edit]- List of stock footage libraries
- Stock photography/Microstock photography
- List of online image archives
References
[edit]- ^ "Pond5 Surpasses a Record 30 Million Licensable Videos". PR Newswire. 19 Jan 2022.
- ^ Pond5 (1 September 2023). "Pond5 Footage Page". Pond5.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c "Media marketplace Pond5 acquires European stock photo startup Pixmac". PandoDaily. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
- ^ a b c "Media Marketplace Pond5 Acquires Stock Photo Startup Pixmac To Expand Its International Presence". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
- ^ a b Bryant, Martin (5 March 2013). "Stock Media Marketplace Pond5 Acquires Rival Pixmac". The Next Web. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
- ^ a b "Media Licensing Marketplace Pond5 Launches Massive Redesign, With Advanced Search And Customized Artist Pages". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
- ^ "Pond5, a stock video company, raises $61 million from Accel, Stripes - Fortune". Fortune. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
- ^ "Shutterstock and Getty Images Competitor Pond5 Raises $61 Million". Blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved 9 December 2014./
- ^ Dabaie, Michael. "Shutterstock Acquires Pond5 in 210 Million Cash Deal". Market Watch. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
- ^ Ben Woods (21 January 2014). "Pond5 and Adobe partner for Adobe Premiere Pro royalty-free video, music and sound effects plugin". The Next Web. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
- ^ Jonathan Shieber (20 January 2015). "Pond5 Issues 80,000 Free Media Assets with the Launch of Its Public Domain Project". Techcrunch. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ^ Ido Lechner (26 February 2016). "Might an AI visual search engine revitalize the industry as a whole?". PFSK. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ^ "Pond5 Introduces Extended Licenses, Offering Some of the Highest Levels of Coverage, Protection, and Flexibility in the Industry" (Press release). 2 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ^ Antunes, Jose (14 December 2018). "Tribeca Film Institute and Pond5 launch filmmaking fund". Pro Video Coalition.
- ^ "Tribeca Film Institute, Pond5 Announce Latest Indie Film Grantees (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. 18 July 2019.
- ^ Newsshooter (13 June 2019). "Pond5 & Reuters create the largest collection of royalty-free editorial videos in the world". Newsshooter. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
