Looksery

Looksery is an American software and photography company founded in 2013 by Victor Shaburov and Yurii Monastyrshin. The company is based in San Francisco and owned by Snap Inc. The company developed the Looksery application that does facial modification of photos in real time on mobile platforms.^[1][2]

Looksery

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Software Photography
Founded	2013; 12 years ago (2013)
Founders	Victor Shaburov Yurii Monastyrshin
Headquarters	San Francisco , United States
Key people	Victor Shaburov President Yurii Monastyrshin COO Alex Grytsiuk CTO Lidiya Bogdanovych Head of Design Julie Krasnienko Marketing and Business Development Director
Number of employees	45 (2016)
Parent	Snap Inc. (2015–present)
Website	www.looksery.com

The company has offices in the United States and Ukraine.^[3]

History

Victor Shaburov founded Looksery company in 2013 in San Francisco. Shaburov was sponsoring a programming contest in Ukraine, which Yurii Monastyrshin won twice in succession. Victor offered him to become a co-founder of the startup. In 2014, offices were established in Odesa, Ukraine and Sochi, Russia.^[4][5] Later, the company launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to raise funds,^[6][7] and exceeded their fundraising goal.^[8]

In September 2015, Looksery was acquired by Snap Inc. for $150 million, marking the biggest startup acquisition in Ukraine’s history.^[9][10] Snapchat used the Looksery technology to launch a new feature, Lenses.^[4]

Application

Before Snapchat's acquisition, Looksery was available as a stand-alone application for iOS and Android.^[11] Looksery’s mobile application enabled users to simulate their appearance for a photo or video chat in real-time.^[12] Additionally, users could share photos and videos through popular social networks and messengers.^[13] When Snapchat launched its product, Lenses, Looksery was withdrawn as a stand-alone product.^[10][13][14] In June 2014 Looksery launched on crowdfunding site Kickstarter an app that makes you look better on video chat.^[15]

Reception

Looksery garnered a lot of media attention.^[16][17] Vogue selected Looksery as one of the ten Best Apps of 2014 and wrote that "it’s truly addictive and instantly fills you with the childlike energy and creativity of playing make-believe".^[18] TechCrunch called it "a clever application that lets you change your facial features..."^[19] and Inc. wrote that "[it] is an example of technology that may make it easier for camera-shy folks to sit through live video calls or take pictures in the future."^[20]

Awards

In 2014, Looksery won the Best Innovative Startup Award at the SVOD annual conference in Silicon Valley.^[21]

References

1. "This Year Halloween Has Its Own Selfie App". Huffington Post. October 31, 2014.
2. "Generation Selfie And How Entrepreneurs Are Cashing In". Archived from the original on October 31, 2014.
3. "Startup Looksery aims to beautify your selfie videos". CNET.
4. "Deal of the Year: Snapchat buys Ukrainian startup Looksery for USD 150 mln". UA Today. September 16, 2015.
5. Mooney, Paula (July 8, 2014). "Create game characters who look like you with Looksery". Venture Beat.
6. Perez, Sarah (June 4, 2014). "Looksery Launches On Kickstarter With An App That Makes You Look Better (Or Just Funnier) On Video Chat". TechCrunch.
7. "The next big Kickstarter success story?: 'Video selfie' app Looksery passes its $30K funding goal with 23 days still to go".
8. Sheremeta, Bozhena (September 16, 2015). "Snapchat buys Looksery in reported $150 million deal, making it biggest acquisition of Ukraine tech player". Kyiv Post.
9. "Snapchat buys Looksery in reported $150 million deal, making it biggest acquisition of Ukraine tech player". www.kyivpost.com. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
10. "Snapchat Acquires Looksery To Power Its Animated Lenses".
11. "Video beautification app Looksery reaches Android too".
12. "Startup Looksery aims to beautify your selfie videos".
13. Shontell, Alyson (September 15, 2015). "Snapchat buys Looksery, a 2-year-old startup that lets you Photoshop your face while you video chat". Business Insider.
14. "Create game characters who look like you with Looksery".
15. Perez, Sarah. "Looksery Launches On Kickstarter With An App That Makes You Look Better (Or Just Funnier) On Video Chat". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
16. Shankland, Stephen (February 24, 2015). "Video beautification app Looksery reaches Android too". CNET.
17. Hendricks, Drew (October 30, 2014). "Generation Selfie And How Entrepreneurs Are Cashing In". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014.
18. "From Face-Morphing to Speed-Reading, the 10 Best Apps of 2014".
19. "Looksery Launches On Kickstarter With An App That Makes You Look Better (Or Just Funnier) On Video Chat".
20. Boitnott, John (July 30, 2014). "Looksery Wants You to Accept That Live Video Call". Inc.
21. J. Roethig, Benjamin (June 20, 2014). "Looksery Effects App Wins Startup Award at SVOD'14 Conference". GeekBeat.