Artisse, one of several AI-powered photo creation apps that lets users create photos of themselves using uploaded selfies paired with prompts, has raised $6.7 million in seed funding, following the AI selfies’ viral moment. Similar to others on the market, Artisse users upload their photos to train its AI on their images, then use a text or image message to create new photos of themselves in various settings, poses and styles. But unlike the competition, Artisse focuses on making its images more photorealistic so they can support professional photography if required.
Under the hood, Artisse uses its own fitness model alongside best practices and elements from open source models and tools. Because of the hyper-realistic images the app produces, Artisse has become the top photo app on the Google Play Store at various times in markets including the US, UK, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and Australia.
The app has been downloaded more than 200,000 times to date and its images reach around 43 million people on social media, the company claims. To date, users have created more than 5 million photos, its website notes.
Image Credits: Artisse
Initially, Artisse was founded by William Wu, who previously worked in investment and strategy roles at McKinsey & Co. and Oaktree Capital. The founder told TechCrunch in September that he was inspired to create an AI app after seeing how many people had uploaded “perfect” photos to their Instagram or dating profiles. However, he realized that to get these results, you need time and expertise in personal photography. His idea was to make this same type of photography more accessible to anyone with a smartphone
Therefore, Training Artisse takes longer than competitors – around 30 to 40 minutes, although AI images take a few minutes to produce. Wu said this system allows him to produce more realistic images than some others on the market as a result.
This is what Wu hopes will be Artisse’s differentiating feature.
“Midjourny clearly does well when it comes to landscapes and design work, but when it comes to people – the way you have to think about it is that there are many different factors and you have to create individual training sets for each of those factors.”
This means that Artisse’s model takes into account factors such as race, facial structures, skin color, lighting, camera type, camera angle, body shot, landscape and more.
Additionally, adds Wu, “There’s an incredible amount of work involved in collecting data, labeling data, knowing what makes a good camera photo versus what doesn’t.”
Artisse’s AI was trained on public domain photography, Wu notes.
“A lot of it isn’t about volume, it’s actually a lot about image quality,” he says.
Like many apps in this space, Artisse has to overcome struggles in areas like the variety of body shapes and skin tones, especially if users upload a reference photo where the person in the image is thinner. Another viral Remini app faced complaints in this area from women who said the app made them thinner or bigger-breasted.
Artisse aims to set itself apart from apps like Remini and Lensa by creating photos that could be used in real life.
However, the startup’s AI model is flexible enough that users can do things with their photos that wouldn’t be appropriate, like changing their race, for example.
But Wu says he doesn’t encourage that, nor is it how people generally use the product.
Image Credits: Artisse
Instead, Artisse users tend to leverage the app to post photos of themselves on social media — especially ones they might not have taken otherwise — like shots of themselves posing next to a fancy car or wearing a high-fashion look. Models and influencers are among the early adopters of Artisse along with some businesses using AI photography for their ads.
The app initially generated revenue by offering 25 photos for free and then charging about 20 cents per photo. This attracted a casual tech-savvy audience — Artisse said about 60-70% of users were “light” users who tried the app once. Of the 200,000 downloads, about 4,000 have been converted into subscribers, which is the app’s new monetization model.
There are currently three tiers, priced at $7, $15, and $40 per month, where you get anywhere from 25 to 370 photos.
Artisse claims to have tripled revenue to $1M ARR by December 2023 and is on track for $2.5M ARR as of this month.
“Revenues grow quite quickly, the payback period is relatively low,” notes Wu. “I see AI photography as a new category that should probably be of a similar size, if not bigger, than photo editing apps,” he says.
The startup’s $6.7 million seed funding round was led by The London Fund, a firm that makes strategic investments in high-growth companies with several consumer businesses in their portfolio.
The investment, which was inbound, made sense because the fund has an influencer marketing arm and could help market the app, Wu explains. The round is still open for others.
Going forward, the 22-person team is looking to leverage its AI technology in ways other than consumer photos. It’s currently exploring virtual gym technology for online shopping, where you can model clothes on yourself in different postures and poses, as well as a group photo feature that could one day allow you to “pose” with a friend or even a celebrity you’re a fan of (with permission). Buying AI photos and turning them into physical prints are other ideas being considered.
