Gfranq, a photo editing site launched just four months ago, is getting strong traction among amateur photographers, with more than 100,000 users in its first three months. Gfranq’s idea is to provide a simple, yet poweful image processing service to the average online user who has no knowledge of complex image processing software, allowing the user to achieve professional quality photoediting results.
The service allows users to upload any photo from their PC, mobile device or web-cam, rotate or crop it, apply their choice of 42 professional filters, attach comments, store the photos in a personal photo album, and instantly share lomo- or retro-style photos with friends across multiple social networks. Mobile photo fans can access a mobile web version of Gfranq as well as an Android app. An iOS app is announced for soon.
Gfranq is a multi-interface service with a social dimension more so than a Instagram- or Pinterest-like social network featuring pictures, explained Artem Orlov and Vladlena Orlova, the young couple who created the startup, to East-West Digital News. “We have our own ideas about social networking, and we plan to introduce innovative ratings and other features in the near future,” they said.
In April, Gfranq secured seed funding from Igor Ryabenkiy, a Vienna-based Russian business angel who also invested in LinguaLeo. “Being a semi-professional hobby photographer, I understood at first sight the value this service can bring to millions of users,” he said to EWDN.
So far the service has attracted users mainly from Russia and neighboring countries, but it was designed in five languages with a view to further international expansion. “Our combination of simplicity and quality doesn’t exist anywhere else in Russia or abroad,” claims Brand Manager Ekaterina Artemyeva.
Gfranq has not generated any revenues so far, but envisions both offline and online monetization. “When we’ll introduce advertising, we’ll see to it that it remains almost unnoticeable to users,” says Artemyeva, perhaps not fully in line with the expectations of the startup’s future advertisers.
