Color Labs Inc.
Color Labs Inc. was a 2010-founded consumer mobile photo-sharing app developer that raised $41M from Bain Capital Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank but ultimately failed commercially, with no documented revenue or sustained product traction.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersBurlingame, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Color Labs Inc. does
Color Labs Inc. was a mobile technology company founded in 2010 and headquartered in Burlingame, California. The company's stated mission was to "reinvent social interaction" through Color, a mobile photo-sharing application aimed at consumer users. Founded by serial entrepreneur Bill Nguyen as CEO and co-founder, Color Labs secured a substantial $41 million funding round in March 2011 from a top-tier investor syndicate consisting of Bain Capital Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank, making it one of the better-capitalized consumer mobile app ventures of that period.
Despite the strong capitalization and prestigious investor backing, Color Labs appears to have failed commercially. The source URL explicitly references "failcompany.com/what-happened-to-color-labs/" which frames the company as a documented startup failure. No revenue figures, monetization mechanics, pricing model, or customer segments are disclosed in the available data. The company had a headcount in the 11-50 range, which combined with the failure context and the post-2011 absence of any documented follow-on funding, product launches, or strategic moves, indicates that the company did not achieve product-market fit or a sustainable business.
The underlying technology, platform architecture, and specific product features of the Color app are not described in the input data beyond the high-level description as a mobile photo app. No integrations, APIs, or proprietary technical components are documented. The company remained private throughout, with no IPO activity or M&A event recorded in the available data.
Color Labs Inc. firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Color Labs Inc.
- Website
- https://failcompany.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Color Labs Inc. was a 2010-founded consumer mobile photo-sharing app developer that raised $41M from Bain Capital Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank but ultimately failed commercially, with no documented revenue or sustained product traction.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Color Labs Inc. industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Social Mobile Photo Sharing
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Color Grading & Color Management (MPAHAAAB)
Keywords
Where Color Labs Inc. is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Burlingame
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Color Labs Inc. business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Color Labs Inc. product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Color Labs developed and operated Color, a consumer mobile photo application designed to reinvent social interaction by enabling users to share, discover, and engage with photos in a social-network context. The app was targeted at smartphone users and built around a free, app-store-distributed consumer experience.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Color mobile photo app The Color mobile photo app is a consumer-facing smartphone application that allows users to share and discover photos socially, designed to reinvent social interaction through a photo-centric mobile experience.
Companies that use Color Labs Inc.
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles1 record
Color Labs Inc. technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Color Labs Inc. partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves3 records
Expansion highlights2 records
Color Labs Inc. competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Hipstamatic: Mobile photo app launched in 2009 that pioneered filter-based iPhone photography. Competed with Color Labs in the same early mobile-photo app category with a similar vintage and target user (iPhone creative enthusiasts).
- Instagram: Mobile photo-sharing and social networking app launched in 2010 — the closest direct competitor to Color Labs in both product (mobile photo sharing) and timing. Instagram's trajectory (acquired by Facebook for ~$1B in 2012) represents the upside Color Labs was chasing.
- Flickr: Photo-sharing platform owned by SmugMug. Represents the legacy web-based photo-sharing space that Color Labs was attempting to reinvent for mobile, with overlapping user behavior (sharing, commenting, social discovery of photos).
- PicPlz: Early mobile photo-sharing app launched in 2010 with similar social and filter functionality to Color Labs. PicPlz also failed, making it one of the most directly comparable peers in both product and outcome.
Emerging players
- Pinterest: Visual discovery and bookmarking platform emphasizing image-led content. Overlaps with Color Labs' photo-centric social use case, though with a curation/inspiration lens rather than personal sharing.
- VSCO: Mobile photo editing and sharing app with a strong creative-tools positioning. Competed in the same mobile photography app category as Color Labs, emphasizing filters, presets, and creative community features.
- Path: Mobile-first social networking app launched in 2010 emphasizing intimate sharing of photos and life moments among close friends. Targeted the same mobile social-photo use case as Color Labs with a different design thesis (small networks vs. proximity).
- Snapchat: Mobile photo and video sharing app launched in 2011. Represents a parallel mobile-photo startup from the same era that successfully pivoted to a differentiated ephemeral-sharing model and reached multi-billion-dollar scale.
Broad incumbents
- Google Photos: Cloud-based photo storage and sharing product from Google. A broader incumbent in the photo space with overlapping functionality (storage, sharing, discovery) that competes for the same end-user attention Color Labs targeted.
- Facebook Photos: Photos is a core feature within the broader Facebook social network. As an incumbent with massive distribution, Facebook represented the structural threat to standalone mobile photo apps like Color Labs, ultimately absorbing the use case via Instagram.
Market position
Strengths1 record
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights3 records
Customer concentration
Color Labs Inc. social profiles
Digital presenceColor Labs Inc. financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Color Labs Inc. leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Color Labs Inc. funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Color Labs Inc. M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Color Labs Inc.
What does Color Labs Inc. do?
Color Labs developed and operated Color, a consumer mobile photo application designed to reinvent social interaction by enabling users to share, discover, and engage with photos in a social-network context. The app was targeted at smartphone users and built around a free, app-store-distributed consumer experience.
When was Color Labs Inc. founded?
Color Labs Inc. was founded in 2010. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Color Labs Inc. based?
Color Labs Inc. is headquartered in Burlingame, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Color Labs Inc.'s main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Hipstamatic, Instagram, Flickr and PicPlz. Emerging players are Pinterest, VSCO, Path and Snapchat. Broad incumbents are Google Photos and Facebook Photos.
Does Color Labs Inc. have an API?
No public API is recorded for Color Labs Inc..
What industry is Color Labs Inc. in?
Color Labs Inc.'s product category is Social Mobile Photo Sharing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAHAAAB, Color Grading & Color Management. Its SIC code is 7330.