Colourbox
Colourbox is a Denmark-based royalty-free stock media platform founded in 2003, offering photos, videos, and vectors for licensing and download to creative professionals, marketers, designers, and content producers via its website.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersOdense, Denmark
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Colourbox does
Colourbox is a Denmark-based, for-profit company headquartered in Odense that operates a royalty-free stock media platform offering photos, videos, and vectors for licensing and download. The platform is delivered through its website (colourbox.com) and represents the company's single unified product, with no evidence of a separately marketed mobile application, exposed API, SDK, or developer integrations in the available data. Founded in 2003, the company has operated continuously for over two decades, accumulating a library of licensable visual assets typical of the stock-media category.
The business model is consistent with standard stock-media mechanics: content contributors upload visual assets and customers license them on a royalty-free basis, typically via subscriptions and/or on-demand downloads. No public pricing tiers, customer logos, segmentation detail, named partnerships, awards, or distribution-channel mix are disclosed, which limits visibility into revenue mix and customer composition. The absence of disclosed enterprise contracts, marketing channels, or ecosystem integrations points to a predominantly long-tail, direct-to-end-user go-to-market rather than a B2B-anchored model.
Leadership rests with founder Esben Darling Meng, who holds the CEO and founder role, alongside Shinta Darling in a co-CEO capacity, an unusual dual-CEO structure that typically signals closely-held, founder-controlled ownership. With 11-50 employees and no disclosed funding rounds, acquisitions, product launches, or geographic expansion activity in the available record, Colourbox reads as a small, bootstrapped operator in a mature, consolidating category that is now under structural pressure from generative AI image tools.
Colourbox firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Colourbox
- Website
- https://colourbox.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Colourbox is a Denmark-based royalty-free stock media platform founded in 2003, offering photos, videos, and vectors for licensing and download to creative professionals, marketers, designers, and content producers via its website.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Colourbox industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Stock Media Platform
- NAICS
- Art Dealers (45992)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Stock Media, Asset Marketplaces & Licensing Platforms (BPAMAJAM)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Footage & Stock Media Licensing (Archival/Newsreel/Stock) (MPADALAD)
Keywords
Where Colourbox is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Odense
- HQ country
- Denmark
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
Colourbox business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales
Colourbox product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Colourbox operates an online platform that hosts a library of royalty-free stock photos, videos, and vectors that customers can discover, preview, and download for use under a royalty-free license. The offering is centered on a single unified content marketplace where users acquire visual assets via downloads and subscriptions.
Product overview
Colourbox is a royalty-free stock media platform offering stock photos, videos, and vectors. Based on the source data, it appears to be a single unified product providing access to a library of visual content for licensing and download.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Colourbox Stock Media Platform Online marketplace platform providing access to a royalty-free library of stock photos, stock videos, and vector graphics for download and licensing, targeted at creative professionals, marketers, agencies, and individuals needing cleared visual assets.
- Royalty-Free Photo Licensing Royalty-free licensing of stock photographs, allowing customers to download and reuse photos across commercial and editorial projects without ongoing per-use fees.
- Royalty-Free Video Licensing Royalty-free licensing of stock video footage for use in marketing, editorial, web, and production projects, available for download through the platform.
- Royalty-Free Vector Licensing Royalty-free licensing of vector graphics for use in design, print, web, and commercial projects, available for download through the platform.
Companies that use Colourbox
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles1 record
Colourbox technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Colourbox partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves3 records
Colourbox competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Shutterstock: Global stock media marketplace offering royalty-free photos, videos, and vectors under subscription and on-demand licensing. Directly comparable to Colourbox on product, target customer (content buyers), and business model.
- Getty Images: Premium stock photography, video, and editorial imagery platform serving enterprises, agencies, and media. Competes with Colourbox for the same buyer segments with a broader and higher-priced catalog.
- iStock: Getty-owned royalty-free microstock platform targeted at SMBs and individual creators. Directly comparable to Colourbox's core royalty-free stock offering and customer base.
- Pond5: Stock footage and video-led marketplace, also offering photos, music, and sound effects. Directly comparable to Colourbox's video offering and contributor-driven licensing model.
- Depositphotos: Subscription-based stock photo and video marketplace serving SMBs and freelancers. Comparable on business model, pricing approach, and target customer to Colourbox.
- 123RF: Royalty-free stock photos, vectors, and footage marketplace with subscription pricing. Closely comparable to Colourbox on product mix and SMB-focused GTM.
- Storyblocks: Unlimited subscription stock media service for video, audio, and images. Comparable to Colourbox on subscription-based royalty-free access and SMB/creator customer base.
Broad incumbents
- Adobe Stock: Stock photo, video, illustration, and template marketplace bundled with Adobe Creative Cloud. Overlaps directly with Colourbox on royalty-free media but operates as part of a much broader creative software portfolio.
Emerging players
- Unsplash: High-quality, free stock photography platform with a large contributor community. Competes with Colourbox for the same buyer use cases at a $0 price point, pressuring paid stock economics.
- Pixabay: Free stock photos, videos, audio, and vectors platform with permissive licensing. Directly substitutes for a portion of Colourbox's catalog and reinforces free-content expectations in the market.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses3 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights4 records
Customer concentration
Colourbox social profiles
Digital presenceColourbox financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Colourbox leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Colourbox funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Colourbox 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 Colourbox
What does Colourbox do?
Colourbox operates an online platform that hosts a library of royalty-free stock photos, videos, and vectors that customers can discover, preview, and download for use under a royalty-free license. The offering is centered on a single unified content marketplace where users acquire visual assets via downloads and subscriptions.
Is Colourbox a public or private company?
Colourbox is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Colourbox founded?
Colourbox was founded in 2003. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Colourbox based?
Colourbox is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, in the Europe region.
Who are Colourbox's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Shutterstock, Getty Images, iStock, Pond5, Depositphotos, 123RF and Storyblocks. Adobe Stock is listed as a broad incumbent. Emerging players are Unsplash and Pixabay.
Does Colourbox have an API?
No public API is recorded for Colourbox.
What industry is Colourbox in?
Colourbox's product category is Stock Media Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAJAM, Stock Media, Asset Marketplaces & Licensing Platforms, with a secondary code of MPADALAD, Footage & Stock Media Licensing (Archival/Newsreel/Stock). Its NAICS code is 45992 and its SIC code is 7330.