Tezza
Tezza is a Santa Monica-based mobile software and lifestyle brand co-founded in 2018 by Tessa Barton and Cole Herrmann. It operates a freemium photo and video editing app with vintage/editorial presets alongside a merchandise line of collage kits and apparel, primarily serving female content creators and social media influencers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersSanta Monica, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Tezza does
Tezza is a Santa Monica, California-based mobile software and lifestyle brand co-founded in 2018 by Tessa Barton and Cole Herrmann. Its core product is the Tezza App, a freemium photo and video editing application distributed globally through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The app provides 50+ editorial presets, 16+ film emulations (Kodak Gold to VHS), 120+ designer templates, batch editing, an Instagram Feed Planner, and a 2023-launched video editor branded Tezza Studio with one-tap 'VIBE' automated edits. The platform targets primarily female content creators, social media influencers, and general consumers seeking a curated vintage/editorial aesthetic, and has reached approximately 25 million cumulative downloads.
Tezza operates a dual revenue model combining a freemium mobile subscription (managed through Apple and Google in-app billing) with direct-to-consumer e-commerce via shoptezza.com. The merchandise extension includes collage kits ($69-$115), apparel under the Create With Pleasure and Creative Dept. lines ($29-$89), Tezza Magazine ($40), candles, and phone cases, positioning the brand as a lifestyle category rather than a pure software product. Forbes has reported the company generates approximately $30 million in revenue while operating with roughly 12 employees, implying an unusually capital-light, product-led structure.
The go-to-market motion is product-led and community-led, leveraging user-generated content under the @tezza and #tezza hashtags, organic presence on Instagram and TikTok, influencer testimonials, and email newsletters. The company executed a major brand repositioning in early 2025 through a partnership with creative agency Saint-Urbain, and has begun experimenting with physical retail activations via a partnership with Caruso properties in early 2026. Recognition includes Forbes 30 Under 30 (Art & Style, 2023) and inclusion in The Information's 50 Most Promising Startups (2023).
Tezza firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Tezza
- Legal name
- Tezza
- Website
- https://shoptezza.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Tezza is a Santa Monica-based mobile software and lifestyle brand co-founded in 2018 by Tessa Barton and Cole Herrmann. It operates a freemium photo and video editing app with vintage/editorial presets alongside a merchandise line of collage kits and apparel, primarily serving female content creators and social media influencers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Tezza industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Photo and Video Editing Software
- NAICS
- Graphic Design Services (54143), Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (45912)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Short-Form Video Creation, Editing & Templates Apps (MPACAHAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Graphic Design & Visual Content Production (BPAFAIAC)
Keywords
Where Tezza is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Santa Monica
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Tezza business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Operations
Revenue model
- App Subscription: Tezza operates primarily on a subscription model through its mobile app. The app offers a free tier with limited features, while premium subscribers pay for full access to all presets, film emulations, video editing tools, and advanced features. Subscriptions are managed through Apple App Store and Google Play Store billing systems.
- Merchandise Sales: Tezza sells physical merchandise including collage kits ($69-$115), apparel ($29-$89), phone cases, candles, and magazines ($40). These are one-time purchases sold through their e-commerce storefront shoptezza.com.
- Digital Products: Sale of digital creative assets including collage kits (high-quality printed photograph collections) and digital design elements through their online store.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free tier with limited access |
| Subscription | Monthly | Premium subscription |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Collage Kits - Physical merchandise |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Apparel and merchandise |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Tezza product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Tezza operates a mobile photo and video editing application targeted at content creators, offering 50+ editorial presets, 16+ film emulations, 120+ designer templates, batch editing, an Instagram feed planner, and a video editor (Tezza Studio) with one-tap 'VIBE' edits. The company also sells physical lifestyle merchandise including collage kits, apparel, accessories, magazines, and candles through its e-commerce storefront shoptezza.com.
Product overview
Tezza is a female-founded lifestyle brand and photo/video editing app co-founded by Tezza Barton and Cole Herrmann in 2018. The core product is the Tezza App, which provides photo and video editing tools including Editorial Presets (50+), Film Emulation (16+), Designer Templates (120+), Feed Planner with Instagram integration, Batch Editing, and Tezza Studio for video editing. The brand expanded into physical products including Collage Kits (150-page high-quality print collections for wall decoration in themed sets), Tezza Magazine (printed editorial publications), and merchandise under collections like Create With Pleasure (apparel) and Creative Dept. (accessories). The company rebranded in 2025 positioning itself as a lifestyle brand with merchandise such as phone cases and candles.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Tezza App: Photo and video editing app with over 50 presets, 16+ film emulations, 120+ templates, feed planning, and batch editing tools
- Tezza Studio
- Collage Kits
- Create With Pleasure Collection
- Creative Dept.
- Tezza Magazine
Products and services
- Tezza App A female-founded mobile photo and video editing app for content creators offering editorial presets, film emulation, designer templates, batch editing, Instagram feed planning, and video editing within a unified iOS/Android application with freemium and premium subscription tiers.
- Tezza Studio Video editor feature within the Tezza app enabling users to edit videos with curated presets, film effects, fonts, and one-tap 'VIBE' automated edits that transform footage into nostalgic art pieces.
- Collage Kits High-quality print collections containing 150 full-page photographs printed on matte paper for wall decoration, available in themed collections (Creamy, Lo-Fi, Dream, City, Coastal) and collaborations (Tezza x Charles Barton), priced $69-$115.
- Tezza Magazine Printed magazines featuring curated editorial content from Tezza, available in multiple issues at $40 each.
- The Tezza Hat Branded hat featuring the Tezza face icon logo, priced at $30.
Quantifiable outcome
- 25 million app downloads
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Tezza
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Tezza technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature6 records
Tezza partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- CarusominorCaruso, a retail property portfolio operator, hosted Tezza's Valentine's Day photo booth installation across their properties including The Grove, The Americana at Brand, and The Promenade at Westlake. This experiential marketing partnership placed Tezza's brand in front of high-end retail consumers.
- Saint-UrbaincoreBrooklyn-based creative agency Saint-Urbain completed a comprehensive brand redesign for Tezza in early 2025, repositioning it from a digital photo editing tool toward a lifestyle brand. The redesign included a new custom wordmark, cream and tan color palette inspired by fashion magazines, and new illustrations, while retaining the original face icon.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Tezza competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Lensa AI: Lensa AI is a mobile photo editor specializing in AI-driven portrait and avatar generation. It is an emerging player showing how AI-native editing is reshaping consumer expectations that Tezza's traditional preset model must continue to meet.
- Glossier: Glossier is a female-founded, community-led direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand that grew from a digital-native audience into physical retail. It is a comparable lifestyle-brand playbook for Tezza's merchandise and DTC expansion, though in beauty rather than photo editing.
Broad incumbents
- Canva: Canva is a broad design platform with photo editing, templates, and AI tools serving creators and small businesses. While more general-purpose, it increasingly overlaps with Tezza's template-and-content-creation use cases for social media.
- Urban Outfitters: Urban Outfitters is a broad lifestyle retailer that sells curated apparel, home décor, and lifestyle goods targeting a similar female millennial/Gen Z creative demographic. It is comparable as a benchmark for the lifestyle/merchandise category Tezza is expanding into.
- Adobe Lightroom Mobile: Adobe Lightroom Mobile is the dominant mobile photo editing platform with a massive preset marketplace and professional user base. It competes with Tezza on photo editing depth, though it lacks Tezza's curated lifestyle/community positioning.
Direct peers
- VSCO: VSCO is a photo and video editing app built around curated presets and film-inspired aesthetics with a subscription model. It is the closest direct competitor to Tezza given the shared focus on presets, film emulation, and a creator community.
- Afterlight: Afterlight is a mobile photo editing app with curated filters, textures, and editing tools targeted at creators seeking aesthetic-driven edits. It competes in the same niche as Tezza's preset/filter library.
- Picsart: Picsart is a photo and video editing platform offering templates, effects, AI tools, and a creator community with a freemium + subscription model. It directly overlaps with Tezza's preset/template/video offering at a much larger scale.
- Snapseed: Snapseed is Google's free mobile photo editor with professional-grade editing tools. It is a free alternative that competes for the same end users as Tezza, particularly for those willing to forgo curated aesthetic presets.
- A Color Story: A Color Story is a photo editing app known for bright, aesthetic filters and editing tools popular with female creators and influencers — closely aligned with Tezza's target audience and aesthetic positioning.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Tezza social profiles
Digital presenceTezza financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Tezza leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Tezza funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Tezza 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 Tezza
What does Tezza do?
Tezza operates a mobile photo and video editing application targeted at content creators, offering 50+ editorial presets, 16+ film emulations, 120+ designer templates, batch editing, an Instagram feed planner, and a video editor (Tezza Studio) with one-tap 'VIBE' edits. The company also sells physical lifestyle merchandise including collage kits, apparel, accessories, magazines, and candles through its e-commerce storefront shoptezza.com.
Is Tezza a public or private company?
Tezza is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Tezza founded?
Tezza was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Tezza based?
Tezza is headquartered in Santa Monica, United States, in the North America region.
How does Tezza make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. App Subscription is the primary driver. The others are merchandise Sales and digital Products.
Who are Tezza's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Lensa AI and Glossier. Broad incumbents are Canva, Urban Outfitters and Adobe Lightroom Mobile. Direct peers are VSCO, Afterlight, Picsart, Snapseed and A Color Story.
Does Tezza have an API?
No public API is recorded for Tezza.
What industry is Tezza in?
Tezza's product category is Photo and Video Editing Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPACAHAE, Short-Form Video Creation, Editing & Templates Apps, with a secondary code of BPAFAIAC, Graphic Design & Visual Content Production. Its NAICS code is 54143 and its SIC code is 7330.