1x.com

What 1x.com does

1x.com is an online curated photography platform operated by 1x Innovations AB, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with a regional branch in Japan. The platform's defining feature is mandatory human curation: every published image in the gallery is hand-selected by a team of professional curators before it appears, distinguishing 1x from algorithm-driven photo networks. The published base comprises 16,000 artists across 130 countries, supported by 12+ named head curators, senior critics, moderators, and an ambassador program of roughly 25 members. The core product surface spans the 1x Gallery, member portfolios, an Exhibitions feature, 1x Magazine, and Tutorials — together forming an integrated creator ecosystem rather than a single-purpose app.

The platform operates as a self-serve, community-led business with two revenue streams. The first is the PRO membership subscription, offered in three tiers: monthly at $9.99, quarterly at $23.97, and annual at $71.88 (with a one-month free trial and cancel-anytime terms). The second is print sales, where photographers can monetize accepted work either through direct 1x sales (photographer earns 12% of net) or through a network of 300+ global wall art resellers (photographer earns 50% of 1x's net royalty from the partner). Production, fulfillment, shipping, and customer service for partner-channel sales are handled by the resellers; 1x coordinates the partnership and retains the margin above photographer payouts. Payment processing for print sales runs through PayPal; marketing uses Google, Facebook, and Bing ad platforms plus Google Analytics.

The company is privately held and founder-owned, with no disclosed external funding, institutional investors, or M&A activity. The four founders — Ralf Stelander (CEO), Jacob Jovelou (CTO), Petter Wallgren (COO), and Casper Seedorff (CCO) — remain in place, and the Japan branch is led by a regional President and CEO. Customers are split between a primary segment of fine art photography enthusiasts/artists seeking recognition and a secondary segment of art print collectors; both are B2C, long-tail, and self-serve. Strategic posture is best characterized as a bootstrapped, curation-as-moat business that has extended organically into regional (Japan), product (mobile, magazine, tutorials, exhibitions), and distribution (reseller network) adjacencies over more than a decade.

Name

1x.com

Legal name

1x Innovations AB

Website

https://1x.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

1x.com is a curated online photography platform where every published image is hand-selected by professional curators, serving fine art photographers seeking recognition and art print buyers, with revenue from PRO subscriptions and a 300+ wall art reseller network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Curated Photography Platform

NAICS

Photographic Services (54192), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Membership Communities with Learning (Community-Led Education) (MPACALAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Creator Publishing & Membership Platforms (Writer-Centric) (MPACAIAD), Photo Library Organization & Curation (HSAFAGAA)

Keywords

• Curated photography platform
• Fine art photography
• Online photo gallery
• Photographer community
• Art print marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Revenue model

1. PRO Membership Subscriptions: Subscription-based membership (PRO accounts) providing access to curation participation, enhanced portfolio features, and one month free trial. Three billing tiers: monthly at $9.99, quarterly at $23.97, and annual at $71.88.
2. Print Sales Commission: Photographers can sell prints through 1x's global network of 300+ wall art resellers. For direct 1x sales, photographers earn 12% of net sales price. For partner network sales, photographers earn 50% of the net royalty earned by 1x from partners. Payouts occur quarterly with $50 minimum thresholds.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

1x.com is a curated online photography gallery and community where every published image is hand-selected by professional curators before being shown. Photographers join via a paid PRO membership to upload work, participate in curation, and earn revenue from print sales, while art buyers can purchase high-quality prints directly from 1x and through a global network of 300+ wall art resellers.

Product overview

1x.com is a curated photography community platform offering a single integrated ecosystem for photography enthusiasts and professionals. The core product is the 1x Gallery, a rigorously curated photo platform where every published image is hand-selected by professional curators. This is supported by the 1x PRO Membership subscription tiers (Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly) that grant members access to the curation process and upload capabilities. The platform extends to an Art Prints ecommerce service enabling photographers to sell prints through a network of 300+ wall art resellers. Additional offerings include Certificates (milestone awards with QR verification), the 1x Magazine editorial platform, Tutorials for skill development, and rotating Exhibitions. The platform claims 16,000 published artists from 130 countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 1x PRO Membership Paid subscription that allows individual photographers to upload photos for curator review, vote in the curation process, and access member features. Priced at $9.99/month, $23.97/quarter, or $71.88/year with a one-month free trial.
• Art Prints Print-on-demand service that lets photographers sell physical prints of their curated work. Photographers earn 12% of net sales on direct 1x sales and 50% of the net royalty from partner reseller sales, paid quarterly with a $50 minimum threshold.

Segments2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 300+ Wall Art ResellerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrint sales partners who market, sell, and distribute Printed Copies of photographers' images through the world's biggest wall art reseller network. 1x photographers earn 50% of net royalty from these sales. Partners handle fulfillment, shipping, and customer relationships while 1x coordinates the partnership.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Shutterstock: Shutterstock is a global stock photography marketplace that licenses images to businesses and consumers. It is comparable to 1x at the print/licensing commerce layer but operates at vastly larger scale and without 1x's fine-art curation focus.
• Getty Images: Getty Images is a global premium stock photography and editorial content marketplace. It is comparable to 1x at the high-end photography licensing and gallery distribution layer, but with much broader editorial and commercial rights offerings.
• Behance: Behance (owned by Adobe) is a leading online platform for creative professionals to showcase and discover creative work, including photography portfolios. It overlaps with 1x on portfolio hosting, community feedback, and creative career tools, but operates across all creative disciplines at far greater scale.
• SmugMug: SmugMug is an established portfolio, print-selling, and storage platform for photographers, also the parent of Flickr. It overlaps with 1x on portfolio hosting and print commerce, but targets a wider range of photographers without 1x's mandatory curation gate.

Direct peers

• VSCO: VSCO is a mobile-first photo editing app and creator community with a subscription tier (VSCO Membership). It overlaps with 1x in serving photography creators with subscription monetization and curated galleries, but focuses on mobile editing/presets versus curated fine-art publication.
• ViewBug: ViewBug is a photography community and contest platform that helps photographers gain recognition, win prizes, and sell prints. It mirrors 1x's model of curation/recognition plus print commerce for photography enthusiasts.
• Flickr: Flickr (owned by SmugMug) is a long-standing photo sharing and community platform serving amateur and professional photographers. It overlaps with 1x on community galleries, groups, and print services, but lacks 1x's mandatory single-image human curation.
• 500px: 500px is a global photography community and marketplace for discovering, sharing, and licensing photography. It is directly comparable to 1x in serving serious photographers with curated portfolios, community critique, and stock licensing — though 1x differentiates via mandatory human curation of every image.

Emerging players

• EyeEm: EyeEm is a photography community and stock marketplace that connects photographers to brand campaigns and image licensing. It overlaps with 1x on community + print/licensing monetization but has a younger, mobile-first creator audience and broader stock use cases.

Regional players

• PhotoShelter: PhotoShelter is a portfolio, e-commerce, and archival platform serving professional photographers with print sales. It is comparable to 1x's print sales and portfolio features, though aimed at working pros and primarily operating in the US/English-speaking market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/1x_com

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 1x.com