Smilebooth
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2006
- HeadquartersHouston, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Smilebooth does
Smilebooth is an experiential photography and video technology company that designs and operates customizable photo and video booth experiences for live events. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Houston, the company serves two primary customer segments: enterprise brands seeking custom activations for marketing campaigns and corporate events, and private-event customers (weddings, mitzvahs, parties) seeking entertainment and shareable content. Marquee enterprise clients include Google, Sony, Adidas, Target, Netflix, Spotify, Facebook, Coca-Cola, Warner Music UK, Bumble, MailChimp, HBO, and Urban Outfitters, alongside festival and event partners such as SXSW, Austin City Limits, and Formula One US Grand Prix.
The company's core technology stack combines proprietary booth hardware with cloud-based image processing software and the SmilePad App, which enables real-time social sharing via text, email, and social platforms. The product portfolio spans multiple booth form factors including standard photo booths, Mirror Booths, Multicam GIF booths, Identity Booths (with computer-vision-based background removal), Confetti Booths, Video Diary Booths, and specialty activations such as Photo-Couture. Adjacent offerings include hashtag-driven printing, RFID-enabled instant sharing for large festivals, lenticular prints, roaming photographer services, and portrait studio setups. A 2023 product expansion introduced Dropship, a DIY portable booth service that ships pre-configured units directly to customers for self-setup in locations outside the company's owned-city footprint, including international destinations.
Smilebooth operates a hybrid business model combining event-driven rental services with quote-based enterprise sales. Standard rentals are priced on a 4-hour minimum unit basis with unlimited photos, a professional attendant, and a 24-hour online gallery; custom branded activations are quoted per project; printing and add-on sales provide incremental revenue per event. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, requires a 50% booking deposit, and offers a 10% discount for non-profit events. The company maintains direct physical presence across 9-12 major US markets (New York City, Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, and Seattle) with booth operators, sales representatives, and logistics coordinators in each, distributing operational risk across geographies while concentrating brand-building around marquee enterprise activations.
Smilebooth firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Smilebooth
- Legal name
- Smilebooth
- Website
- https://smilebooth.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2006
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Smilebooth industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Event Photo Booth Rental and Brand Activation Services
- NAICS
- Consumer Goods Rental (5322)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Corporate Event Rentals (Furniture, Staging, Tents) (HSACADAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Event Signage, Props & Custom Installations (HSACAOAG)
Keywords
Where Smilebooth is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Houston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices12 records
Markets served
Smilebooth business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Photo Booth Rental Services: Core rental and lease of photo booth experiences for events. Standard rental includes up to 4 hours with unlimited photos, professional attendant, online gallery access, and high-resolution image delivery. Additional hours available a la carte.
- Custom Brand Activations: Custom branded photo and video experiences for corporate events, retail activations, festivals, and brand marketing campaigns. Includes specialized equipment, custom backdrops, and branded overlays.
- DIY Portable Booth Dropship: Ready-to-go booth shipped directly to customers for self-setup. Includes pre-configuration and return shipping. Minimum 2 business days advance booking required.
- Printing and Add-ons: Additional revenue from hashtag printing, poster printing, GIF prints, lenticular prints, and specialty prints at events.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Standard 4-hour rental with unlimited photos |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | DIY Portable Booth Dropship |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Smilebooth product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Smilebooth rents photo booths and designs custom branded photo/video activations for live events such as corporate functions, brand activations, festivals, weddings, and private celebrations. Core deliverables include a 4-hour on-site rental with unlimited photos, a professional attendant, real-time social sharing via proprietary software, and a 24-hour online image gallery. The company also ships pre-configured DIY portable booths directly to customers for self-setup and offers specialty configurations (Mirror, Multicam, Identity, Hashtag Printer, SmileBot) tailored to specific event needs.
Product overview
Smilebooth is an experiential photography and video technology company offering a comprehensive portfolio of interactive photo and video experiences for events. Their core offerings center on customizable photo booth rentals (standard 4-hour packages) and custom-branded photo/video activations. The product portfolio includes diverse booth types such as Mirror Booths, Multicam/GIF Booths, Identity Booths with background removal technology, Confetti Booths, and specialty options like the Polaroid Booth, Video Diary Booth, and Photo-Couture experiences. Beyond traditional rentals, they offer the Dropship DIY Portable Photobooth (shipped directly to customers for self-setup), roaming photographer services, portrait studio setups, and custom installation designs. Their technology includes instant sharing via proprietary cloud software and Smilepad App, hashtag printing, RFID-enabled instant sharing for festivals, and real-time video wall displays. The company serves corporate events, weddings, festivals, brand activations, and private celebrations across 11 U.S. cities.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Dropship: DIY portable photobooth rental service where booths are shipped directly to customers for self-setup at their events
- Multicam Booth
- Hashtag Printer
- Director of Creative Technology
- SmileBot
- SmilePad App
Products and services
- Photo Booth Rental Standard on-site photo booth rental for events such as weddings, mitzvahs, corporate functions, and parties. Includes a professional attendant, unlimited photos during the rental period, real-time social sharing via the proprietary software, and a 24-hour online image gallery for guests.
- Custom Photo Booth (Custom Brand Activation)
Quantifiable outcome
- Images processed and available within 24 hours of events
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Smilebooth
Customer profileNamed customers29 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Smilebooth technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
AI capability4 records
Feature4 records
Smilebooth partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Smilebooth competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Simplebooth: Photo booth hardware and software company selling iPad-based photo booth systems and a custom-branded sharing platform. Comparable to Smilebooth's technology stack and DIY distribution angle, with overlap in enterprise brand activation customers.
- Open Air Photobooth: Premium photo booth rental company with proprietary open-air booth design and custom branded experiences for high-end weddings and corporate clients. Comparable to Smilebooth's premium positioning, custom branding, and creative service offering.
- Pixster Photo Booths: Photo booth rental franchise operating across multiple US markets with custom branded activations for corporate and social events. Closely matches Smilebooth's booth rental model, enterprise field sales approach, and multi-market footprint.
- SnapBox Photo Booths: Photo booth rental company offering open-air and enclosed booths with social media sharing and custom branding for weddings and corporate events. Direct competitor to Smilebooth in the standard 4-hour rental and custom activation segments.
- The Bosco: National photo booth rental company offering custom branded photo experiences for corporate events, weddings, and brand activations. Directly comparable to Smilebooth in product mix (rental-first with custom branded builds), target customers, and event-driven GTM.
Broad incumbents
- MKG: Experiential marketing and brand experience agency producing large-scale events, activations, and content for major brands. Overlaps with Smilebooth's custom brand activation business and competes for the same enterprise client RFPs at the upper end.
- Sparks: Large global brand experience and experiential marketing agency delivering custom brand activations, events, and exhibits for enterprise clients. Competes with Smilebooth for the same enterprise brand-activation budgets but with much broader service portfolio.
- Freeman: Global event production and experiential marketing company providing trade show exhibits, event technology, and brand experiences. Competes for enterprise event budgets and could disintermediate smaller photo booth providers via bundled event technology offerings.
Emerging players
- DSLR Booth: Photo booth software platform that powers many rental operators' experiences with sharing, green screen, and print-on-demand features. Adjacent to Smilebooth's technology layer (cloud sharing, RFID, SmilePad app) and competes for the same event customers via partner operators.
- LumaBooth: Photo booth software company offering a customizable cloud-based sharing platform with social media integration, prints, and video effects. Comparable to Smilebooth's SmilePad and cloud sharing stack and serves the same brand activation and wedding use cases.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Smilebooth social profiles
Digital presenceSmilebooth financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Smilebooth leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Smilebooth funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Smilebooth 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 Smilebooth
What does Smilebooth do?
Smilebooth rents photo booths and designs custom branded photo/video activations for live events such as corporate functions, brand activations, festivals, weddings, and private celebrations. Core deliverables include a 4-hour on-site rental with unlimited photos, a professional attendant, real-time social sharing via proprietary software, and a 24-hour online image gallery. The company also ships pre-configured DIY portable booths directly to customers for self-setup and offers specialty configurations (Mirror, Multicam, Identity, Hashtag Printer, SmileBot) tailored to specific event needs.
Is Smilebooth a public or private company?
Smilebooth is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Smilebooth founded?
Smilebooth was founded in 2006. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Smilebooth based?
Smilebooth is headquartered in Houston, United States, in the North America region.
How does Smilebooth make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Photo Booth Rental Services are the primary driver. The others are custom Brand Activations, DIY Portable Booth Dropship and printing and Add-ons.
Who are Smilebooth's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Simplebooth, Open Air Photobooth, Pixster Photo Booths, SnapBox Photo Booths and The Bosco. Broad incumbents are MKG, Sparks and Freeman. Emerging players are DSLR Booth and LumaBooth.
Does Smilebooth have an API?
No public API is recorded for Smilebooth.
What industry is Smilebooth in?
Smilebooth's product category is Event Photo Booth Rental and Brand Activation Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HSACADAI, Corporate Event Rentals (Furniture, Staging, Tents), with a secondary code of HSACAOAG, Event Signage, Props & Custom Installations. Its NAICS code is 5322 and its SIC code is 7330.