HootBooth Photo Booth

What HootBooth Photo Booth does

HootBooth Photo Booth is a US-based, privately held photo-booth kiosk manufacturer and digital-signage provider headquartered in Leander, founded in 2014. The company sells two hardware lines: the DSLR EventPRO family (PC-based kiosks built around Canon DSLR cameras and Surface PRO controllers, in EventPRO, EventPRO Plus, MINI, MINI AR, and PWR variants) and the ILLUMIN8 family of iPad-based kiosks (Illumin8, Illumin8+, Air, MAX, ULTRA, and ROVR), each combining a pedestal, ring light, RGB LED attract lighting, and an integrated printer shelf. HootBooth does not appear to develop its own booth software end-to-end; instead it resells, integrates, and supports a portfolio of third-party software platforms, including PBU/Photo Booth Upload (legacy, pre-August 2024 DSLR units), Curator Live / PixBooth2 (ILLUMIN8), Sparkbooth (alternate DSLR load), and, since July 2024, Booth.Events as the new standard software load on both product lines.

The company's go-to-market is built around bundling this hardware with a curated software and integrations stack: Twilio for SMS/MMS guest delivery, SendGrid for outbound email, SmugMug for hosted galleries, Facebook/Twitter/Instagram for social sharing, AnyDesk for remote support, Canva and Paddee for template design, and Sinfonia CS2 (with AirCast Pro bridging) for wireless printing. Customer-facing infrastructure includes a multi-language knowledge base, onboarding videos, troubleshooting articles, vendor contact directory, and a PBU/PPU Helper background service and Resender utility for post-event media re-sends. Target customers, per the firmographic description, are event professionals, retail stores, and restaurants; no named enterprise logos, segment revenue splits, pricing models, or revenue figures are disclosed. Public contact is via a generic Gmail address ([email protected]), and no parent company, subsidiaries, founder names, or capitalization data are documented in the supplied material.

Name

HootBooth Photo Booth

Legal name

HootBooth Photo Booth

Website

https://hootboothphotobooth.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

HootBooth Photo Booth manufactures and resells DSLR (EventPRO) and iPad-based (ILLUMIN8) photo booth kiosks, bundled with third-party software (Booth.Events, PBU, Curator Live, Sparkbooth) and integrations (Twilio, SendGrid, SmugMug, Sinfonia printers), targeting event professionals, retail stores, and restaurants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Leander

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Core offering

HootBooth Photo Booth manufactures and sells DSLR (EventPRO family) and iPad-based (ILLUMIN8 family) photo booth kiosks for event professionals, retail stores, and restaurants. The hardware is bundled with photo booth software platforms — legacy PBU Software (Photo Booth Upload) and Sparkbooth for DSLR units, Curator Live/PixBooth2 for ILLUMIN8 units, and the newer HootBooth by Booth.Events Software as the standard load on units purchased after July 2024 — and integrates with Twilio SMS, SendGrid email, SmugMug galleries, social sharing, and Sinfonia CS2 printers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Booth.Events: Third-party software platform that became the standard software load ('HootBooth by Booth.Events Software') for HootBooth DSLR EventPRO and ILLUMIN8 iPad photo booth models purchased after July 2024.
• ILLUMIN8
• DSLR EventPRO

Products and services

• DSLR EventPRO photo booth (EventPRO, EventPRO+, MINI EventPRO, EventPRO Mini AR, EventPRO PWR) Windows/PC-based photo booth hardware line using a Canon DSLR camera, available in multiple form factors (full-size EventPRO with 1920x1080 display, EventPRO Plus with 1024x768 display, and the smaller Mini variants). Each unit is assembled from a baseplate, pedestal, and top camera unit secured with thumbscrews and is intended for event rental companies and venue operators.
• ILLUMIN8 iPad photo booth (ILLUMIN8, ILLUMIN8+, ILLUMIN8 Air, ILLUMIN8 MAX, ILLUMIN8 ULTRA, ILLUMIN8 ROVR) iPad-based photo booth hardware line that runs the Curator Live / PixBooth2 iOS app or the HootBooth by Booth.Events Software. Kiosk variants include lower-pedestal units (Air, ROVR) and larger models (Illumin8+, MAX, ULTRA) with built-in ring lights, RGB LED attract lighting with dimmer control, and pedestal LED lighting, suited to event, retail, and restaurant deployments.
• PBU Software (Photo Booth Upload) Standard kiosk software for DSLR EventPRO photo booth models purchased before August 2024, providing photo, GIF, video, slow-motion video, burst GIF, and green-screen activations; template/layout design; microsite sharing via SMS (Twilio), email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SmugMug; data collection with GDPR-style disclaimers; PPU Event Manager web app for event setup; PPU Helper background service; and PPU Resender for re-sending media from past events.
• Sparkbooth Software Alternate photo booth software platform supported on HootBooth DSLR models, with a layout editor for adding custom text and logos, Canon DSLR configuration (manual focus, P mode, ISO 400-1600, disabled auto power-off), image save-location settings, SendGrid-based guest email delivery, and keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl-1/F1 for Settings, Ctrl-L for Lock).
• Curator Live Software (PixBooth2) iPad photo booth software platform used with the ILLUMIN8 line. Customers activate a HootBooth promo code at curatorlive.com, manage events and templates on the web, and run them on the iPad via the PixBooth2 iOS app. Includes the Curator Print Server for wireless Sinfonia printing and a Shared.Gallery for hosted event galleries.
• HootBooth by Booth.Events Software New software load that became the standard on HootBooth DSLR EventPRO and ILLUMIN8 iPad photo booth models purchased after July 2024. Configured via the Booth.Events website; each event consists of one Shared.Gallery, at least one Template with Scenes, and one Attract Screen, and runs on the iPad DSLR app.

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Foto Master: Sells turnkey photo booth and 360 video booth systems (Mirror, Classic, Portal) to event professionals worldwide. Comparable to HootBooth as a multi-SKU photo booth hardware vendor serving the same operator buyer.
• DSLR Booth: Provides DSLR photo booth software (Windows) that runs on Canon/Nikon DSLR rigs and is licensed by photo booth operators worldwide. Comparable to HootBooth's PBU/Booth.Events software stack in functionality and operator buyer, and is a likely substitute or partner for HootBooth's DSLR customers.
• Snappic: iPad-based photo booth software platform with sharing, digital props, and analytics, used by event operators. Comparable to Curator Live and Booth.Events as a third-party software platform that powers photo booth kiosks — a direct substitute in the same workflow as HootBooth's ILLUMIN8 iPad line.
• Simple Booth: Designs and sells iPad-based photo booth kiosks (Halo, Spark) aimed at event professionals and small businesses. Directly comparable to HootBooth's ILLUMIN8 line in form factor, target buyer, and use of iPad hardware.
• TapSnap: Manufactures touchscreen photo booth kiosks sold to event rental companies, corporate event planners, and venues. Comparable in product category, sales channel (direct-to-operator), and target verticals to HootBooth's DSLR and iPad booths.
• SocialBooth: Sells iPad photo booth kiosks with branded shells, ring lights, and event-focused software. Comparable in form factor, software bundling approach, and target customer (event rental operators) to HootBooth's ILLUMIN8 line.
• Breeze Systems (Darkroom Booth / DSLR Remote Pro): Long-standing Windows photo booth software (Darkroom Booth, DSLR Remote Pro) for DSLR photo booths and events. Comparable to PBU and Sparkbooth as a competing kiosk software platform that HootBooth's DSLR customers could substitute.
• Photo Booth International: Designs, manufactures, and sells a range of photo booth enclosures (Booth in a Box, G3, Orbit) to event professionals. Comparable to HootBooth's DSLR EventPRO family in DSLR-based, multi-form-factor hardware sold into the same event-rental channel.
• Pixi Photo Booth: Sells iPad-based and mirror photo booth kiosks with bundled software for events and retail. Comparable to HootBooth in the iPad form factor and the inclusion of proprietary/branded software alongside the hardware.

Others

• Curator Live: iPad photo booth software platform (PixBooth2) that HootBooth integrates with and distributes. Listed as a peer in the 'others/ecosystem' sense: a software partner/vendor whose product is bundled with HootBooth ILLUMIN8 hardware and whose roadmap influences HootBooth's product value.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hootboothphoto
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hootbooth-photo-booth

Compliance1 record

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 HootBooth Photo Booth