Lake
Lake is a Slovenian iOS-only coloring app offering 1,500+ curated illustrations by 100+ independent artists, monetizing adult consumers globally via freemium subscriptions on the Apple App Store.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersKranj, Slovenia
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Lake does
Lake d.o.o. operates a single-product iOS application, "Lake: Coloring Book for Adults," distributed exclusively through the Apple App Store on iPhone and iPad. Founded in 2016 in Slovenia and operating with approximately 13 staff, the app provides digital coloring built on native iOS engineering, including Apple Pencil Pro Squeeze and Hover integration, iCloud-synced offline coloring, a 700+ shade color wheel plus full-spectrum Color Picker, a layered brush kit (Pencil, Airbrush, Marker, Smudge, Spray Paint), ASMR brush sounds, an in-app Coloring Journal, colorblind accessibility labeling, and an iOS 26 Liquid Glass UI. Content is a curated library of 1,500+ exclusive illustrations commissioned from 100+ independent artists across at least 27 countries, with new 12-page books released on a monthly cadence and editorial features such as Drawing of the Day and Book of the Week driving repeat engagement.
The app is positioned for adult consumers seeking mindful creativity, stress relief, and a screen-time alternative to passive scrolling. Lake monetizes through a freemium model: free download with a starter pack, a free trial, and tiered subscriptions priced at $2.99 weekly, $9.99 monthly, $39.99 and $59.99 yearly, plus a $29.99 Lake Premium SKU and one-off book purchases. Part of each subscription is shared with the contributing illustrator under a monthly marketplace payout, making Lake both a consumer subscription app and a two-sided artist marketplace. Distribution and growth are anchored by Apple App Store editorial recognition (Apple Design Award 2017, Best of 2017, ongoing Editors' Choice) and a content-led community program across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and a Ghost-hosted Lake Stories blog.
The company appears to be founder-owned and bootstrapped, with no disclosed external funding rounds, investors, or M&A activity. Headcount has grown from the founding team to roughly 13 named staff, including co-founders Goran Ivašič (CEO) and Anja Renko (CCO). Geographic reach is global via the App Store, with explicit localization in 11 languages and operating presence across North America, the UK, Continental Europe, APAC, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
Lake firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lake
- Legal name
- Lake d.o.o.
- Website
- https://lakecoloring.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Lake is a Slovenian iOS-only coloring app offering 1,500+ curated illustrations by 100+ independent artists, monetizing adult consumers globally via freemium subscriptions on the Apple App Store.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lake industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Coloring App
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Mobile Music Creation Apps (Beatmaking, Songwriting, Practice) (MPAIAIAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Cover Design, Illustration & Book Interior Design Services (MPAJAJAH)
Keywords
Where Lake is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Kranj
- HQ country
- Slovenia
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Lake business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Subscription (recurring): Multiple recurring subscription tiers offered via Apple App Store: Weekly ($2.99), Monthly ($9.99), Yearly ($39.99), and Lake Premium ($29.99) and a higher Yearly tier ($59.99). Subscriptions unlock the full library of 1500+ illustrations and 100+ artists. Part of subscription fees is shared with contributing artists.
- Freemium / one-off book purchases: App is free to download with a starter experience (free illustrations and free pack). Users can also make one-time purchases of individual artist coloring books in addition to subscribing.
- Artist revenue share (marketplace model): Lake operates a marketplace model where illustrators receive a paycheck based on book sales and the popularity of their drawings inside the app, taking a revenue share from each user purchase or subscription allocated to that artist.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free download + free starter pack and trial |
| Subscription | Monthly | Lake Weekly Subscription / Weekly subscription — $2.99 |
| Subscription | Monthly | Lake Monthly Subscription / Lake Coloring: Monthly Plan — $9.99 |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Lake Premium — $29.99 |
| Subscription | Annual | Lake Coloring: Yearly Plan — $39.99 |
| Subscription | Annual | Lake Yearly Subscription — $59.99 |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels10 records
Lake product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lake operates a native iOS coloring app that provides access to 1,500+ hand-drawn illustrations from 100+ independent artists, with a multi-tool brush kit, 700+ shade color palette, mood-based palettes, ASMR brush sounds, Apple Pencil Pro integration, iCloud sync, offline coloring, and a built-in mindfulness Coloring Journal. The app is free to download with a starter pack and free trial, with full library access unlocked through recurring subscriptions (Weekly, Monthly, Yearly) and one-off book purchases. A share of subscription revenue is paid directly to contributing artists.
Product overview
Lake operates a single-product platform centered on its flagship iOS app 'Lake: Coloring Book for Adults' for iPhone and iPad. The core app delivers the coloring experience, while revenue and content access are gated through a layered set of subscription add-ons (Lake Premium, Lake Weekly, Lake Monthly, and Lake Yearly plans), an in-app Coloring Journal module, and a curated catalog of artist-published coloring books that is continuously refreshed. Lake's mission is to connect independent illustrators with users seeking mindful creativity, with part of each subscription fee flowing directly to the artists.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Lake: Coloring Book for Adults Native iOS coloring app for iPhone and iPad offering 1,500+ hand-drawn illustrations from 100+ independent artists, an artistic brush set (Pencil, Airbrush, Marker, Smudge, Spray Paint), a 700+ shade Rainbow palette, mood palettes, ASMR brush sounds, Apple Pencil Pro Squeeze and Hover support, iCloud sync, offline mode, in-app video tutorials, and a Coloring Journal for mindfulness. Targeted at adult consumers seeking relaxation, stress relief, and creative expression.
- Lake Premium Premium subscription offering within the Lake app that unlocks the full content library of 1,500+ exclusive drawings from independent artists along with additional tools and features. Part of each subscription is paid out to contributing artists as revenue share.
Quantifiable outcome
- 80K App Store ratings averaging 4.6/5
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Lake
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Lake technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature8 records
Lake partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Apple (Apple Pencil Pro integration)coreDeep technology integration with Apple's iOS platform: Lake adopts Apple Pencil Pro Squeeze and Hover (Apple Pencil Pro and M2/A17 Pro+ iPad support), iOS 26 Liquid Glass design, iCloud sync, and offline-first architecture. Featured in Apple's editorial collections (Apps We Love, Best of 2017, Editors' Choice) and distributed via the Apple App Store.
- SpoonflowerminorCo-marketing partnership announced in October 2017: Lake teamed up with Spoonflower for one of Spoonflower's November design challenges, with a dedicated 'Lake & Spoonflower Coloring Book Design Challenge'. Sixteen winning illustrations were later turned into a Spoonflower coloring pack, enabling fans to bring digital Lake colorings to life on physical fabric/goods (January 2018 follow-up post).
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Lake competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Headspace: Headspace is a subscription meditation and mindfulness app competing with Lake for the same stress-relief and bedtime-routine use case and for the same discretionary consumer subscription spend.
- Calm: Calm is a leading subscription mindfulness and sleep app. Lake competes with Calm for the same adult user time, evening routine, and mental wellness subscription dollars, even though the modality (coloring vs. meditation) differs.
Direct peers
- Color Therapy: Color Therapy is a freemium mobile coloring app positioned around relaxation and mindfulness, directly comparable to Lake in both product format and the wellness-as-routine use case.
- Recolor: Recolor is a subscription-based digital coloring app offering curated coloring books and palettes, overlapping with Lake's premium subscription model and adult-coloring target market on iOS.
- Happy Color: Happy Color is one of the largest ad-supported and freemium digital coloring apps on iOS and Android, directly competing with Lake for adult coloring users through a similar tap-to-fill coloring book experience and large illustration library.
- Pigment - Coloring Book for Adults: Pigment is a premium iOS-first digital coloring app with a subscription model, realistic brush simulation, and curated illustration library, competing head-on with Lake in the adult coloring category.
- Colorfy: Colorfy is a free-to-play digital coloring app for iOS and Android featuring artist-illustrated coloring books, closely mirroring Lake's core product offering and consumer audience.
Emerging players
- Tayasui Sketches: Tayasui Sketches is an iOS drawing app known for realistic brush simulation and a freemium model, with partial overlap to Lake's brush and color picker experience targeted at casual iOS artists.
Broad incumbents
- Adobe Fresco: Adobe Fresco is a cross-platform iPad/iPhone drawing and painting app with Apple Pencil support, part of Adobe's broader Creative Cloud portfolio and a broader-incumbent comparable in the iPad creative-art category.
- Procreate: Procreate is the leading premium iPad illustration app with deep Apple Pencil integration; while aimed at creators rather than casual colorists, it is the established iPad-native creative-art reference point that Lake is benchmarked against.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Lake social profiles
Digital presenceLake financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lake leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
Lake funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lake 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 Lake
What does Lake do?
Lake operates a native iOS coloring app that provides access to 1,500+ hand-drawn illustrations from 100+ independent artists, with a multi-tool brush kit, 700+ shade color palette, mood-based palettes, ASMR brush sounds, Apple Pencil Pro integration, iCloud sync, offline coloring, and a built-in mindfulness Coloring Journal. The app is free to download with a starter pack and free trial, with full library access unlocked through recurring subscriptions (Weekly, Monthly, Yearly) and one-off book purchases. A share of subscription revenue is paid directly to contributing artists.
Is Lake a public or private company?
Lake is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Lake founded?
Lake was founded in 2016. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Lake based?
Lake is headquartered in Kranj, Slovenia, in the Europe region.
How does Lake make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription (recurring) is the primary driver. The others are freemium / one-off book purchases and artist revenue share (marketplace model).
Who are Lake's main competitors?
Others on record are Headspace and Calm. Direct peers are Color Therapy, Recolor, Happy Color, Pigment - Coloring Book for Adults and Colorfy. Tayasui Sketches is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Adobe Fresco and Procreate.
Does Lake have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lake.
What industry is Lake in?
Lake's product category is Digital Coloring App. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAIAIAC, Mobile Music Creation Apps (Beatmaking, Songwriting, Practice), with a secondary code of MPAJAJAH, Cover Design, Illustration & Book Interior Design Services. Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.