Fotonower

What Fotonower does

Fotonower is a Paris-based artificial intelligence and computer vision company founded in 2014, operating as a Société par Actions Simplifiée (SAS) under the legal name FOTONOWER France. The company builds deep learning-based image recognition solutions delivered primarily through a REST API (with a Python SDK called FotonowerConnect) and via bespoke custom AI development. Its product portfolio spans four vertical applications: DeepCycleTri & Recyclage for automated waste sorting and recycling characterization; Estimation de réparation for insurance damage assessment and claims acceleration; Comptage de personne for people counting and crowd monitoring; and a multimodal Instagram search engine that combines computer vision with text metadata to address the documented problem that 61% of hashtagged photos do not visually show the tagged subject. The company also offers custom AI development services for enterprises requiring tailored computer vision solutions.

The company's go-to-market is hybrid: an API-first and self-serve motion (REST API, Python SDK, Instagram search with social login) targets developers, SMBs, and individual users, while an enterprise field-sales motion handles custom AI development and integration engagements under multi-year, quote-based contracts. Revenue streams include usage-based API access, professional services for custom AI, image content licensing, and subscription-based Instagram feed services. The company has a documented enterprise relationship with Veolia (multiple executive testimonials for the Rubbia recycling-characterization service) and is supported institutionally by Bpifrance and Paris & Co. The team is small (approximately 10-15 people), with a CSO and several PhD data scientists listed on the team page.

The company is privately held, discloses no equity funding rounds, and is based at 48 Rue René Clair in Paris's 18th arrondissement, with a registered office at 30 Rue Charlot in the 3rd arrondissement. No patents, certifications, regulatory actions, mergers, acquisitions, or material leadership changes are disclosed in the available source material.

Name

Fotonower

Legal name

FOTONOWER France

Website

https://fotonower.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Fotonower is a Paris-based AI company that builds computer vision and image recognition solutions for enterprise and SMB customers, including waste sorting, insurance damage assessment, people counting, and Instagram content discovery, delivered via REST API and custom development.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Computer Vision and Image Recognition Software

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210), Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs) (HDAEANAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

AI/ML Engineering & Model Development Services (BPAEAHAF), OCR, ICR & Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) (BPAAAKAB), Claims Management & Digital FNOL Platforms (FSAGAGAC)

Keywords

• Computer vision services
• Image recognition software
• Deep learning API
• Custom AI development
• Visual content analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. API Access & Usage: REST API services providing deep learning and computer vision capabilities to businesses that integrate Fotonower's technology into their applications
2. Custom AI Development: Besoke AI development services where Fotonower's experts build custom intelligence according to specific business needs
3. Image Content Licensing: Platform for licensing photographs from social media, with non-exclusive, worldwide licenses for promotional, commercial, editorial, and personal use
4. Instagram Feed Services: Curated Instagram feeds and content search services for businesses

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Fotonower develops and delivers AI-based image recognition and computer vision services for businesses, accessible via a REST API and a Python SDK. It offers domain-specific solutions for waste sorting/recycling characterization, insurance damage assessment, and people counting, as well as an Instagram content search engine for media publishers. In addition, it provides bespoke AI development services built by its data scientists to client specification.

Product overview

Fotonower is an AI and image recognition company that offers a suite of industry-specific computer vision solutions. The portfolio includes DeepCycleTri & Recyclage for automated waste sorting and recycling characterization, Estimation de réparation for insurance damage assessment, Comptage de personne for people counting and crowd monitoring, and an Instagram search engine for content discovery. All services are powered by deep learning neural networks accessible through a REST API, with the additional offering of custom AI development services built to specification.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DeepCycleTri & Recyclage AI-powered waste sorting and recycling characterization service that helps recycling facilities improve performance by automatically identifying and categorizing contaminants in waste streams. Used by enterprise recycling operators (e.g., Veolia) for material characterization and quality assurance.
• Estimation de réparation Insurance-focused image analysis service that enables rapid damage assessment and claim processing by analyzing photos of damage, helping insurers make faster decisions and accelerate compensation. Built on Fotonower's computer vision AI and delivered via API.
• Comptage de personne People counting and crowd monitoring service for measuring foot traffic in retail stores and public spaces, with support for enforcing barrier gestures during pandemics. Provides precise affluence measurement in shops and public venues using computer vision.
• Moteur de recherche Instagram Instagram search engine allowing multi-criteria searches by hashtag, account, and geolocation to discover and curate Instagram content for business purposes. Combines image recognition with text metadata to address the limitation that 61% of hashtagged photos don't actually show the tagged subject. Targeted at media publishers and content creators.
• Intelligence artificielle sur mesure (Custom AI Development) Custom AI development service in which Fotonower's technical experts and data scientists build tailored artificial intelligence solutions based on specific business needs, with implementations integrated via the company's REST API. Aimed at enterprises lacking in-house AI expertise.
• Fotonower REST API & Python SDK (FotonowerConnect) REST API and Python SDK (FotonowerConnect) that allows developers and businesses to send data and receive AI analysis results, integrating deep learning image recognition capabilities into their own applications. Powers all of Fotonower's domain-specific products.

Quantifiable outcome

• 61% of photos tagged with a hashtag don't actually show the tagged subject - visual AI addresses this limitation

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Paris & CominorOthersParis-based business incubator and innovation support organization. Listed in the 'Ils nous soutiennent' section.
• VSauceminorOthersEducational entertainment content creator. Logo appears in 'Ils nous soutiennent' section - nature of support unclear.
• InstagramcoreTechnology or IntegrationInstagram is a core platform partner - Fotonower provides Instagram search engine and feed creation services that depend on Instagram's platform and data.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Clarifai: US-based computer vision platform offering image recognition APIs and custom model training. Direct competitor to Fotonower's REST API + custom AI development offering across enterprise CV use cases.
• Deepomatic: French visual AI company providing image-recognition solutions for industries including waste sorting and retail. Comparable French origin, vertical SaaS positioning, and CV-for-industrial use cases overlaps directly with Fotonower's DeepCycleTri and people-counting products.
• Imagga: Image recognition API platform offering tagging, categorization, and visual search. Closely comparable to Fotonower's developer-facing REST API/SDK delivery model for image analysis.
• CloudSight: Visual recognition API service providing image captioning and product recognition. Direct comparable to Fotonower's API-based image analysis for business applications.

Others

• Veolia (as customer/ecosystem reference): Veolia is Fotonower's most prominent reference customer in waste-sorting CV, not a competitor, but functions as an ecosystem anchor whose deployment patterns signal the addressable enterprise design-partner motion.

Emerging players

• Hive AI: AI-as-a-service company offering pre-trained models for image and text understanding via API. Comparable API-first delivery model and use-case breadth across content moderation, brand recognition, and visual search.
• Roboflow: Developer-focused computer vision platform for building and deploying custom models. Comparable to Fotonower in targeting developers with tooling, SDKs, and training workflows for CV use cases.

Broad incumbents

• Azure Computer Vision: Microsoft's CV API for image analysis, OCR, and spatial analysis. Competes in the same enterprise CV API market as Fotonower, with the advantage of Microsoft enterprise distribution.
• AWS Rekognition: Amazon's managed computer vision service for image/video analysis. Broad incumbent alternative to Fotonower's API-first CV offering, especially for enterprise customers already on AWS.
• Google Cloud Vision AI: Hyperscaler CV API offering label detection, OCR, and custom model training as part of a much broader AI/ML portfolio. Competes with Fotonower on price, scale, and model breadth for any CV workload.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fotonower
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fotonower

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

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 Fotonower