ARTPOWER.io

What ARTPOWER.io does

ARTPOWER, Inc. is a privately held, mission-driven organization founded by janera solomon and headquartered at 4925 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA, with terms of use governed by the State of New York. The company builds tortoise, a financial, productivity, and wellness application available as a free mobile app and web platform, designed exclusively for independent working artists. tortoise's feature set includes a Rate Calculator that combines real-world data from the Living Wage Institute with user-specific financial inputs (monthly personal and business expenses, zip code, available hours, experience level, project factors, and an Abundance factor for savings and rest) to produce sustainable hourly, daily, weekly, or flat rates; flexible budgeting tools with savings goals and spending caps; a Planning feature that surfaces templated plans from other artists; and a curated Resources and Community hub.

Technically, tortoise relies on Plaid for read-only financial account aggregation and Auth0 for identity and authentication (including Google and Apple social login), and ARTPOWER explicitly states it does not store users' financial account information. The application is distributed as a self-serve product with no sales motion, and the underlying technology stack beyond these integrations is not disclosed in source materials.

ARTPOWER currently operates a freemium model with no paid tiers, premium features, advertising, marketplace take rate, or any other monetization mechanism disclosed. Go-to-market combines community-led engagement (a monthly ARTPOWER Podcast hosted by the founder, live events including Rate Calculator demos in partnership with the Living Wage Institute) with product-led growth via self-serve mobile and web signup. The company has received early grant funding from the Mellon Foundation, and partners with field advisors at Chicago Arts Census, Guilded, and The Field, plus technology partners (Plaid, Auth0) and project collaborators (Instrument, ENSO, Varyer, Commonwealth, Rowhome Productions). The customer base is exclusively individual independent artists; no enterprise customers, paid contracts, ARR figures, or revenue disclosures are available in source materials.

Name

ARTPOWER.io

Legal name

ARTPOWER, Inc.

Website

https://artpower.io

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ARTPOWER is a Pittsburgh-based organization building tortoise, a free financial app for independent artists. The platform combines a Rate Calculator using Living Wage Institute data with budgeting, planning, and community tools. Growth is community-led, supported by Mellon Foundation grant funding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Personal Finance Software for Independent Artists

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Software Publishers (513210), Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (71151)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Visual Arts (Drawing, Painting, Illustration) (EDAAAGAA)

Keywords

• Financial planning software
• Artist financial wellness
• Freelancer budgeting tools
• Rate calculator app
• Creative industry fintech

Headquarters

HQ city

Pittsburgh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Free Platform (Current): tortoise is currently free to use for artists. No revenue model details or monetization strategy were publicly disclosed in the source materials. The company has received early investment from the Mellon Foundation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ARTPOWER builds tortoise, a financial, productivity, and wellness application made specifically for independent artists. The app provides a Rate Calculator powered by Living Wage Institute data, flexible budgeting and savings tools, a planning feature with examples from other artists, and access to curated resources and a community of working artists. The platform is available as a free mobile app and web application.

Product overview

ARTPOWER is building tortoise, a unified financial platform designed specifically for independent artists. The primary product is the tortoise app (available on mobile and web), which integrates flexible budgeting, a Rate Calculator powered by Living Wage Institute data, a Planning feature with example workflows, and a community/resources hub. ARTPOWER also produces the ARTPOWER Podcast (monthly conversations on artist financial journeys) and hosts live events and demos. tortoise is positioned as the only financial app made by artists, for artists, and is free to use.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• tortoise: A digital financial platform with tools, resources, and community support designed to help artists build an abundant creative and financial life. Features include rate calculator, flexible budgeting, savings goals, and planning tools.

Products and services

• tortoise A free financial, productivity, and wellness application built specifically for independent artists, providing a Rate Calculator (powered by Living Wage Institute data), flexible budgeting and savings tools, a planning feature with example plans from peers, and a curated resources and community hub. Available as a mobile app and web application with self-serve sign-up via email, Google, or Apple login.
• ARTPOWER Podcast A monthly podcast hosted by janera solomon featuring conversations that explore the under-explored financial journeys of independent working artists, examining the balance between nurturing creativity and finding financial stability.
• ARTPOWER Events Live, interactive conversations and events hosted by ARTPOWER exploring the emotional, economic, and creative conditions shaping artists' lives, frequently featuring demonstrations of tortoise tools (e.g., the Rate Calculator) in partnership with organizations such as The Living Wage Institute.

Quantifiable outcome

• Artists can set rates that reflect their real costs including labor, time, creative life expenses, and project-specific factors
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Chicago Arts CensuscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerField advisor partner. Kate Bowen, Lead Organizer of Chicago Arts Census and Executive Director of ACRE, serves as a field advisor. ARTPOWER works alongside Chicago Arts Census to serve artist communities.
• GuildedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerField advisor partner. Janelle Pagulayan, Director of Operations at Guilded Freelancer Cooperative, serves as a field advisor. Guilded is a freelancer cooperative working with ARTPOWER on artist support.
• The FieldcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerField advisor partner. Shawn Rene-Graham, Deputy Director of Programs and Services at The Field, serves as a field advisor. ARTPOWER collaborates with The Field to support working artists.
• Living Wage InstitutecoreTechnology or IntegrationData partner. Kavya Vaghul, co-founder and CPO of The Living Wage Institute, co-facilitates events with ARTPOWER. The tortoise Rate Calculator integrates real-world living wage data from the Living Wage Institute to help artists set sustainable rates.
• InstrumentminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner listed on the ARTPOWER team page. Nature of collaboration not detailed in available source materials.
• ENSOminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner listed on the ARTPOWER team page. Nature of collaboration not detailed in available source materials.
• VaryerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner listed on the ARTPOWER team page. Nature of collaboration not detailed in available source materials.
• CommonwealthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner listed on the ARTPOWER team page. Nature of collaboration not detailed in available source materials.
• Rowhome ProductionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner listed on the ARTPOWER team page. Nature of collaboration not detailed in available source materials.
• PlaidcoreTechnology or IntegrationFinancial data aggregation service. tortoise uses Plaid to securely connect to users' financial accounts for balance and transaction data. ARTPOWER does not store financial account information and never will.
• Auth0coreTechnology or IntegrationIdentity management provider. tortoise uses Auth0 for user authentication, including email/password signup and social login options (Google, Apple).

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Wave Financial: Wave offers free and low-cost accounting, invoicing, and personal/finance tools for small businesses and freelancers. Its free-tier positioning and freelancer focus make it a broad incumbent alternative to tortoise's free personal-finance app for creatives.
• YNAB (You Need A Budget): YNAB is a popular personal budgeting app used by individuals and freelancers, including creative workers, to manage income and savings goals. It overlaps with tortoise's budgeting and savings-goal capabilities, though it is not artist-specific.
• QuickBooks Self-Employed: QuickBooks Self-Employed by Intuit is a mainstream freelance and self-employed finance product covering income/expense tracking, mileage, taxes, and invoicing. As a scaled incumbent, it competes with tortoise for the same independent-creator budgeting and rate-management needs.
• FreshBooks: FreshBooks is a cloud accounting and invoicing platform widely used by creative professionals (designers, photographers, consultants). Its freelancer/creative vertical and rate/invoicing features position it as a scaled incumbent adjacent to tortoise.

Direct peers

• Found: Found is a banking and business-accounting app designed for self-employed individuals and freelancers, including expense tracking, tax tools, and income management. It competes directly with tortoise for the same 'independent worker managing personal + business finances' use case.
• Karat Financial: Karat is a financial platform built specifically for creators and online businesses, offering banking, credit cards, and tax tools. It is the closest direct competitor to ARTPOWER's tortoise: a verticalized personal-finance product for the creator economy.
• Bonsai: Bonsai is an all-in-one business platform for freelancers and creatives, offering contracts, proposals, invoicing, time tracking, and tax/expense tools. It addresses the same 'freelance creative managing a one-person business' pain points that tortoise targets.
• HoneyBook: HoneyBook is a client-flow and business-management platform built for creative freelancers (photographers, designers, event pros). Its focus on creative professionals and integrated workflow tools makes it a relevant peer to tortoise's artist-focused financial platform.
• Lili: Lili is a banking and financial app tailored to freelancers and solo workers, with features like income tracking, tax savings, and spending insights. It overlaps with tortoise's budgeting, rate/expense planning, and freelancer-target customer base.

Emerging players

• Copilot Money: Copilot is a modern personal-finance and budgeting iOS/web app with subscription tiers, transaction categorization, and savings tracking. It is an emerging player in the consumer finance app space targeting design-conscious users, comparable in form factor to tortoise.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/artpower-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 ARTPOWER.io