PhotoAid is a Polish software development company based in Białystok, Poland, founded in 2012 (as FunFotos). It develops applications that take and process biometric photographs, and manufactures photo booths. As of April 2022, the company provided services in over 80 countries.
In March 2023, PhotoAid was included in on the "FT 1000," the Financial Times''' list of fastest-growing companies in Europe.
History
Photo-booth network
In 2012, brothers Marcin (b. 1984), Rafał (b. 1982), and Tomasz (b. 1986) Młodzki, students of law, computer science, and philosophy, already running an educational website for learning foreign languages Fiszkoteka, founded FunFotos, to manufacture photo booths and manage a network of the devices. First FunFotos booths that Młodzkis built in the family garage, had proprietary software and were used only for taking souvenir photos.
In 2015, when the Młodzki brothers had around 70 photo booths in shopping malls, amusement parks, and cinema multiplexes across Poland, a venture capital fund Inovo Venture Partners invested PLN 1.3 million in the company.
In 2016, FunFotos started to build a network of photo booths that enabled taking biometric photos adapted to official identity documents: biometric passports, ID cards, driver's licenses, registration cards, travel visas, as well as the Karta Polaka (Pole's Card), and other residence permits. The company placed its photo booths in local government offices and passport offices. In 2017, it launched the first stationary photo point under the brand FotoExpress.
In 2018, the company had 130 photo booths for taking biometric passport photos. In 2019, the network had over 180 devices across Poland, and a local printing point in Boston. FunFotos had PLN 4 million in revenues and PLN 600,000 in net income. At the time, the work began on a web service adapted to edit photos taken with smartphones for the use in documents. In November 2019, a demo version of the Android app was released.
Pivot to applications
In 2020, FunFotos employed 18 people. In February 2020, the Młodzkis bought back Inovo's shares of the company. In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they decided to focus on developing a photo software-as-a-service based on a mobile app, while hibernating the photo booth business for the duration of the pandemic. In cooperation with the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Mechanics of the University of Warsaw, the company developed a set of algorithms allowing recognition of specific features in photographs of people, followed by the automatic verification and correction. As a result, the company has transformed from an analog to digital business operating online around the world.
In August 2020, FunFotos launched two mobile applications PhotoAid and Passport Photo Online, allowing users to take photos for official documents with a mobile phone camera. The software for creating photos for ID cards was co-financed by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development.
In 2021, the company changed its name to PhotoAid, and in April 2021, it registered its trademark at the European Union Intellectual Property Office. In July 2021, the app was used in 90 countries. In September 2021, the company received PLN 2 million in another round of investment financing. In December 2021, it was transformed into a joint-stock company. In 2022, it had over 130 people on board.
Software
In a selfie uploaded to the PhotoAid mobile app, the artificial-intelligence algorithms detect a face, crop the image, and turn the background into a solid white, transforming the file into a passport photo – adjusting the size and lighting, in accordance with regulatory requirements in over 13 countries. Immediately after uploading the photo, the AI is able to verify and mark it correct or incorrect. The app converts a photo in three seconds. Images processed and scaled to passport and visa photos go through a double-match test: by the software itself, and by an expert.
In 2022, the app was used by over 11.5 million users, for over 10,000 types of documents in over 150 countries.
Social involvement
In June 2021, under the honorary patronage of the Ministry of Development, Labor and Technology, PhotoAid carried out a campaign “Kreuj obraz zawodowy” (Create Your Professional Image), enabling free use of the professional photo creator for CVs on its platforms. Throughout 2021, PhotoAid carried out social campaigns towards commune offices, seniors, and primary school students, taking ID photos as part of the state digital-document app mObywatel.