Booststrapping for success with Joaquin Cuenca Abela, Freepik Company

 

Gary Pageau of the Dead Pixels Society talks with Joaquin Cuenca Abela, one of the founders of Europe’s fast-growing graphics company, Freepik Company.  Based in Spain, Freepik was founded in 2010 by brothers Alejandro and Pablo Blanes, along with their friend Joaquín Cuenca Abela, founder of Panoramio (acquired by Google).

Abela talks about how the company grew from a bootstrapped free online resource for finding graphics to a full-fledged subscription service that recently topped 500,000 subscribers. The company has 400 employees.  In May 2020, the Swedish investment fund EQT acquired a majority stake in Freepik Co., making this operation one of the largest exits in the Spanish market. Freepik Co. also stands out in its immediate geographic area since it is one of the precursors of “Technological Malaga”, the city where it is headquartered.