Germany’s EyeEm files for bankruptcy

Business Insider in Germany reports the once high-flying stock photography startup EyeEm has filed for bankruptcy. Launched in 2011, EyeEm once boasted tens of millions of users and photographers, who used the service to market their stock photos.

By 2020, however, the platform was losing momentum and restructured. Three of the founders –Florian Meissner, Lorenz Aschoff and Gen Sadakane – left the business as a new CEO Simon Cox came aboard, joining the lone remaining founder, Ramzi Rizk.

Six months later, the shareholders sold the company to the listed Swiss investment company New Value, which has been trading as Talenthouse AG since the end of 2021. According to the Business Insider report, stock market documents showed Talenthouse AG paid 40 million US dollars (equivalent to 37 million euros) for Eyeem, but a few months later only valued the platform at a single-digit million amount.

Now, there are also reports online that photographers who offered their work on the Berlin company’s website were not paid out.

According to Business Insider, Talenthouse’s stock market price has almost completely collapsed since a high in the summer of 2021.