ImageQuix announces acquisition of Skylab photo processing service

ImageQuix, a provider of workflow and e-commerce software for the high-volume photography industry, continued its acquisition spree with the acquisition of Skylab, an innovative photo processing service that makes high-quality retouching accessible to anyone in the world. This acquisition follows closely the recent announcement of the addition of Fotomerchant to the ImageQuix portfolio.

Founded by photographer TJ Rak and machine learning expert Alireza Shafaei, PhD in 2018, Skylab has enabled users across the globe with professional-quality photo retouching capabilities — processing 125 million images and counting to date. In 2021, the Dead Pixels Society podcast featured Rak as a guest; listen below:

“After working in close partnership with TJ, Alireza, and the Skylab team since 2020, we are delighted to officially welcome them to our growing portfolio of industry-leading software solutions for photographers,” said Alex Kovacevic, CEO of ImageQuix. “Skylab’s focus on developing innovative technology in an intuitive and user-friendly way is unmatched and will provide immense value to all of our customers moving forward.”

“When Alireza and I met while he was in the University of British Columbia Computer Science PhD program, I knew that my background in high-volume photography and his brilliance in machine learning would lead to great things,” said Rak, CEO and co-founder of Skylab. “I’m so proud of the work we’ve done to develop a tool that’s affordable, accessible, and reduces production time by 90% — saving photographers of all skill levels invaluable time. Having worked closely with Tim, Alex, and the ImageQuix team, I’m energized by what we will be able to accomplish together.”

“Along with the recent acquisition of Fotomerchant, this latest addition to the ImageQuix portfolio of photography software solutions is a win-win-win for high-volume photographers everywhere,” said Mayur Desai, managing director at Charlesbank Capital Partners, which acquired ImageQuix  in October.”The combination of expertise, innovation, and resources across ImageQuix, Fotomerchant, and now Skylab will empower studios with unmatched solutions and services to drive improved efficiency and greater revenue.”

Since establishing its headquarters in Raleigh, NC, in 2018, ImageQuix has experienced 10x growth in employees and 20x growth in revenue as a result of steady year-over-year organic growth complemented by strategic growth via mergers and acquisitions, the company said. Approximately 60 percent of employees are based in the North Carolina headquarters with the remaining 40 percent distributed across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. ImageQuix provides end-to-end workflow management and e-commerce solutions to professional photographers.