Shutterstock acquires Pond5 video marketplace

GaryPageau

Shutterstock, Inc. announced the acquisition of Pond5, the large video-first content marketplace for filmmakers, media organizations, and marketers worldwide for $210 million cash. Pond5 is a leading online marketplace for royalty-free and editorial video, with customers including Netflix, Disney, NBC, BBC, Discovery Channel and The Wall Street Journal. Pond5’s comprehensive collection includes 30 million licensable video clips, 1.6 million music tracks and 1.7 million sound effects assets.

This acquisition solidifies Shutterstock’s position as the premium destination for its global customer community for unique access to editorial content, video footage, and music, the company said. Integrated with Shutterstock’s workflow applications, this expansive content library enables Shutterstock’s global customer community to create with confidence, and provides value to Pond5’s 115K+ contributors, by expanding the distribution of their content to new regions and customers.

Since its inception in 2006, Pond5 has built an expanding contributor network of over 115,000 active contributors across 180 countries, who upload over 2.5 million assets each month. Additionally, Pond5’s premium editorial content partners, such as Reuters, PA Media and British Movietone, will provide Shutterstock’s global customer community access to up-to-the-minute and archival news footage.

“The acquisition of Pond5 provides immense value for our global customer base, with unparalleled access to one of the largest collections of editorial and commercial video content in the world,” said Jon Oringer, Interim Chief Executive Officer at Shutterstock. “Our contributors will also benefit from having their work showcased on Pond5’s platform, expanding their portfolio to new customers.”