Four months after closing a $13 million series B from Visual China Group (VCG) to expand into the Chinese market, 500px officially announced its expansion with a new portal, 500px.me.
With half a billion Chinese internet users, 500px CEO Andy Yang believes that opening in the Chinese market can only help the company add to its existing base of six million users.
“China presents a huge market opportunity for 500px for both growing our user base and licensing business,” said Yang. “VCG already has a tremendous footprint in China, with over 15,000 licensing customers and leads the market in image distribution. Together we are committed to investing in 500px.me to make it a world-class community for local photographers.”
VCG, which has 15 years of experience in licensing photos and managing copyrights in the Chinese market, is acting as a distribution partner for 500px in the region. Through a master delegate agreement, VCG will have exclusive rights to license a selection of 500px’s marketplace images in China, and 500px.me is owned and operated through a joint venture between the two companies.
