Phanfare
Display your photos and videos online..
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
$2.0m | Acquisition | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Phanfare, Inc. was established in November 2004 by founders Andrew Erlichson and Mark Heinrich. The company launched a subscription-based online service for photo and video sharing, targeting prosumers and serious amateur photographers who required archival-quality storage. Its business model was centered on providing an ad-free, secure platform where users paid for storage and sharing, contrasting with the free, ad-supported services prevalent at the time. Revenue was generated through subscriptions, including a notable lifetime membership for a one-time fee.
The core service allowed users to upload, store, and share full-resolution digital photos and videos. Phanfare provided a dedicated desktop application for Windows and Mac, called Phanfare Photo, which facilitated background uploads while users organized and edited their content. The platform supported various image and video formats, including JPEG, PSD, AVI, QuickTime, and WMV. A key feature was the use of Amazon S3 for backend storage, ensuring users could retrieve their original, high-quality files as a backup. Each user received a unique URL for their galleries, which could be shared with friends and family without requiring them to register. The service also included an iPhone app, Phanfare Photon, for mobile uploads and viewing.
A significant milestone was the company's acquisition by the online backup service Carbonite on June 6, 2011. Following the acquisition, Carbonite controversially decided not to honor the lifetime memberships sold by Phanfare. Founder Andrew Erlichson, who had served as CEO, left Carbonite in May 2012, one year after the acquisition. The Phanfare service continued to operate under Carbonite for several years until it was ultimately shut down on May 28, 2017.
Keywords: Phanfare, photo sharing, video sharing, digital asset management, online storage, archival photos, subscription service, Andrew Erlichson, Mark Heinrich, Carbonite acquisition, prosumer photography, online backup, Phanfare Photo, Amazon S3, digital media service, photo synchronization, video hosting, media retention, lifetime membership