Envato founders have sold the business to Shutterstock, the largest stock photography in the world for $372 million in cash.
👉 Background: Envato is the tech platform that was founded back in 2006 by a husband and wife duo in their Bondi garage. Envato gives customers access to a whole range of creative assets. Think: stock photos, graphic design templates, audio and even fonts.
👉 What happened: After 17 years and 2 million annual customers, the founders have sold the business to Shutterstock, the largest stock photography in the world for $372 million in cash.
👉 What else: This is a very good outcome for the founders since they actually owned the entire business. Yep, they never took external funding, unlike many of their tech contemporaries.
💡Bootstrapping a business is the process of building a business without external capital. This enables founders to shape successful businesses and exit on their own terms.
💡Envato generated nearly $29 million in net profit last financial year - and without external investors, they were able to choose their own path. The company became a B-corp, and even shared their annual profits with their staff.
💡So while the route to growth may be slower, the bootstrapped business offered the founders a chance to maintain autonomy and reap larger rewards in the long run.
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