Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 20, 2026

123RF

123RF is a company that sells stock photography, stock footage, and stock music. The two co-founders are Andy Sitt and Stephanie Sitt, who is the current CEO.

Last revised
Jul 20, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
582 w
Citations
15
Source
Wikipedia ↗
123RF
TypePrivate
IndustryStock photography, stock footage, stock music
Founded3 April 2005 (2005-04-03)
FounderAndy Sitt, Stephanie Sitt
FateActive
Headquarters
Selangor, Malaysia
Number of employees
350 (2015)
ParentInmagine Group
Websitewww.123rf.com Edit this at Wikidata

123RF is a company that sells stock photography, stock footage, and stock music. The two co-founders are Andy Sitt and Stephanie Sitt, who is the current CEO.1

History

In 2000, 123RF Andy Sitt left his job at a British company that sold stock images in CDs while showing customers printed catalogs. He launched an e-commerce business by setting up Inmagine, selling large-format photo prints.

In 2005, Inmagine set up 123RF, which sells royalty-free stock images, videos, and audio clips. Unlike the previous business model, 123RF allows photographers to sell their work on the platform under a crowdsourcing model.2

In 2011, Inmagine established a global presence with 44 regional offices worldwide.3 Offices were founded in North and Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Australasia.4

In 2019, Inmagine reorganized its business into three main products: 123RF, Pixlr, and Designs.ai. The launching of Pixlr Market (now Stock by Pixlr) and Pixlr Editor commences.5

In 2020, the company launched its first artificial intelligence platform, Inmagine Brain.6 In November 2020, the company confirmed that it had been subject to a data breach, with 8.3 million customer records available for sale on the dark web.7

Through 123RF, Inmagine created a visual guide in 2021 to predict image search trends.8

In June 2022, the company launched a free images section where audiences can download images with a limited amount of daily downloads.9

In April 2026, 123RF launched Sphere, a platform described by the company as a "creative operating system" combining campaign planning, asset production, and publishing for marketing teams and agencies.1011

Acquisitions

In March 2017, 123RF acquired TheHungryJPEG, a UK-registered font and graphics marketplace and its sister company Craftbundles for an undisclosed sum.1213

In April 2017, 123RF acquired Pixlr, an online web-based image editor from Autodesk for an undisclosed sum.14

In November 2017, 123RF acquired Vectr, a web-based vector editor and Story & Heart, a video education platform.15

References

References

  1. Tan, Tee May (11 October 2017). "5 Of The Most Common Startup Pain Points—Solved By This M'sian Startup Worth US$220 Mil". Vulcan Post. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  2. "How Malaysian husband and wife bootstrapped one of the world's top stock image players". Tech in Asia.
  3. Administrator, Systems. "Inmagine – About". Inmagine. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  4. Administrator, Systems. "Inmagine – Contact". Inmagine. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  5. "This company makes content production easier with AI: Q&A with Designs.ai CEO Warren Leow". KrASIA. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  6. Editorial (1 May 2022). "Inmagine Evolved From A Digital Stock Photo Library To A Complete Creative Ecosystem Driven By Creativity, Technology, And Entrepreneurship". Tech Company News. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  7. "Popular stock photo service hit by data breach, 8.3M records for sale". BleepingComputer. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  8. "123RF's visual guide to image search trends and colours in 2021". www.marketing-interactive.com. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  9. "Free Stock Photos and Images – Download free images for free!". 123RF Stock Photos. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  10. Tarre, Mark (10 April 2026). "123RF launches Sphere AI platform for Malaysian marketers". ITBrief Asia. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  11. "Sphere by 123RF". 123RF. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  12. "Malaysian stock photo startup 123RF acquires TheHungry.JPEG to grow design resources globally". e27..
  13. "123RF acquires design marketplace TheHungryJPEG". www.dealstreetasia.com. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  14. "123RF acquires Pixlr, looking towards securing 50M monthly active users". e27.
  15. "Malaysia: Digital stock media firm Inmagine Group buys two US companies". www.dealstreetasia.com. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
External links