Foreground Launches as a New Umbrella Entity That Harnesses the Power of Photography with ShootProof and Collage
Backed by PSG, Foreground to serve as a dynamic marketplace for special moments; empowering photo consumers and photographers to create memories that last.
ATLANTA — Today, Foreground officially enters into the nearly $4 billion consumer and professional photography industry, as an exciting new player that brings together industry veterans and technology leaders in the "age of the creator."
Igniting new synergies between category pillars, Foreground was created by ShootProof - a leader in software, purchasing, education, and productivity solutions for professional photographers – to connect like-minded enterprises and e-commerce sites like Collage that offers photo prints and custom gifts. As a comprehensive, one-stop marketplace, Foreground will continue to scale a full suite of complementing products and services that seek to meet the needs of consumers and photographers alike, including Táve, Design Aglow and more.
"Foreground harnesses the evolution of the category, marrying the business needs of the professional photographer with current and large-scale knowledge of consumer behavior," noted CEO of Foreground, Stephen Marshall. "We can leverage our understanding of consumers on the Collage side to help photographers become more efficient and profitable, while fostering lifelong client relationships, from shoot to print and beyond."
The leaders at Collage are also looking forward to a more seamless connection with the photographer community. "This fits our vision of an ideal photo experience," added Kevin Borders, co-founder of Collage. "We are excited to help photographers and consumers create lasting memories with unprecedented ease and delight."
The creation of Foreground is backed by PSG, a leading growth equity firm that focuses on partnering with middle-market software and technology-enabled service companies. Vista Point Advisors, a San Francisco based boutique investment bank, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Collage.com
"We believe Foreground is revolutionizing the highly fragmented market for photography industry solutions and making it easier than ever for photographers to access the tools they need to start, run and grow their businesses," noted Matt Stone, Managing Director at PSG and Chris Nesbitt, Principal at PSG. "We're thrilled to continue working alongside Stephen and the rest of the Foreground team as they grow and evolve the platform to empower more photographers globally."
With 85 combined years of experience with professional photography clients and photo products, Foreground's leadership team has a deep understanding of the category. ShootProof and Collage together generate over 40 million site visits per year, and both entities have yielded significant market research on photographers and photo consumers. On the professional photography side, ShootProof's client surveys have shown that 91% of photographers believe their clients are printing photos outside of their services. Seventy percent said it was extremely or very important to enable their clients to instantly visualize photos in products as part of a purchasing experience.
"Our professional photographers network represents hundreds of thousands of small businesses, the large majority of which are women owned and operated," added Marshall. "We are enabling the discovery of these small businesses by consumers, helping them grow and scale their photography business into a rewarding livelihood."
On the photo consumer side, a qualitative perception audit of general consumers revealed significant frustration around the volume of one's photo content and lack of order or physical documentation. Most consumers engaged in multiple downloads and uploads – on several platforms – to convert a professional photo to a product.
"We are generating an unprecedented amount of images, photos, and pictures but we need to consider how that's being shared for generations. Current siloed systems are enabling the virtual equivalent of that dusty shoebox of photos in the attic," added Marshall. "The pandemic year taught us the importance of 'the moment' and the desire for creative expression. Pun intended; we need to keep those values in the foreground."
About Foreground
Foreground helps photographers and photo consumers create memories that last a lifetime. The company is strategically placed in the $4 billion consumer product and professional photography space by uniting industry veterans and technology leaders in the category. The company brings expertise from leading brands like ShootProof, Collage, Táve, Design Aglow and Cole's Classroom to create an innovative product suite. For more information on Foreground, visit https://foreground.co/.
About PSG
PSG is a growth equity firm that partners with middle-market software and technology-enabled services companies to help them navigate transformational growth, capitalize on strategic opportunities and build strong teams. Having backed more than 65 companies and facilitated over 300 add-on acquisitions, PSG brings extensive investment experience, deep expertise in software and technology, and a firm commitment to collaborating with management teams. Founded in 2014, PSG operates out of offices in Boston, Kansas City and London. To learn more about PSG, visit www.psgequity.com.