 | |
| Type of business | Public |
|---|---|
Type of site | Social network service |
| Available in | English, Spanish, French, German, Turkish, Russian, Portuguese |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Owner | Talenthouse AG |
| Key people |
Roman Scharf, Co-Founder Clare McKeeve, CEO Maya Bogle, Co-Founder, MD London |
| URL | www.talenthouse.com |
| Registration | Required (to post/participate) |
| Users | 3.2 million users |
| Launched | June 2009 |
| Current status | Inactive |
Talenthouse was a social network site owned by Talenthouse AG, a public company based in Switzerland that also owns other services including EyeEm, Ello, Jovoto, Zoopa, and Creative Commission.
History
Talenthouse was co-founded in 2009 by Co-CEOs Amos Pizzey and Roman Scharf. [1] The Talenthouse headquarters were originally located in Los Angeles, California, USA with offices in New York City and London.
In December 2019, Talenthouse was merged along with Ello and Zooppa into a new company named TLNT Holdings. [2]
On 25 May 2021, investment company New Value AG acquired TLNT Holdings, Talenthouse, EyeEm, and Jovoto. [3]
On 24 November 2021, New Value AG changed its name to Talenthouse AG [4]
In March 2022, Talenthouse AG listed shares on the SIX Swiss Exchange. [5]
Funding
As of May 2012, Talenthouse had received $15.1 million of funding to date with a recently closed $4.2 million Series B round. [6] Investors include Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors, Reliance Entertainment, [7] 3TS Cisco Growth Fund, Brett Ratner, Jean Pigozzi and Estée Lauder chairman William P. Lauder.
On May 20, 2014, the company announced securing a $10 Million Series C Funding round with investors Dave Stewart and Gerard Butler [8]
In March 2019, Animoca invested US$2 million for 448,413 shares of preferred stock in Talenthouse. [9]
Acquisitions
In 2018, Talenthouse acquired the social network Ello for an undisclosed amount. [10]
In June 2021, Talenthouse acquired EyeEm for close to $40 million. [5]
In April 2022, it was announced Talenthouse had acquired the London-headquartered creative hiring platform, Creative Commission. [11]
Recognition
In May 2012, Talenthouse was named a Winner of the Red Herring Top 100 Award. [12]
Controversy
In February 2023, many creatives who had worked for Talenthouse came forward to reveal that they had not been paid for the work they had done. Roman Scharf, the co-founder of Talenthouse and chairman of the board, said: "We are extremely sorry for this unacceptable delay in payments and any inconvenience and upset it has caused. We take this matter extremely seriously and are working on a long-term robust solution that will benefit all Talenthouse creatives. This solution is well advanced and we plan to announce it soon." Whilst some clients have since paid artists directly, as of February 2023 the issue is believed to be ongoing with numerous artists working for other clients still owed money. [13]
As of July 2023 Talenthouse is going through financial restructuring and seeking outside investors. [14] Currently the Talenthouse website is unavailable and other sites hosted and maintained by Talenthouse like Ello.co are also unreachable. No comments have been made by Talenthouse on the status or the future of the company, its websites or the content people had stored on their platforms.
References
- ^ "Jajah Co-Founder Leads Launch Of Talenthouse - A Social Network For Artists". Jajah Co-Founder Leads Launch Of Talenthouse - A Social Network For Artists. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ Glenday, John (3 Dec 2019). "Ello, Talenthouse and Zooppa merge forging a giant creative agency". The Drum. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
- ^ "NEW VALUE AG: Investment agreement signed, Extraordinary General Meeting, Election to the Board of Directors" (Press release). 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
- ^ "New Value AG has Changed its Name to Talenthouse AG". MarketScreener. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
- ^ a b Butcher, Mike (29 March 2022). "Talenthouse flotation finally reveals a $40M exit for EyeEm, Europe's almost-Instagram". TechCrunch. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
- ^ Frederic Lardinois (May 2, 2012). "Talent Crowdsourcing Startup Talenthouse Raises $4.2M From Director Brett Ratner, Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors and Others". TechCrunch.
- ^ "Reliance ties up with Talenthouse for fresh, creative talent". Financial Express. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
- ^ Talenthouse Secures $10 Million Series C Funding, Investors Include Dave Stewart, Gerard Butler | Billboard
- ^ "HotCopper | ASX Share Prices, Stock Market & Share Trading Forum".
- ^ Gibson, Dani (17 Oct 2018). "Creativity re-wired: good, fast or cheap?". The Drum. Carnyx Group. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
- ^ "Talenthouse acquires creative freelancer platform Creative Commission". Music Business Worldwide. 2022-04-29. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
- ^ Alex Vieux (May 24, 2012). "Americas 2012 Top 100". Red Herring.
- ^ Das, Shanti (4 February 2023). "I've given up getting paid': global tech platform accused of exploiting artists". The Observer.
- ^ Das, Shanti (9 Apr 2023). "Creative tech firm Talenthouse is close to failure as debts mount". The Guardian.