Rising Above the Pack . . .
Stock Asylum Staff Report
Feb. 5, 2007
Evan Nisselson knows that Digital Railroad will need to compete with
increasing numbers of image providers as the internet continues expanding
during the next few years.
But, the CEO and founder of a company that provides technology and marketing services to photographers and small stock photography distributors believes his New York-based firm will stand out from the crowd as the photography industry continues to work its way through the digital revolution.
And a new round of funding, providing $10 million in fresh working capital, should go a long way toward helping Digital Railroad reach that goal.
Digital Railroad said on this date that it has closed the financing deal, which represents a second round of significant outside funding for the company. The new money will be used to open international offices, including one in Milan, Italy, and expand current operations in the United States. Digital Railroad has U.S. offices in New York and Seattle.
"We are going to see more and more channels supplying content," said Nisselson. "But only the best content, and the channels that deliver the best content most consistently, will succeed."
"It will be similar to satellite TV where you have 500 channels, but still there is nothing worth watching," he said. In this kind of environment, people return to those few channels that consistently offer quality programming," Nisselson added.
"All across the world people are hungry for the best photography and it is a huge opportunity for image creators, for photographers," the Digital Railroad CEO asserted. "Ask any photo editor today and they always say they are looking for a unique image."
Digital Railroad was started with a direct investment from Nisselson. The company received an initial round of $5.2 million in outside funding during June of 2005.
Eight hundred photographers and more than 50 image distributors currently manage image collections using Digital Railroad technology. Digital Railroad soon will launch a site-wide search function that will for the first time let image buyers search for images across numerous Digital Railroad-hosted collections, then negotiate directly with the individual rights-holders.
With millions of images collectively represented in all these libraries, the new search engine could propel the aggregated web site into the midst of the stock photography fray at a reasonably high level. In preparation for this, Digital Railroad has hired industry veteran Mark Ippolito as vice president of marketplace images sales.
"I think photographers today should leverage many channels to distribute their imagery and I think we offer a unique opportunity for that," said Nisselson.
Digital Railroad said its latest round of funding is led by DN Capital, of London, with addition money coming from two existing investors, Morgenthaler Ventures and Venrock Associates.
Steve Schlenker, managing partner of DN Capital will join the Digital Railroad board, which also includes Ken Gullicksen, of Morgenthaler, Mike Brooks, of VenRock, Evan Nisselson and Peter Nisselson.
DN invests in companies providing enterprise software, communication and digital media in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. It also helps U.S. software companies enter the European market.
"The vibrant network that has already been brought together by Digital Railroad's management team is on the cutting edge of changes that are afoot in the photography industry," said Schlenker in a prepared statement. "The Digital Railroad approach will significantly empower the creative community and drive industry economics in favor of the buyers and sellers of digital imagery."
The Digital Railroad web site is at: http://www.digitalrailroad.net.
DN Capital is at: http://www.dncapital.com.
Morgenthaler is at: http://www.morgenthaler.com.
Venrock is at: http://www.venrock.com.
