Hello and welcome back to Equity, the Tech Runch Podcast, where we unpack the numbers and the nuance behind the headlines.

This is Alex and welcome to our revamped Wednesday show for 2024.

On Wednesdays, we are going to dig into critical startup

and venture capital news from the week.

It's going to be tight, it's going to be quick,

it's going to be packed full of information,

and we hope that you love it.

If you do have comments or feedback on this new format

you can send in notes to EquityPOT at Tech Ranch.com if you want but we do

always want to hear from you. And with that, let's go.

First up, Photo Room is raising.

Photo Room and AI Photo Editing app is raising between 50 and 60 million dollars at a

valuation of between 500 million and 600 million dollars.

Ingrid got this one for us. We're still chasing down all the details, but this is a round to pay attention to.

The context here is that apps that let users take, manipulate, and share images have been some

of the biggest hits in the world of mobile over the years and now the influx of AI

is cracking open the market for a new wave of startups to step into the ring.

Photo Room itself, a startup based in Paris, France, has built a popular AI-based image

editing app and API targeting e-commerce vendors, media specialists, and more.

Now, 50 or 60 million dollars at a valuation of 500 million to 600 million in a market where funding has been constrained?

Well, it seems that AI and Photo Room are still turning heads and getting people to open their checkbooks.

One thing I do like about Photo Room is that the company has both a consumer subscription

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