Stout announced that EQT Growth Fund (“EQT” or “EQT Growth”) has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake of and provide growth financing for the leading German vertical software platform in the photography space GotPhoto Company (“GotPhoto” or the “Company”) from its founders, existing angel investors, and management team, who will remain minority owners. Stout acted as exclusive financial advisor to the founders and shareholders of GotPhoto.

GotPhoto’s management team, including its CEO, Benedikt Greifenhofer, will continue to lead the Company, building on its strong track record of growth. As part of the transaction, EQT Growth will also invest additional primary capital into the business to further accelerate the company’s organic growth, including product and tech investments, as well as capitalize on attractive inorganic opportunities in the market.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, GotPhoto (and its German brand, fotograf.de) is dedicated to making the lives of photographers easier and more efficient, helping them spend less time behind their desk and more time behind the lens. By enabling photographers to digitalize key parts of their workflow, including photo management, photo editing, marketing automation, payment, and order fulfilment, GotPhoto effectively powers the daily operations of photographers, allowing them to save significant time and effort across photo shoots. The Company – which has over 4,000 customers, primarily small to medium-sized businesses and “solopreneur” photographers, across the U.S., U.K., and DACH – has managed to build a strong reputation as a leading vertical software solution within the people photography segment across its core markets while being bootstrapped.

GotPhoto operates in a large but highly fragmented and antiquated market, in which digital services and products are not commonly used. As customers increasingly recognize the benefits of digital-native workflow management solutions like GotPhoto’s, it is expected that the underlying core market will grow 24% year-over-year through to 2027. Added to that, historically, the volume photography market has proven to be more resilient than other parts of the wider photography market given people’s continued desire to purchase high-quality photos as a way to “capture a moment” in time, like the first day of nursery or graduation day. GotPhoto is already well positioned in this market thanks to its seamless end-to-end functionality and user-friendly platform, which has allowed the Company to continue winning market share from legacy solutions, seeing consistent 50% year-over-year growth over the last five years.

EQT Growth will partner with GotPhoto’s founders and management team to further invest in the Company’s proprietary tech platform while it adds new product features. At the same time, as GotPhoto continues to build its commercial expertise, it will benefit from access to EQT’s in-house digital team, EQT’s network of over 800 expert industrial advisors, and shared learnings across EQT’s global business, which is active in the Company’s core markets across Europe and North America. With this support, GotPhoto plans to further expand its presence in areas such as sports and portrait photography as well as new attractive geographies, as it aims to strengthen its position as a leading global player in people photography. In addition to that, both EQT and GotPhoto believe there are a number of interesting M&A opportunities in the market that should help complement the company’s organic strategy and accelerate the team’s ambitious growth plans.

EQT Growth supports leading growth-stage technology companies as they take the next step to scale. The strategy seeks to invest around €50 million to €200 million, backing strong management teams of companies supported by secular macro trends primarily within four tech subsectors: enterprise, con/prosumer, health, and climate. Based in five countries across Europe, the EQT Growth team has extensive investing and operating experience that allows it to support its portfolio companies however called upon.

EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with €113 billion in assets under management within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets. EQT owns portfolio companies and assets in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas and supports them in achieving sustainable growth, operational excellence, and market leadership.

Benedikt Greifenhofer, CEO of GotPhoto, stated, “For a bootstrapped company like GotPhoto, partnering with EQT Growth marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter. I’d like to thank Mathis and the entire Stout team for their relentless effort of making this transaction possible and identifying the ideal partner for us at a global scale. The team has been an extremely valuable and trusted partner throughout the entire process.”

Markus Posselt, GotPhoto’s Co-Founder and former CEO, who will transition to GotPhoto’s Advisory Board, commented, “Mathis and the Stout team have done an exceptional job navigating us through the process while keeping the interests of the management and shareholders in mind. Partnering with such an experienced SaaS investor like EQT Growth is truly the ideal outcome for all of us.”

Dominik Stein, Partner in the EQT Growth Investment Advisory Team, who will also join GotPhoto’s Advisory Board, concluded, “GotPhoto is a prime example of a technology company supported by long-term macro trends and led by an excellent management team that is ready to embark on the next phase of its growth journey. Benedikt and the entire GotPhoto team have accomplished so much, having to-date been entirely bootstrapped, and we are delighted to partner with them as we continue to build on GotPhoto’s market-leading position in the U.S., U.K., and DACH.”

Mathis Wilke, Managing Director and Head of the German Speaking Region at Stout, said, “GotPhoto has established itself as a leading player to consolidate a highly fragmented market and drive the digital transformation of the multi-billion-dollar people photography industry as the company continues its growth path. With EQT Growth, the team has found the ideal partner to jointly build on top of this excellent setup and accelerate its U.S. and European expansion. We were truly impressed by the dedication and level of professionalism of the GotPhoto team and enjoyed being part of their journey.”

Stout's Managing Director Mathis Wilke led the transaction, with Kevin Kissner as project co-lead on the deal, with further support from Stout’s Nansi Nistorova and Tim Branse.

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