How Photoroom Turned AI Photo Editing into a Small Business Game-Changer
- Samantha Wells
- Oct 22
- 3 min read
What Photoroom does
Photoroom eliminates the biggest pain point in e-commerce: making products look amazing without hiring a photographer. Their AI instantly removes backgrounds (even from tricky transparent or reflective items), generates studio-quality backdrops, creates virtual clothing models, and turns smartphone photos into professional product shots. No design experience is needed, and no expensive equipment is required. Whether you're bootstrapping an Etsy shop or scaling a major brand, Photoroom handles single edits, bulk processing, and everything in between.
The Current Landscape and Photoroom
Visual content isn't optional anymore: it's survival. Whether running an Etsy shop, dropshipping on Shopify, or posting on Instagram, your photos make or break first impressions. Scroll through any marketplace; the difference is stark: professional visuals get clicks, amateur shots get ignored. This created a gold rush in photo editing tools. Canva carved out social media templates, Adobe maintains its grip on creative professionals, and countless apps promise instant transformations. But here's the thing: most of these tools were built for general content creation, not the specific pain points of product sellers. They work fine for basic edits or social posts, but they fall short when you need clean background removal, consistent brand aesthetics, or batch processing for inventory.
The Birth Story of Photoroom
Back in 2019, Matthieu Rouif was deep into product work at GoPro when he kept running into the same problem: small business owners were creating amazing products, but couldn't make them look good online. Their photos looked amateur compared to those of big brands with professional studios and photographers. Meanwhile, Eliot Andres worked in computer vision and machine learning, helping AI better understand images. The two connected in Paris and started experimenting with background removal—something that sounds simple but was notoriously difficult for AI to get right, especially with complex objects like jewelry or transparent materials. They didn't start with grand plans for a photo editing empire. Instead, they focused obsessively on one problem: helping scrappy e-commerce sellers compete visually with much bigger players. Their early customers were precisely the people Matthieu had met at GoPro—Shopify store owners, Etsy sellers, small brand founders—who needed professional-looking photos but couldn't afford professional photographers. The feedback was brutal and immediate, which forced them to iterate fast and get the fundamentals right before thinking about anything fancy.
The Photoroom Solution
Photoroom's obsession is simple but powerful: creating product photos that drive sales. While other tools focus on flashy filters or social media templates, they've perfected the unglamorous technical stuff that matters. Their background removal handles the nightmare scenarios (transparent glass bottles, reflective jewelry, textured fabrics) that make other AI tools crash and burn. But the real magic happens at scale. Need consistent product shots across 500 SKUs with your exact brand colors? Their batch processing handles it. Want to A/B test whether white backgrounds or lifestyle settings drive more conversions? Their platform makes it simple. The enterprise side tells the real story: major brands use their API to process millions of product images, maintaining consistency across massive catalogs without human intervention. What sets them apart in a crowded market is that they're profitable. While most AI startups burn cash chasing growth, Photoroom hit over €50M in annual revenue while processing billions of images. Their north star remains unchanged from the early days: giving small businesses the visual firepower to compete with Amazon's professional product photography, without the professional budget.
A Photoroom Customer Story
Consider a small watch retailer struggling with the classic e-commerce photography problem. Their products were quality pieces, but their photos looked like they were taken on a kitchen table with a phone, which they probably were. The backgrounds were inconsistent, the lighting was harsh, and the watches got lost against cluttered scenes. After switching to Photoroom, the transformation was immediate and measurable. Product inquiries jumped 40% within the first month, but the real surprise came from social media performance. Their Instagram and Facebook posts have generated leads about 20% of the time, which is typical for small retailers posting product shots. After implementing Photoroom's clean backgrounds and consistent styling, the conversion rate tripled to 60%. The owner later admitted they hadn't expected such dramatic results from what seemed like a simple change. But it makes sense: professional-looking photos signal quality and trustworthiness, especially for higher-ticket items like watches, where customers need to feel confident about details and craftsmanship before buying.
The Team Culture at Photoroom
Photoroom's team spans the globe: they hire talent wherever it lives and work in English. They're big on moving fast, owning your work, and giving honest feedback (even when it stings). They even got internet famous with their NO DM policy on Slack.