Oodls - the user-generated content marketplace
by Startacus Admin
Oodls, the Scottish startup that's "licensing great content from talented Instagrammers across the globe for businesses big and small."
Anyone who creates content on websites or blogs, or perhaps even posts a lot on social media, will understand how vital good stock photographs are. A good picture breaks up the wall of text, draws the viewer’s eye, enhances the words with evocative imagery...and makes articles look a bit longer. But the keyword is ‘good’. That doesn’t just mean high resolution or touched up nicely to make the colours pop; it means something that looks real, authentic, familiar, relatable. We have written before about startups who are taking on the stock photo market from different angles, with the likes of Shuttout, UKBlackTech and, more tenuously, Serelay. Today, we are looking to Scotland for the next.
Edinburgh-based startup OODLS has a similar idea to Shuttout, in that they believe that people deserve the opportunity to be paid for the work they are sharing with the world, while simultaneously providing that real, authentic quality to stock photos.
Because they are real - they are photos taken by ordinary people who would have taken those photos anyway and uploaded them to Instagram. These are photos that were not taken with commercialisation in mind, but this doesn’t mean the photos can’t be beautiful - just a glance at the samples on OODLS’ home page confirms that.
OODLS is easy to use, simple to navigate, and clear in the usage of the imagery. You won’t need to worry about getting a letter from someone’s lawyer. Content creators set the price of their photos themselves, keep 100% of the license fee, and retain copyright. If you find an image you would like to use, but the resolution isn’t quite what you need, it may even be possible for OODLS’ AI to upscale it to 300dpi.
In early September, OODLS’ CEO and founder Sarah Stenhouse was one of those celebrated at a Women in Tech Scotland event in their hometown of Edinburgh. This followed receiving £243,000 in funding from Equity Gap, Gabriel, and the Scottish Investment Bank, who clearly see the value of this fresh take on the market.
As a platform that uses a lot of imagery in our articles, we are particularly interested to see a startup looking at stock photos through a different lens!
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Cambridge-based startup, CardiaTec Biosciences raises investment to support further development of its mission to develop the next generation of cardiovascular disease targets.
Raise Ventures on a mission to empower the next generation of business leaders and founders with the launch of their pioneering Emerging Leaders Summer School.
The recipients of the 2022 Ulster Bank Enterprise Fund are announced, each aiming to promote and encourage entrepreneurship amongst underrepresented groups.
.png)
Leading disability-focused organisations join forces to launch the #Access2Funding campaign - calling on the VC and investment community to improve the representation, opportunities presented to and experience of disabled founders.
.png)
WeWALK, RNIB, and ICL consortium secures UKRI funding to improve mobility for visually impaired and elderly.
The lowdown on Studeo, the edtech startup that has created a video learning app in order to democratise elite tutoring.
The impact of standards, ethics and conduct on business success and profits - Work.Life has some interesting insights...
.png)
The lowdown on Space32 - the startup that wants to help hybrid-working businesses find the working space and solution that's right for them.
.png)
Global Tech for Good initiative seeks innovative startups and scaleups that are creating positive social impact and enhancing people's lives through tech.
The lowdown on Bidnamic, the startup that's combining advance machine learning with human expertise to help retailers to maximise revenue and profitability from Google Shopping.
Published on: 15th September 2019
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- CardiaTec Biosciences Secures £1.4m to combat cardiovascular diseases using Artificial Intelligence 6th Jul 2022 Cambridge-based startup, CardiaTec Biosciences raises investment to support further development of its mission to develop the next generation of cardiovascular disease targets.
- Raise Ventures pioneer an Emerging Leaders Summer School 6th Jul 2022 Raise Ventures on a mission to empower the next generation of business leaders and founders with the launch of their pioneering Emerging Leaders Summer School.
- Ulster Bank Funds Diverse Entrepreneurship 5th Jul 2022 The recipients of the 2022 Ulster Bank Enterprise Fund are announced, each aiming to promote and encourage entrepreneurship amongst underrepresented groups.
- New campaign launches to address disproportionate lack of support for disabled entrepreneurs. 5th Jul 2022 Leading disability-focused organisations join forces to launch the #Access2Funding campaign - calling on the VC and investment community to improve the representation, opportunities presented to and experience of disabled founders.
