Photography community EyeEm raises $18M from Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures

Berlin photography startup EyeEm announced a $18 million raise today from Peter Thiel-backed Valar Ventures and existing investors.

EyeEm’s flagship app is like an Instagram for people who actually care about photography. It’s certainly more serious than apps like Instagram and Snapchat, but it refrains from being snooty — at least, that’s what we’ve observed. The idea is that mobile photography can be art, and photographers (amateur and pro) need a place to share and sell their work on mobile.

In a blog post announcing the news, EyeEm chief Flo Meissner says the company raised the funds “to help our awesome 13-million strong community get discovered for their amazing work.” Broadly, some of this cash will bolster EyeEm’s market, a place where users can sell their photos. Later in the post, Meissner teases that iOS and Android updates are coming, “plus several new avenues to expose your photography to even wider audiences.”