Photoroom, the French artificial intelligence photo editing company, has confirmed that co-founder Andres is stepping away from his executive role after seven years. He will remain involved in strategic decisions as a board member, ensuring continuity at a time of rapid growth. The announcement highlights both the maturity of the company and the evolving role of its founders.
Leadership Transition Confirmed
Andres shared the news on LinkedIn, saying there is no perfect time for a founder to step back but that he is confident the moment is right. He explained that he had already spent the bulk of his time as CTO at Photoroom before transitioning to a contributor role this year. This gradual handover provided the company with stability as it prepared for a new technical leadership structure.
A Long-Held Vision Realized
In his statement, Andres recalled the company's original Y Combinator application, which stated that the long term goal was to allow anyone to make professional edits without any training. He said this dream is finally becoming a reality thanks to the team's work and recent advances in artificial intelligence. The founding vision now underpins Photoroom's product strategy and its growing appeal among businesses that need fast, high quality visual content.
Engineering Leadership and New CTO
Photoroom announced that Javier Sotelo, a former Groupon executive who joined at the start of the year, is taking over the CTO role. Andres also praised Moro, who has led engineering for the past eight months, for doing a fantastic job and helping scale the engineering organization. The combination of experienced external leadership and internal continuity is intended to support the company's technical ambitions.
Funding and Enterprise Momentum
Photoroom is valued at €500 million and raised €43 million in a Series B funding round in 2024. Its enterprise clients include DoorDash, Wolt and Decathlon, reflecting strong adoption beyond consumer use. The company has used its funding to strengthen artificial intelligence capabilities and expand its footprint among large organizations that rely on visual content for ecommerce.
Market Position and Product Focus
Photoroom has positioned itself as a leader in generating images and videos while maintaining product accuracy, claiming a benchmark that outperforms the competition by 25 percent. It has also become an expert in creating product pages that convert, with initiatives such as the Photoroom 100 Best Product Pages ranking. These efforts highlight the company's focus on measurable performance and commercial impact.
Gratitude and Strategic Continuity
Andres thanked co-founder Matt, early supporters Jean and Francescu, Y Combinator partners Gustaf and Eric, and board members Bernard and Nico for their guidance. He also expressed appreciation for the machine learning team and all Photoroom employees, acknowledging their role in helping businesses grow worldwide. His continued board membership is expected to preserve founder level insight while the executive team manages daily operations.
Future Directions
Andres said he will take time to reflect on his next projects, which will not stray far from artificial intelligence or apps. His departure from daily operations comes as Photoroom continues to scale its product and enterprise offerings. The leadership change signals both personal transition for the founder and organizational evolution for the company.
With new technical leadership in place, a strong client roster and significant funding behind it, Photoroom is positioned to build on its recent momentum. The company's founding mission remains central as it advances AI driven photo editing for professionals and businesses. Andres' continued involvement as a board member offers a bridge between the company's origins and its next stage of growth.