36Kr reported that travel photography platform Yimeiyipai.com has secured tens of millions of yuan in a strategic financing round, with fashion content community Moko as the lead investor. Moko has more than 4 million registered users, a quarter of them are professional models, photographers and makeup artists.
Yimeiyipai.com was founded in 2016 by He Chen, who previously worked for the Trip.com Group, Tuniu and Xishiwang. He dabbled in photography products in the three companies and discerned a strong demand for such products among customers.
Mr. Chen established Yimeiyipai.com to directly connect independent photographers and travelers for global travelers to source cost-effective Chinese photoshoot services. It helps to overcome the challenges for photographers and customers to establish direct communication and service requirements, and avoid the higher-level service prices imposed by OTAs cooperating with photography agencies.
Independent photographers are required to pass an online assessment before signing with Yimeiyipai.com. After signing, the platform will provide them with systematic service training. Yimeiyipai.com distributes customers’ orders and time management tools to photographers, as well as communicates with different parties before and after an order is completed.
Travelers can subscribe a two-hour shoot or a full-day on-tour shooting service. They can get their retouched photos within 48 hours, or 72 hours if abroad.
Yimeiyipai.com started with a pilot program in Sanya at the end of 2016. It has since expanded the service to 200 global travel destinations and serviced 200,000 travelers with 1,300-plus active photographers.
In addition to its official website operation, Yimeiyipai.com has also reached long-term cooperation with OTAs such as the Trip.com Group and Fliggy. The volume of its monthly orders has increased by more than 150% this year and repurchase orders account for 20%. The average value of each transaction is 550 yuan.
The field of travel photoshoots has seen increasing competition and challenges. Mr. Chen believes high-quality photographers are important resources for the platform, and Moko as an investor can assist them in contracting more photographers. Yimeiyipai.com will continue to expand its services to more destinations in the near future. The platform has launched video filming services in some destinations and will expand such services next year.
Yimeiyipai.com is reported to have started preparing for a new round of financing. (Translated by Elena)
