Husband-and-wife team sell tech firm in $373m deal
By David Swan
Australia’s software sector has posted one of the largest exits in its history, with husband-and-wife team Collis and Cyan Ta’eed selling their company Envato to global giant Shutterstock in a deal worth $US245 million ($373 million).
Some 18 years after the Ta’eeds and their friend Jun Rung co-founded Envato from a Bondi garage, they’ve sold the company to American stock image firm Shutterstock, which will double its subscriber count through the transaction. Collis and Cyan had held onto a 68 per cent share of Envato, with Rung and Collis’ brother Vahid retaining the rest.
Envato co-founders Cyan and Collis Ta’eed.Credit: Nakita Pollock
Envato, which is now headquartered in Melbourne, offers online marketplaces for digital assets and tools and has racked up more than 2 million annual customers and more than $1.3 billion in earnings since its inception. At one point, the company was thought to be worth about $1 billion, which would have made it a start-up “unicorn”, before the COVID-19 pandemic and rising interest rates slashed valuations.
The sale marks the end of an era for co-founder Collis Ta’eed, who is now based in Darwin and is focused on philanthropy and start-up investing. He told this masthead on Friday that Shutterstock was a “great cultural fit, has complementary products and distribution muscle”.
“We now want to explore new opportunities and pursue other passions — and the decision to sell represents an exciting new chapter, for us and for Envato, as it enters a new phase of growth and evolution,” he said.
“This will open up Envato to even more possibilities in the future — and in this case, the timing was right.
“This acquisition is further recognition of the dynamic Australian creative start-up industry and its contribution to the global stage — where homegrown innovation is shared worldwide.
“Over the years, we’ve been privileged to grow with this passionate community of creatives who have shown us the possibilities that arise at the intersection of technology and creativity. I am incredibly grateful for this and honoured to have been part of the impact and success of this creative community.”
Envato CEO Hichame Assi took over from Collis in 2020 and welcomed the transaction in a statement.
Envato CEO Hichame Assi previously led HotelsCombined.Credit: AFR
“I feel an immense sense of pride in the team for achieving this global scale as an independent business,” Assi said.
“As we enter this next chapter, we remain laser-focused on empowering the creative community to thrive and excited to achieve this shared goal with Shutterstock.”
Shutterstock CEO Paul Hennessy said once finalised, the acquisition would more than double Shutterstock’s subscriber base to 1.15 million and would accelerate its path to 2027 long-term revenue targets.
“We’re thrilled about this transaction and looking forward to welcoming the Envato team to Shutterstock,” Hennessy said in a statement.
“Envato is perfectly positioned to serve a growing customer need for an unlimited multi-asset subscription to a library of creative content, with an emphasis on videos, audio, graphics, fonts and templates. By extending our reach to faster growing audiences and into additional content types, this acquisition will help Shutterstock fulfil its mission of connecting customers to the content they need, wherever they are they can create, build and share their next big idea.”
Niki Scevak, partner at Australia’s largest venture capital firm Blackbird Ventures, paid tribute on Friday to Collis and Cyan and what they accomplished with Envato.
“Envato was one of the original inspirations for the founding of Blackbird,” he said. “In 2012, we hoped there would be others who walked the path pioneered by them and others; trying to be the best in the world rather than the best in Australia.
“Congrats to Collis and Cyan for building something very special.”
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