500px Adds High Profile Talent to Board and Senior Leadership Team

September 5, 2013

2013 is shaping up to be a breakthrough year for Canadian photo-sharing platform 500px.

The company has increased its community by over 150 per cent in less than a year to 2.5 million photographers and now gets over a billion page views and API requests per month across the platform.

In August, 500px closed $8.8 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz and Harrison Metal.

500px continues to build on this momentum and today announced the addition of some tech heavy hitters to its board and leadership team to further accelerate growth.

Patrick Lor, co-founder of iStockphoto (acquired by Getty Images in 2004) and co-founder of Dissolve, joins the board as a director. Patrick will offer a strategic perspective on the commercial licensing marketplace 500px plans to roll out in the new year.

Co-founder Evgeny Tchebotarev moves to the new role of Chief Product Officer (CPO). Evgeny will be responsible for bringing the 500px vision to life with products that feature a pixel-perfect user experience that is second to none. He will supervise the product teams as they innovate and improve current offerings and create new products that add value for photographers.

Andy Yang joins 500px as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Most recently Managing Director of Extreme Startups, Andy brings a depth of strategic and business management expertise to 500px and he’ll be overseeing company’s operations, financial direction, and growth.

Renat Gataullin, one of the early partners of 500px, rejoins the company as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Renat has extensive experience in mobile product development from his years at Samsung and Blackberry, as well a wealth of early stage startup expertise. A serial entrepreneur, he recently graduated from the prestigious Y Combinator Accelerator program in Silicon Valley. As CTO, Renat will be responsible for mapping the platform’s development and ensuring its ability to quickly scale as 500px continues its rapid expansion.

“Big ideas demand big thinkers,” says co-founder and CEO Oleg Gutsol. “We’ve assembled a team of bright, innovative leaders who will help us push the boundaries of 500px as we work to achieve our goal of being the best photographer-centered platform in the world.”