Jerusalem-based Lightricks is completing a $ 130 million round of funding in the fourth round

The Jerusalem-based Lightricks company is currently completing a $ 130 million round of funding in the fourth round. $ 100 million of that amount will be invested into the company and the rest will be sold at a secondary sale (Scandry, a deal that allows existing shareholders and employees to exercise their holdings before the company is sold). The company's fourth round of funding was led by Insight Partners and Hanaco Ventures. The round was held with the participation of existing investors, including Goldman Sachs, Claltech, Harel Insurance and Finance and Greycroft, and was joined by new investors, including Comra Capital. Migdal, Altshuler Shaham and Shavit Capital.
For Lightricks, this is the last round of funding, according to estimates, before a merger with Spock within six months to a year worth more than $ 3 billion.
The company, which develops mobile image and video processing applications, was founded in 2013 by Zeev Farbman (CEO), Amit Goldstein (VP of Finance), Yaron Inger (VP of Technology), Nir Pochter (VP of Marketing ) And Itai Sidon (Business Development Manager). Last May, Shaul Meridor, the CFO of the Ministry of Finance, joined the company as CFO.
The first app they developed was Facetune, which allows you to revamp and enhance selfies, such as removing pimples, improving lighting and adding effects. The app has soared to the top of the paid downloads rankings in American Appstore. The company has since launched additional apps.
Lightricks employs 450 people and is currently recruiting dozens more. The company's last recruitment was in July 2019, and it is also the one that bounced it to Unicorn status. Leitrix then raised $ 135 million in the third round at a value of $ 1 billion. Goldman Sachs led the previous round of fundraising and jumped the company's investment to $ 205 million.
Lightricks records big jumps in revenue. In 2017, its revenues totaled $ 17 million, and in 2018 they reached $ 52 million. The company is expected to end 2021 with revenues of $ 250 million and is profitable at the level of millions of dollars a year.
The high commission (15% –30%) that Apple and Google charge for purchases made in apps through Appstore and Google Play prevents Leitrix from higher revenues. Last week, a U.S. federal court ordered Apple to make changes to the way it operates its app store so that it could not prevent app developers from posting links to alternative purchase channels outside of Apple's payment system. 10% in US trade. The new ruling is expected to contribute to Leitrix's profits.