These former Microsoft execs want to make sure you get the perfect wedding photos

Venkatesan Seshadri and Pranav Mehta, former Microsoft executives in Malaysia, knew they wanted to chase high value service markets. When the duo returned to India, they set up Flatpebble, a marketplace for photographers to sell pictures. Soon, they realized that was small fry. The bigger piece was in wedding assignments and other photo shoots.

Since there was no real online service for hiring photographers back in 2013, the duo decided to tweak their model to tap this space. Today, Seshadri revealed their startup secured US$600,000 from Indian Angel Network (IAN) led by Sanjay Jesrani and Subram Kapoor.

Flatpebble helps people view work samples of photographers, get detailed quotes, and engage with them through a WhatsApp-esque tool before hiring. It claims to have added 2,500 photographers on the site so far.

Besides weddings, it receives assignments for baby, product, and interior design photography. Additionally, it recently added a stylist category.

Flatpebble’s algorithm takes into account factors like budget, location, and type of services required. All these are digitally indexed and then suggestions are made.

Unorganized market

The photography business in India is driven by small players who lack know-how on business strategy. So Flatpebble has a data analytics tool to help its photographers make decisions on their pricing and packaging.

“The startup is not just a lead generator or a marketing place. On the site, photography is packaged as a service. For example, pay INR 32,000 (US$488) and get a regular photographer, a candid photographer, a videographer, an album, and a digital upload. This reduces ambiguity from the consumer’s perspective and makes the site more engaging,” says Kapoor.

Flatpebble claims to have an annual gross revenue of INR10 million (US$152,000).The largest transaction made on the platform is worth INR 500,000 (US$7,600). The startup charges a commission of 6-12 percent on every transaction.

The startup also addresses the photography market’s opacity, according to Seshadri. “Getting service providers to list is not easy since our site is a very transparent platform where the photographer has to list his fee,” he says.

The funding will be used to innovate on the product, increase supply depth, and add other services related to events and occasions.

Flatpebble competes with rival marketplace UrbanClap, which is significantly better armed after its US$10 million funding round in June. Another rival, LocalOye, raised US$5 million in April. Both players provide a bunch of other services like plumbers, electricians, and appliance repairmen.