Melbourne-based digital marketplace Envato acquires stock photo company Twenty20

Digital marketplace operator Envato has acquired US-based stock photo subscription service Twenty20, further expanding its North American presence.

The Melbourne-based "Netflix for designers" operates a handful of online marketplaces that sell creative assets for web designers, such as graphics, video and audio. Envato won the Exporting Innovation award at the 2018 CRN Impact Awards.

Twenty20 is the company’s second North American acquisition, after buying Mexico-based Placeit, a digital mockup and templates tool provider, in July 2018. Envato will also acquire free stock photo offering Reshot as part of the deal.

“Photos are one of our most popular categories of creative content. Over half of all our subscribers download and use images every month, and Twenty20 is a terrific opportunity to strengthen that offering with a library of beautiful, authentic photography,” Envato chief executive Collis Ta’eed said.

“Along with all the images, adding Twenty20 to the Envato ecosystem also introduces a really strong curation and collection system, that will help us get on-trend and on-topic creative content to our customers faster than ever.”

Twenty20’s team will remain in their Los Angeles headquarters, and will join Envato’s US subsidiary Envato USA. The service will be part of Envato’s Elements creative subscription.

“We have an immediate earnings boost for Twenty20 photographers and the prospect of much more to come as they join the cohort of creatives earning from Elements’ subscriber-share revenue model,” Ta’eed said.

Twenty20 chief executive Matt Munson said Envato’s large customer base and designer-led product strategy will increase its reach and improve tools for its photographers.

“Envato’s human-centric, remote-friendly culture was also a great fit for our unique team,” Munson said.

“We’re excited to help supercharge Envato’s already powerful offering with our talented community and mobile-first DNA!”