Flixel
8 known investors
Flixel creates software tools for visual storytelling, including Cinemagraph Pro (for creating animated still images), Flixel Cloud (for hosting and streaming), and Persecond (a timelapse app). The company serves creators and brands who want to produce and share visual content.
Also known as Flixel Photos Inc. Β· Flixel Software Ltd.
Founders & leadership
Investors Β· 8
Also in the syndicate Β· 5
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Flixel develops software tools for photographers, videographers, marketers and other digital creatives to produce cinemagraphs β still images containing a minor, repeated movement β and related visual media. Its best-known product is Cinemagraph Pro for macOS, a 2014 Apple Design Award winner and an App Store Best of 2014 selection, with a companion Cinemagraph Pro app for iOS and iPadOS. The product line also includes Flipside for iOS and macOS, which captures a single photo or video and exports it in multiple aspect ratios (square, portrait, landscape and social formats) using on-device subject tracking; Blendeo for iOS and macOS, which lets users alter exposure time after capture for long-exposure imagery; Persecond for macOS, which converts image sets into time-lapse videos; and Flixel TV for tvOS, a free app for displaying cinemagraphs and community content on Apple TV.
Alongside its apps, Flixel offers Flixel Cloud, a web platform for hosting and streaming cinemagraphs in HD, plus a public gallery, tutorials and case studies. Historically the company also operated an in-house production group, Flixel Studios, that created custom cinemagraph campaigns, live activations and photobooth experiences for brands and events.
Founding story
Flixel was founded in 2011 and initially operated as a mobile social network built around video and GIF creation, with a thesis that a social network could form around the cinemagraph medium in the way Instagram had for photos. Observing that consumers did not create cinemagraphs continuously to document daily life, but that artists and brands used them for art and marketing, co-founder and CEO Philippe LeBlanc led a pivot roughly two years before the 2015 seed round toward professional creation tools.
Business model
Flixel sells creative software applications and a cloud hosting and streaming platform. Apps are distributed as free trials for macOS and through the App Store for iOS and tvOS, with plans marketed to photographers, marketers and designers. During its earlier phase the company also generated revenue from Flixel Studios, an in-house production group producing custom cinemagraph campaigns and live activations for brands.
Products have been offered for one-time purchase or as a monthly subscription, alongside paid plans that bundle the cinemagraph creation tools with the Flixel Cloud web-sharing and hosting platform.
Traction
In the first quarter after its pivot to professional tools, Flixel reported sales of over $250,000. Cinemagraph Pro for Mac reached the number one spot in the Mac App Store and won a 2014 Apple Design Award and Best of 2014 honours. The company has cited a fast-growing community of professional Flixel Artists and campaign work with major brands and events including the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Latest developments
In July 2025 the Flixel brand and products were acquired by Grok Software Ltd., a Canadian company led by technical co-founder Mark H Pavlidis, which has been renamed Flixel Software Ltd. and states it is focused on building the next generation of visual storytelling software. The current product line adds Flipside for iOS and macOS, which exports a single capture into multiple social formats with on-device subject tracking, and Blendeo for long-exposure imagery.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Flixel positions Cinemagraph Pro as the world's favourite way to create and share cinemagraphs, supported by a 2014 Apple Design Award and App Store Best of 2014 recognition and a community of professional Flixel Artists. The company frames cinemagraphs as a medium between still photography and video intended to sit alongside them as a premium advertising format.
The company emphasises professional-quality output from easy-to-use tools that fit existing creative workflows, an integrated pipeline spanning capture, editing, cloud hosting and TV display, and Apple platform recognition for Cinemagraph Pro.
Technology
Flixel's apps use what the company described in 2015 as patent-pending technology for turning short videos into cinemagraphs for web, social media advertising, offline display and broadcast. Flipside applies smart on-device subject tracking to keep a subject framed across multiple crops and aspect ratios. Flixel Cloud provides web-based hosting and HD streaming of cinemagraphs, and Flixel TV delivers playback on Apple TV.
Go-to-market
Distribution runs through the company's website with free macOS trials and through Apple's App Store for iOS and tvOS apps, supported by a public gallery, tutorials, case studies and a blog. The company has also used industry events and brand partnerships for exposure, including silver sponsorship of Adobe MAX in 2015, live cinemagraph activations at the Primetime Emmy Awards, and a partner role in Facebook's Profile Expression Kit.
Photographers, videographers, digital creatives, designers and marketers, including brands and agencies; the company has said its ideal customer is an Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber. Brand and campaign customers have included A&E, British Airways, Disney, Facebook, HBO, Marriott, Mashable, Mercedes, TED Conference, Microsoft, Instagram, Panasonic and Pepsi.
Geography
Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with products distributed internationally through the App Store and the web; the 2015 seed round included angel investors in Australia and Canada, and brand work has spanned events in the United States such as Adobe MAX and the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.
History
Flixel was founded in 2011 in Toronto and began as a video-centric mobile social network and a social networking app that made GIFs. Around 2013 it pivoted to selling creation tools to photographers, videographers and brand marketers, and its desktop release, Cinemagraph Pro for Mac, launched to the number one spot in the Mac App Store and won a 2014 Apple Design Award and Best of 2014 recognition. In 2013 the TV show America's Next Top Model featured Cinemagraph Pro during Cycle 20, and Top Model creator and executive producer Tyra Banks became an investor. In 2015 the company raised a $2.2 million seed round and partnered with the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards on a series of living photos. In 2016 Flixel became one of the first partners for Facebook's Profile Expression Kit, enabling cinemagraph profile videos. After what the company describes as six years of stagnation, the Flixel brand and products were acquired in July 2025 by Grok Software Ltd., a Canadian software company led by Mark H Pavlidis, Flixel's technical co-founder and former CTO and Managing Director; Grok Software Ltd. has since been renamed Flixel Software Ltd.
Risks & controversies
The company's own account describes six years of stagnation preceding the July 2025 acquisition of the brand and products by Grok Software Ltd.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Competitors Β· 4
by search overlap
Companies competing with Flixel for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline Β· 7
launches, deals, and filingsThe Flixel brand and products were acquired by Grok Software Ltd., a Canadian software company led by technical co-founder and former CTO and Managing Director Mark H Pavlidis; Grok Software Ltd. was subsequently renamed Flixel Software Ltd.
Flixel released Flipside, an app that captures a single photo or video and exports it in square, portrait, landscape and social formats using on-device subject tracking.
Flixel was one of the first partners for Facebook's Profile Expression Kit, allowing users to create custom cinemagraph profile videos.
Flixel Photos Inc. announced a $2.2 million seed round led by Extreme Venture Partners and Cranson Capital Securities, with participation from existing investors and angel investors in Australia and Canada, to expand its product suite and brand partnerships.
$2.2M source β
Flixel created a series of 13 living photos for the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards and operated a Flixel Photobooth backstage at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles with photographer Michael Grecco, capturing real-time cinemagraphs shared on social media during the broadcast.
Cinemagraph Pro for macOS received a 2014 Apple Design Award and was named Best of 2014 in the App Store.
The TV show America's Next Top Model featured Cinemagraph Pro during Cycle 20; show creator and executive producer Tyra Banks is an investor in Flixel.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Flixelflixel.com Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Flixel do?
- Flixel makes macOS, iOS and tvOS software for creating cinemagraphs, time-lapse and multi-format visual content.
- Who founded Flixel?
- Flixel was founded by Mark H Pavlidis.
- Who are Flixel's investors?
- Flixel's investors include Extreme Venture Partners, Extreme Venture Partners LLP, Mantella Venture Partners.