November 19th is pocday, and we’re celebrating turning 5!

Taking a deep breath to soak it all in… Whew! It really doesn’t seem that long ago that pocstock was founded by Steve Jones and DeSean Brownto help solve some of the massive diversity challenges in the stock photography industry.

We’ve spent the last five years building a global leader in inclusive content, a recognizable brand people can trust, and a space where everyone can see themselves represented.

Being inclusive is one of our superpowers and a central part of the reason for our success to date. We have opened our doors to everyone. We listen. We partner. We value others. We have set a place at the table for our diverse teams, partners, customers, investors, creators, contributors, vendors, allies, supporters, and have even joined forces with some of our competitors looking to make the world a more inclusive place for everyone.

Thank you to everyone who joined us on this journey, who met us where we’re at, who showed us grace that Black-owned businesses don’t often receive in their early stages of figuring things out. We sincerely appreciate you!

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” — Lao Tzu

For our pocday, we’re giving YOU the gifts. Get 50% off when you subscribe to our platform this month

Sign up before month end and get 50% off

To help more companies get access to our inclusive library, we’re offering a one-time deal. Sign up today and spread the word, because a deal like this may never come around again.

Sign up today at https://www.pocstock.com/pricing, enter coupon code “pocday50” and get 50% off your subscription fees for the first year.

Contact us if you need help figuring out the right plan to meet your specific needs.

** Offer available to new customers only. Not available for a-la-carte plans. Credit card customers only. Void where prohibited.

Existing customers, we didn’t forget you!

As a thank you to our loyal customers, we’ll be airdropping some free image download credits into your accounts. If you have an active subscription, you can expect to receive your image download credits on Nov 19th.

We’re ready to officially move into our new space

After months of design decisions and construction, our new space is finally ready for us to move into. Our team is excited to add the final homey touches, cut the ribbon, unpack the furniture, and move into our new home sweet home.

Thanks to Kerri Levine and Daniel Blackburn at Fidelco Realty Group for their amazing work in bringing our vision to life. The space is bigger and better than we even imagined.

Welcome to pocstudios

We’re opening our space to our network to book professional headshots, portraits, and brand shoots. We have a network of talented photographers and videographers ready to go.

Thank you to the Audible team

Audible’s initiative, designed to foster innovation and diversity in Newark’s growing tech and creative economy, invites companies to relocate or expand within Newark by providing non-dilutive grants, relocation assistance, stipends for employees to live and shop locally, and support such as mentorship with Audible employees.

This strategic partnership underscores Audible’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurship and driving economic growth in dynamic communities like Newark.

“pocstock is exactly the sort of company we started our Business Attraction Program to support. Sitting at the intersection of technology and championing diversity, pocstock is bringing innovation to the City of Newark while making a deep and lasting impact on digital media’s representation of our world’s dynamic spectrum of faces and cultures.” – Aisha Browne Glover, Global Head of Urban Innovation at Audible

We are joining the tech and creative business community alongside innovative companies such as EqualSpace Sharespace & Incubator, AlphaROC, ABF Creative Inc., co:census, Fitnescity, Gymble, and more!

“We’re truly excited to be a part of Audible’s business attraction program, and expect that it will be transformational for pocstock and the other businesses involved. Together, we’re building community, capacity, and changing the culture. Newark is a great place to live, work, and play and we’re happy to make it our global HQ.” – Steve Jones, CEO at pocstock

Thank you to the Audible team: Ari Fox, Aisha Browne Glover, Alexandra Lee Mann, MM, Tiffany Jackson Tamara Remedios, the team at Newark Alliance: Sibusisiwe J. Malaba, MPP, MPA, Evan Weiss, and Ashley Mays, the Invest Newark team: Emily R. Manz and everyone working hard to make Newark the ultimate destination for businesses of all sizes.

Looking to build your business in Newark, learn more about Audible’s initiative: https://www.audible.com/about/newsroom/audibles-business-attraction-program-welcomes-latest-companies-to-newark

The legendary FREE is hosting our ribbon cutting and opening our house

November 19th is pocday and our 5th year anniversary, and we have a few surprises planned to thank everyone who has supported us on our journey.

For the grand opening of our new office + studio in Newark, NJ, Free Marie Wrightfrom 106 & Park is hosting the gathering of our team, investors, contributors, customers, family, friends, supporters, and key stakeholders from the City of Newark.

We’ll start the morning by cutting the ribbon to our new space, providing free headshots to our guests, hosting a fireside chat with the most brilliant creative minds in the industry, and plenty of networking and photo opportunities.

RSVP list is officially closed and the wait list is long.

We’ll be hosting a conversation about the future of creative

We’ll be hosting a fireside chat featuring Chief Creative Officers Walter T Geer III, andre gray, and Patrick Bennett, moderated by Bridget Esposito, VP, Head of Creative, Brand at Prudential.

Thank you to Candice Grevious and Hilda Adeniji from Transform The Hustle for partnering with us to produce our event.

We started from the bottom now we here

“In 2015, I was running a digital marketing agency and had the idea to create a diversity-focused stock photography platform after many attempts to find quality stock photos of people of color on the leading stock platforms. With my experience being a tech entrepreneur and award-winning creative, I figured I could build it quickly via off-the-shelf photo management software and get it out to market, but somewhere in the process, I realized the software was sub-par, and the problem was much bigger than I originally realized.

I was working on 3 other business ventures at that time and realized quickly that pocstock would take a focused effort by a lot of people and a significant amount of financial resources over a period of time to actually work, so I put the idea on the shelf and waited for the right time where it could get the serious attention it needed.”

– Steve Jones, Founder & CEO

• On November 19th, POCSTOCK, INC was founded by Steve Jones, DeSean Brown, Tamara A Fleming (former), and Sean Anderson (former).

• In January, we launched pocstock.com, a bespoke tech platform for photographers.
• We launched our library with 1,500 in-house stock photos, and by the end of year one, we had 15,000 curated photos.
• Shortly after launch, the Covid-19 global pandemic hit, and the world shut down
• On May 25th, George Floyd was murdered, the world changed, and everyone pledged to be better humans (it lasted for a short while after).
• Before we started taking on clients, several companies jumped on board early including Dell Technologies, Audible, Major League Baseball, and NBCUniversal.

• We opened up pocstock.com to customers by invite only.
• At the end of our second year, we had curated over 60,000 photos.
• Our network grew to 300 Contributors in 25 countries.
• We raised $745.5k from 29 angel investors in our first seed round.
• We had over 150 customers, counting Google, Omnicom, Nestle, Saatchi Health, Sony Music, Credit Karma, and LVMH amongst them.

• We added video content to our platform and scaled our library to over 100,000 curated assets.
• With the support of the Rutgers Crowdfunding Accelerator program led by Bill Huston, 👊🏾 Lyneir Richardson, and Perri Richman, MSOP, we raised $129k from 179 investors via WeFunder Equity Crowdfunding platform.
• We launched monthly and annual subscription plans, and added illustrated content to our platform.
• The pocstock team, Nyla Christian, DeSean Brown and Steve Jones went to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France for the first time. Thanks to FCB Global, we spoke on the “Loving your Other” panel with Meta and Spotify about being inclusive in the production process.
• We had over 600 customers, added Samsung, IPG Health, Colgate Palmolive, Real Chemistry, CHPA, Macmillan Learning, Home Depot, and Rutgers University.

• In January, we started the year with 120k curated stock assets, and by year end curated over 200,000 of the 290k+ we received from over 750 contributors around the world.
• In Seed Round 3, we raised $500k from 9.58 Ventures (958vp.com), a Silicon Valley VC firm Founded by Omar Sillah, Fred Toney, David Vanterpool (NBA), and Deion Jones (NFL).
• In June, the team went back to Cannes with Chad Comiteau and Nathalie Heywood Smith (she/her/us), where Nyla Christian moderated a panel for Procter & Gamble called “Unbecoming”. The entire experience was captured in a photo collection called “Cannes in Color” by Armando “OUTthere” Diaz.
• We started development of our Inclusive AI Imaging Platform and are currently seeking partners for funding, content, development, and data.
• We had over 900 customers, adding MassMutual, AAA, Marriott, Squarespace, Liberty Mutual, Access Hollywood, Interpublic Group (IPG), and Omnicom Health.
• We were featured in Afrotech

• In January, we started the year with 180,000 curated stock assets. As of today, we have curated over 325,000 of the 800,000 assets in our library
• We expanded our board of directors adding Dr. dt ogilvie and DeSean Brown, and launched our first Advisory board
• In Q1, we started providing our inclusive imagery + metadata as datasets to AI companies
• We launched our global partnership with Canva
• We joined several industry associations DMLA, NRBP, and AACCNJ
• We raised another $275k from investors, with $350k currently available
• With the support of Audible’s Business Attraction program, we built our HQ in Newark
• We crossed the 1,000 customer milestone this year, adding brands like Canva, Bank of America, Adobe, Prudential, VaynerX, and more!

instock: Collections that show the world around us

instock: Over 300k curated images through our Diversity Lens

We have had over 900 brilliant creators join our community and contribute over 800,000 stock assets and counting. They have been telling their unique stories from their own perspectives all around the world.

Explore our collections below:

• Black people – https://lnkd.in/ef_Z9Ctz
• Asian people – https://lnkd.in/eDG46D39
• Hispanic people – https://lnkd.in/eFuVGGWV
• Indigenous people – https://lnkd.in/e885KdPx
• Middle Eastern people – https://lnkd.in/e8UG3Aiz
• People with Disabilities – https://lnkd.in/ebztsFhh
• LGBTQ+ people – https://lnkd.in/ekHhntfY
• Non-binary people – https://lnkd.in/e_uBgPie
• People in business – https://lnkd.in/eXrUyTfd
• People over 50 – https://lnkd.in/eA_WrqgC
• Health & Fitness – https://lnkd.in/eNUNHkNP
• Families of color – https://lnkd.in/ekP6ruEY
• Diverse groups of people – https://lnkd.in/e6PnCTEq
• Celebrities of color – https://lnkd.in/e7NMQxGU
• Illustrations – https://lnkd.in/ePs8Gb2b
• Video footage – https://lnkd.in/e3G-_MhP

Sign up to access over 300k diverse stock photos, videos, and illustrations

 

All powered by our people

As with any startup, the energy from our people fuel the engine that propels our mission forward. Without incredibly smart, talented, diverse, and dedicated people, we wouldn’t have achieved the level of progress we’ve made over the past 5 years.

They say “if you build it, they will come”

So we built it, opened our doors, invited everyone, and viola! They are still coming!

We were very intentional in our early years in business. We took our time to get a few chess pieces in place before we made our first moves. Our initial focus was on building an innovative tech platform like no other, creating flexible and scalable models that worked for everyone, and the most inclusive stock library we could imagine. We needed to create solutions that met the magnitude of the global challenges we were looking to solve.

Over the past few years, we have had 1,000 customers, clients, and partners join our mission to create a more inclusive world. We built the solution we wanted when we were customers of other platforms, and then shared it with the world.

Thank you to all of our customers and client partners!

Big or small companies, agencies, non-profits, higher education, government entities, we want to work with you. Sign up today, https://www.pocstock.com/pricing

Canva just released their Droptober announcement, and we were included!

As we started our ‘Year of the Partnership‘ this year, we were super excited to announce that we partnered with Canva, the all-in-one visual communication platform used by hundreds of millions of people around the world to create all types of content, including social media posts, presentations, posters, videos, logos, and more.

People are using the word partnership very loosely these days, but with Canva it has been truly a partnership. We brought our teams together, identified shared goals, and work together to deliver inclusive content to Canva customers around the world.

“Partnering with pocstock, leaders in diverse and representative content, aligns perfectly with our mission at Canva to provide access to media that mirrors the rich tapestry of our global community. This partnership is a powerful step toward empowering everyone, everywhere, to create designs that tell their stories authentically and accurately .” – Tanya Raheja, Head of Content at Canva.

“We build through community – partnering with Canva is an opportunity for the amazing work of our global creator community to reach and impact Canva users around the world. Together our communities can transform the face of marketing and advertising. – DeSean Brown, Chief Relationship Officer at pocstock

You can now find us on Canva at https://www.canva.com/p/pocstock/

We’re proud members of several trade associations

“Having pocstock involved brings a crucial perspective that will help us drive meaningful change and ensure that all voices are seen and heard in the digital media landscape.” – Joe Naylor, President of DMLA and Founder, President & CEO of Image Rights International

• National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)
• Newark Regional Business Partnership
• Digital Media Licensing Association – DMLA
• The African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (AACCNJ)

We want to thank our investors who decided to “diversify” their portfolios

Investing in startups is not for everyone, so we thank everyone who invested in us in our early stage of growth. Our Founders DeSean Brown and Steve Jones self-funded the company for the first 2 years, proved the concept, and then started raising seed capital. We have raised over $1.4m from investors over the past 3 years. Some of our investors are professional accredited investors, and others are everyday people who chose pocstock as their very first investment.

The company has increased in value year over year, and are looking for investors to accelerate our growth.

Our careers have been focused on backing the best people, players, and entrepreneurs, of all backgrounds and from many different walks of life. This has led us to primarily back the people that venture investing has historically shunned. We are delighted to make pocstock our first portfolio investment at 9.58 Venture Partners. We are partnered with some of the best athletes and coaches in their respective fields, and that embodies the co-founders and managers of the companies we seek to support. pocstock is rapidly becoming a leader in diversity images of people of color and many other ethnic and lifestyle backgrounds. – Fred Toney, 9.58 Venture Partners

We’re currently raising, and there is still time to invest.

 

Interested in investing in pocstock? Contact Chad Comiteau (Investor Relations) for more information. You don’t have to be a millionaire to own a piece of history in the making.

You can track our investment journey:

• Meet our investors @ https://www.pocstock.com/investors
• Crunchbase @ https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/pocstock
• Recent news & press – Afrotech, NJ Urban News, Press Release

Thank you to our board of directors and advisory board for keeping us moving in the right direction

Thank you to our global creator network

We’re excited to take a moment to recognize some of our most impactful contributors who truly added value to our community with their creativity and outlook. Thanks to our contributors, we’ve been able to scale our library from 1,500 images to over 800k in 5 years.

Support our creators by downloading your favorite images today.

Addictive Stock, 600 photographers across Spain and Latin America

Search this collection: https://www.pocstock.com/users/@addictivestock/search

Lamar Carter, a NJ-based creative photographer

Search this collection: https://www.pocstock.com/users/@shotbysbd/search

Armando Diaz, a brilliant documentary style artist in New Jersey

Search this collection: https://www.pocstock.com/users/@outtherenj/search

Westend61 GmBh, a global stock agency based in Germany

Search this collection: https://www.pocstock.com/users/@westend61/search

Koi Sojer, legendary entertainment photographer from California

Search this collection: https://www.pocstock.com/users/@koisojer/search

Cristian Negroni, a creative photographer

Browse this collection: https://www.pocstock.com/users/@Oneinchpunch/search

Thank you all for being part of our journey! We’re rapidly approaching our next major content milestone of 1m images, and we’re extremely thankful for our growing network 🎉

Creators, here’s how you can join us, work with us, and partner with us!

 

We’re looking to partner with creators, stock agencies, photographers, videographers, illustrators, models, producers, directors, and you!

• Sign up as a contributor! https://www.pocstock.com/users/sign-up
• Upload and monetize your photos, videos, and illustrated content! https://www.pocstock.com/become-a-contributor
• Sign up as a model https://www.pocstock.com/model
• Stringers wanted, contact us to join our database!