Digital Railroad cuts staffing, may have derailed
The photo management and micro stock agency Digital Railroad–a company that had formed partnerships with major photography players such as the NCAA and the National Press Photographers Association–has confirmed a staffing reduction and, according to some Web reports, could be on the verge of liquidation.
In an e-mail sent to users today, the Seattle-based company confirmed that they had “initiated a reduction in staff and expenses” after a recent search failed to yield funding the company needed to “sustain its current level of operations.” Additionally, former Digital Railroad President Maris Berzins posted on his Facebook page that he had left the company and “is looking for new opportunities.”
Digital Railroad has received some $15 million in funding from three venture capital sources since 2004, money it used to fuel its initial operations, open a new office in Milan, Italy, and launch its stock photography wing, the Digital Railroad Marketplace, which debuted in April 2007.
Were the company to collapse, it could send reverberations throughout the stock photography world: Digital Railroad touted more than 3 million photos for sale on the Marketplace, and in addition to powering the NCAA archives, the company hosts content for CalSport Media, a California-based sports and entertainment photo service.
Digital Railroad stated in its email that the company “is committed to the continued support of its customers through this period and has retained adequate staff to support both member archives and image licensing sales through Marketplace.”
Photography blogger John Harrington today posted on his site, Photo Business News & Forum, that Digital Railroad is likely being liquidated and that its board had retained San Francisco-based Diablo Management to see it through this process. Diablo Management is an interim-management company that specializes in managing “wind-downs.”
Digital Railroad has not publicly confirmed the rumor of Diablo’s involvement.
The company’s troubles come on the heels of the closure of the PhotoShelter Collection, a micro stock photo service that allowed photographers to set their own prices and keep 70 percent of sales revenue. The Collection closed after just a year in business, with CEO Allen Murabayashi stating that the company had “underestimated the complexity of sale.”
Leave a comment!