Prequel Inc.
TypePrivate company
IndustryInternet
Founded2018
FoundersTimur Khabirov
Serge Aliseenko
Headquarters
New York, New York, U.S.
ProductsPhoto and video editing app
Number of employees
≈200
Websitehttps://www.prequel.app

Prequel, Inc. is an American technology company and mobile app developer known for developing the Prequel mobile application, which enables editing photos and videos with filters and effects generated using artificial intelligence. Prequel was founded in 2018 by Serge Aliseenko and Timur Khabirov, who currently serves as the company’s CEO.[1] It is headquartered in New York City.[1] As of August 2022, it had been downloaded more than 100 million times.[2]

History

In 2016, entrepreneur Timur Khabirov and investor Serge Aliseenko registered a US corporation named AIAR Labs Inc, which was developing AR solutions as an outsourced contractor.[3] Of several proprietary products, Prequel was selected for beta-testing as a product focused on editing photos and videos. In 2018, Prequel was released on the Apple App Store.[4][5] The launch cost $3 million USD, financed with the founders’ personal funds. The first release included approximately 10 filters for photos and the same amount of effects that augmented images with rose petals, rain and snow, VHS and film reel simulations, glitch, grain, sun puddles, and lomography. By June 2020, the app had also been released for Android.[6]

In 2021, Prequel founders Timur Khabirov and Serge Aliseenko launched a venture studio for startups working with artificial, computer vision, and AR-based visual art.[7]

In December 2022, Prequel reached the number 14 slot on the global rankings for Apple App Store’s Top Charts and the number 5 slot on the App Store’s U.S. charts.[8]

In March 2023, Prequel launched a new app called Artique, which is an AI-powered image editing app for businesses.[9] Artique provides advertising and marketing graphic design using ready-made templates that users can customize, while giving suggestions and visual cues through artificial intelligence.[9]

Prequel was also one of the companies participating in discussions about artificial intelligence at SXSW 2023.[10]

Technical features

Prequel describes its app as an “Aesthetic Pic Editor.[11] The app uses artificial intelligence to create and edit content.[12][13] Prequel can be used to touch up faces on images and videos and can also tie various decorative elements to certain points on the human body and face.[14]

Prequel filters include the “Cartoon” filter, which converts selfies into cartoon-style pictures.[15][4] Other filters include Kidcore, Dust, Grain, Fisheye, Retro Style, Miami, Disco, and VHS-style filters,[16][17] as well as the ability to create Renaissance-style pictures.[18] Prequel also gives users the ability to apply color correction tools and to make moving images with 3D effects out of 2D images.

Prequel allows users to take photos and videos directly through the app and apply filters and effects in real time.[19][20] The app also comes with manual editing options for photos, such as adjusting the brightness and/or exposure and cropping photos, as well as an option to automatically apply adjustments.[14][21]

The Prequel app uses the Core ML, MNN, and TFLight frameworks to work with its neural networks. Some AI solutions are launched server-side, and some on the user's mobile device.[14] A resulting photo or video edited with the app is called "a prequel."[1]

The app daily generates over 2 million such prequels, which are published by users in Instagram, TikTok, and other social media. As of 2022, the app has more than 800 filters and effects, along with video templates and support for GIFs and stickers.[22]

Prequel is free-to-use, but has a premium version that gives users access to more effects, filters, and beauty tools.[23] Since its launch in 2018, Prequel has been downloaded more than 100 million times.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Prequel launches a $100M Venture Studio Program to invest in creators and early-stage tech startups". techstartups.com. 2021-07-06. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  2. ↑ Bandara, Pesala (2022-08-18). "Prequel is the Favorite Photo Editing App of Gen Z". PetaPixel. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  3. ↑ "The Tech Talks Daily Podcast: 1551: PREQUEL, The Aesthetic Editor Enhancing Human Creativity". Techblogwriter.libsyn.com. April 5, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Bandara, Pesala (2022-08-18). "Prequel is the Favorite Photo Editing App of Gen Z". PetaPixel. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  5. 1 2 "3 New Apps Taking Off Because of TikTok". YPulse. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  6. ↑ "Testing photo editing apps: "PREQUEL"". dw.com. 2020-06-03. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  7. ↑ "Prequel Launches Venture Studio Program, Will Invest $10M Annually to Foster Tech Startups". Yahoo. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  8. ↑ Perez, Sarah (2022-12-12). "AI art apps are cluttering the App Store's Top Charts following Lensa AI's success". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  9. 1 2 Kritsonis, Ted (2023-03-02). "Prequel Artique is a New AI-Powered Photo Editing App for Businesses". PetaPixel. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  10. ↑ Thomas, Trent (2023-04-20). "It's a look: How Prequel is changing photo editing". Mediaweek. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  11. ↑ "Prequel: A Hard-to-Resist A.I. App for Unique Portrait Effects and Video Filters". pocketmags.com. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  12. ↑ "How to create awesome AI art with Prequel". Creative Bloq. 2022-11-21. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  13. ↑ "5 .apps you should know about". Google. 2023-04-25. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  14. 1 2 3 "Prequel AI Editor 2.36 review: Fantastic for social media". AppleInsider. 2023-02-20. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  15. ↑ Nguyen, Jennimai (2022-01-27). "The Prequel App Is Yassifying Our Selfies Into Hot Cartoons". Mashable India. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  16. ↑ "The pros and cons of photo editing apps, and 5 of the most used ones". South China Morning Post. 2022-01-03. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  17. ↑ "Review: Prequel - Photo & Video Editor". Arab News. 2022-06-19. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  18. ↑ "Warning: the Prequel photo app isn't quite as good as the ads make it out to be". digitalcameraworld. 2022-05-11. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  19. ↑ "I tested apps that make your pics look like they're taken on film to see which is best". UK. 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  20. ↑ "These are 4 trendy editing apps every influencer must have in 2021". onescreener.com. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  21. ↑ "Top 10 Apps for Creating Aesthetic Images for Instagram". www.knowyourmobile.com. 2023-02-07. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  22. ↑ "Filter fun arrives with the app Prequel". www.telegraphindia.com. 2022-04-02. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  23. ↑ "This New Image Editing App Has Been Making Waves In Social Media". lowyat.net. 2022-01-30. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
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