Je suis Blipfoto

Both the Scotsman and the Edinburgh Evening News have covered stories today that Blipfoto has entered liquidation. Sadly all 11 staff members from the company have been laid off. 

Tom MacLennan, of liquidators FRP Advisory, confirmed that the Edinburgh-based firm was suffering from ‘funding issues’, adding: “The funds available were not adequate to wind it down without insolvency protection.”

The website is still up and running while talks take place with potential buyers, with more news expected by the end of the week.

Blipfoto was started in Edinburgh by Joe Tree in late 2004, and entered into a partnership with Minnesota-based Optics firm Polaroid in January 2015.

There has been a lot of concern about what would happen if the website did close. Most people are extremely worried that they might lose all their diary entries and comments.

Blipfoto is very popular with Scots politicians Mike Russell and Stuart Maxwell, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and thousands of amateur photographers around the world. It has close to 3.5 million photos shared on the site, and registers around 18 million page views each month.

With contributors in at least 170 countries around the globe, Blipfoto won a BAFTA Scotland award in 2009 for best website, becoming a full-time venture in December the following year. In 2011 it was voted best Scottish website by The List magazine and has collaborated with the likes of the Scottish Government and the National Theatre of Scotland.

Interesting that Polaroid are not saying anything. I hope a funder can be found quickly and everyone at BlipCentral gets their jobs back.

As I said yesterday we need to stick together to demonstrate what a valuable asset Blipfoto is. So join us tomorrow and take a photo of yourself with arms stretched wide (as if you were going to hold hands with the people next to you) and post as your blip for the day. Tag your image with ‪#‎blipfotoforever‬.   Je suis Blipfoto.