April 27, 2011, Updated September 12, 2012

Israeli start-up PicScout, a leader in image copyright solutions, has agreed to be bought out by one of the world’s biggest stock photo agencies, Getty Images. The deal is said to be worth $20 million.

This is the second big sale entrepreneur Eyal Gura has made in April. Earlier this month, Gura’s embedded photo start-up, PicApp, was sold to Ybrant Digital for a reported $10 million.

PicScout was founded in 2002 by Gura and Offir Gutelzon. It is a financially independent, privately held company and has offices in the Silicon Valley and Herzliya.

Early on, PicScout made a name for itself with its Image Tracker Service that monitors the use of images on the web. Getty Images was one of PicScout’s main clients.

According to Hebrew media, PicScout’s annual turnover stands at $5 million, and the company is considered to be profitable.

PicScout had filed a prospectus with the Israel Securities Authority to raise $5-10 million at a company value of $20-30 million in an IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) but withdrew the plan in favor of the sale to Getty Images. 

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