Imagely Acquires TeslaThemes, Is Seeking Other Acquisition Opportunities

In an effort to diversify and expand into the commercial WordPress theme market, Imagely, maintainers of NextGEN Gallery, have acquired TeslaThemes for an undisclosed amount.

TeslaThemes launched in 2013 as a theme club and recently celebrated its fourth anniversary. The company has 68 themes in its library, including the TeslaThemes framework.

Eric Danzer, Founder and CEO of Imagely, says no major changes will be happening with TeslaThemes and that their immediate focus will be to provide maintenance and support.

“Beyond that, our goal is to do more of what Tesla has already been doing so well – creating beautiful new themes and continually enhancing the existing themes,” Danzer said.

Imagely has been busy this year launching a managed WordPress hosting service for photographers, releasing new photography themes, and an Adobe Lightroom plugin that allows users to manage NextGEN galleries from within Lightroom.

Later this year, Imagely plans to release a new version of NextGEN gallery with a redesigned backend interface. The company is also working on a way to add automated print fulfillment to WordPress.

“Automated print fulfillment allows photographers to sell prints from their websites, and have those prints automatically delivered via the print lab without any intervention on their part,” Danzer said.

“This functionality drives many large companies in the photo industry – SmugMug, ShootProof, Pixieset, Zenfolio, Photoshelter, and others. But it’s not possible yet on WordPress.

“Bringing a full print solution to WordPress has the potential to revolutionize the photo industry and make WordPress the default web solution for photographers that it should be.”

Marcel Sobieski, co-founder of TeslaThemes, thanked customers for their support and confirmed that they exited the company on June 9th.

“We built a solid, trusted and valuable business, that is needed on the market and is appreciated both by industry colleagues and clients,” Sobieski said.

This is the second exit in the last six months for Sobieski and his team. The sale of TeslaThemes will allow them to focus on a new venture called WPMatic.io, a one-on-one WordPress support and development company.

“The six years of experience that we have in WordPress is already helping a few hundred clients and tens of companies and agencies in need, right after purchasing a WP Theme from the market,” Sobieski said.

“Soon we will start partnering with some of the best WP Theme Clubs to deliver a unique experience for their clients.”

The acquisition of TeslaThemes represents Imagely’s first major move into the general WordPress products market. The company is also seeking acquisition opportunities for other WordPress plugin and theme companies.

“In the coming years, we’ll be both building and be acquiring a range of other WordPress theme and plugin companies,” Danzer said.

“I’ll even add a small call here: if you have a solid WordPress product, with a great brand and stable revenue over around $200,000, and you are looking to exit, feel free to reach out to me directly to chat.”

Correction: June 14th, 2017 The article incorrectly identifies Imagely as the creators of NextGEN Gallery. Alex Rabe is the creator of NextGEN Gallery and he released it in 2007. Photocrati acquired the plugin in February, 2016.