TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 11/21/12 -- 500px, the fast-growing global photo sharing platform, is pleased to announce its first European acquisition and intent to beef up its European presence in 2013.

Following on the successful acquisition of Algo Anywhere in July 2012, 500px is acquiring the talent behind the leading third party 500px iPhone app, ISO500 in a private, all stock deal. David Charlec and Jerome Scheer are the founders of Pulpfingers, a Strasbourg, France based company that launched the app in October 2011.

By 'acqi-hiring' talent already familiar with the design and community aspects of 500px, the company is positioning itself to avoid the long ramp-up times often associated with international expansion.

"It's a strategic move," says Oleg Gutsol, CEO 500px. "We're all about creativity. And when you have the right chemistry with talented people in a market you want to expand into, you get creative to make sure the deal happens. I'm very pleased we arrived at an arrangement that makes good business sense for all of us."

Charlec and Scheer will continue to operate Pulpfingers over the next few months as they transition into full-time roles inside 500px. Details of the plan are being developed and the Pulpfingers team will be spending time in the Toronto HQ next year to get fully immersed in the company and its culture.

The ISO500 app will remain available in the App Store and users can expect an update that will introduce enhancements as well as support for iPhone 5. 500px plans to launch its official app over the next few weeks.

"We're looking forward to continuing our vision and building beautiful, high quality applications for 500px," says Charlec.

"It's a great fit for us because we love photography, we love design, and we love the 500px community," says Scheer. "We're excited about the possibilities now that we're combining forces."

"It's been our intention to increase our presence in Europe and we've been looking for the right opportunity," says Gutsol. "We have huge numbers of photographers in Germany, France and Spain, so a central presence in France makes a lot of sense".

About 500px

500px is a premium photo sharing platform for aspiring and professional photographers. It is powered by creative people worldwide and lets you discover, share, buy and sell inspiring photos. 500px was founded in late 2009 by two acclaimed photographers and entrepreneurs, Oleg Gutsol, CEO and Evgeny Tchebotarev, COO, and has grown to become the premier platform with the highest quality photography worldwide. For more information, please visit the 500px newsroom.

About Pulpfingers

Pulpfingers is a human-sized team of developers and designers devoted to creating beautiful, useful, and feature-packed apps for the iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch. The company is based in Strasbourg, France.