Once Upon Publishing

About Once Upon Publishing

Once Upon Publishing AB operates in the digital photo album market, offering a streamlined service for creating high-quality, physical photo books and prints directly from a smartphone. The company was founded in Skellefteå, Sweden, by Lina Andersson. The idea originated from her personal experience as a busy mother of three who, despite having a phone full of pictures, had no printed albums of her youngest child and found existing services to be overly complex.

The Once Upon app was launched in the autumn of 2016 and became available on the App Store and Google Play in the summer of 2017. It was co-founded by Andersson, Johan Schiller, and the digital design agency North Kingdom. The business targets individuals, with a strong following among busy parents, who want to curate their digital photos into lasting keepsakes without a time-consuming process. The business model is direct-to-consumer, generating revenue through the sale of physical photo books and prints ordered via its app and, more recently, a web-based platform. The company emphasizes a seamless, cross-platform experience, allowing users to work on their projects across different devices.

The core product is an application that simplifies photo book creation. Users can upload photos from their phone's camera roll, where they are automatically organized by date, and then select images for various pre-designed layouts. The app focuses on a minimal and intuitive user interface to avoid the decision fatigue often associated with customization. Key features include a shuffle layout option, the ability to add text, and a sleek Scandinavian design aesthetic. In addition to photo books, the company also offers photo prints. To ensure quality and localization, Once Upon has established printing facilities in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, the US, and the UK. The company has seen significant growth, reporting a turnover of SEK 75 million in 2020 and receiving a major investment of over €10 million in 2021 from Verdane and existing investor Spintop Ventures to fuel international expansion.