Prisma Labs

Is Prisma Labs publicly traded?
No, Prisma Labs is a privately held company. It has raised $6 million in initial funding and is part of the Palta startup portfolio, but has not undergone an initial public offering.

Who is the CEO of Prisma Labs?
Andrey Usoltsev serves as CEO and co-founder. Alexey Moiseenkov was a co-founder who previously worked at Mail.Ru before dedicating himself to the Prisma app. Oleg Poyaganov serves as CTO.

What apps does Prisma Labs make?
Prisma Labs makes two apps: Prisma AI (photo-to-art with neural network style transfer, 110M+ downloads) and Lensa AI (portrait editing and AI Magic Avatars, 45M+ downloads). Both are available on iOS and Android.

What are Magic Avatars?
Magic Avatars is Lensa AI's viral feature launched in December 2022. Users upload 10-20 selfies and the app uses Stable Diffusion to generate 50-200 personalized AI portraits in various artistic styles. The feature reached #1 on the US App Store and generated tens of millions of downloads. In 2025-2026, the feature was updated to support one-photo generation and couple avatars.

How much revenue does Prisma Labs generate?
Prisma Labs generated approximately $30.75 million in December 2022 alone during the Magic Avatars viral peak. The app generated $18 million in 2023 and approximately $20 million in 2024. The company is profitable through its subscription ($29.99/year) and avatar pack revenue model.

What was the BIPA lawsuit?
In 2024, Prisma Labs faced a class action lawsuit under Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, alleging the company wrongfully scraped photos and processed biometric information without consent. Dechert law firm successfully defended Prisma Labs, obtaining a landmark win that established important precedents for AI companies operating under biometric privacy laws.

Why did artists criticize Lensa AI?
Artists found fragments of their signatures in Lensa-generated avatars, revealing that the underlying Stable Diffusion model was trained on copyrighted artworks without permission. This made Lensa AI a flashpoint in the debate over AI training data and artist rights. Prisma Labs responded that they used an open-source model and did not control the training data.

Prisma Labs was founded in 2016 by Andrey Usoltsev, Alexey Moiseenkov, Oleg Poyaganov, and Ilya Frolov. The team developed the original Prisma app in just one and a half months, using neural networks and artificial intelligence to add artistic effects to photos. Unlike traditional photo editing apps that apply filter layers, Prisma recreates images through different layers using deep learning algorithms, producing more authentic artistic transformations.

The Prisma app launched on iOS in June 2016 and quickly achieved viral success, becoming the leading app in Russia and other countries. It was named App of the Year by the Apple App Store and Best App of 2016 by Google Play. By 2026, the Prisma app had accumulated over 110 million downloads worldwide.

In July 2016, the iOS version was updated to enable offline image processing using the phone's processor, reducing dependency on server-side rendering. The app initially offered twenty filters at launch, expanding to forty by the end of July 2016.

Lensa AI was created in October 2018 and released in October 2019 as a portrait-focused photo editing app. The app offered selfie enhancement, background replacement, and retouching features powered by AI. Lensa operated as a moderately successful editing tool until December 2022, when the introduction of Magic Avatars transformed the app into a global phenomenon.

In December 2022, Lensa's Magic Avatars feature went viral. The feature used Stable Diffusion, an open-source AI model, to generate personalized AI portraits from user selfies. Users uploaded 10-20 selfies and received 50-200 unique avatars in various artistic styles. The app reached #1 by downloads in 102 countries, #1 Grossing in 67 countries, and #1 on the App Store across all categories in 102 countries. Lensa generated 19.3 million downloads in December 2022 alone, with Prisma Labs banking approximately $30.75 million in revenue that month, including single days crossing $8 million.

The Magic Avatars launch was covered by every major news outlet globally, including the New York Times, Forbes, and the Wall Street Journal. It set a benchmark for success in generative AI consumer products, with tens of millions of downloads and hundreds of millions of images generated.

In 2024, Prisma Labs generated approximately $20 million in revenue. In December 2025, Lensa AI experienced another viral spike with 12.6 million downloads in 11 days, demonstrating the app's enduring appeal. As of 2026, Lensa AI continues to receive regular updates, with version 6.2.5 released in April 2026, adding new avatar styles, one-photo generation, and couple avatars.

Prisma Labs has established sustainability and ethical practices focused on digital innovation, privacy protection, and responsible AI development.

Digital Sustainability: The company's AI processing uses optimized neural network algorithms that reduce computational requirements. Prisma Labs has implemented programs to reduce the carbon footprint of its AI processing and server operations.

Privacy Protection: Prisma Labs maintains data privacy policies for photo processing and user information. The company states that uploaded photos and temporary AI models are deleted from servers after avatar generation, with users retaining ownership of generated images. The company maintains compliance with GDPR and CCPA.

Ethical AI: The company maintains ethical guidelines for AI technology development. However, the use of Stable Diffusion, which was trained on billions of internet images including copyrighted artworks, has raised significant ethical questions about AI training data and artist compensation.

Artist Relations: Following the artist backlash in 2022-2023, Prisma Labs responded that they used an open-source model (Stable Diffusion) and did not control the training data. The company has not directly addressed artist compensation concerns, which remain an ongoing issue in the generative AI industry.

• App of the Year 2016: Apple App Store
• Best App of 2016: Google Play
• #1 by downloads in 102 countries: Lensa AI, December 2022
• #1 Grossing in 67 countries: Lensa AI, December 2022 (including the US)
• #1 across all categories on App Store: Lensa AI, December 2022, 102 countries
• Industry recognition: Featured in New York Times, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, and every major news outlet globally for Magic Avatars

Artist Backlash and Copyright Concerns: In late 2022 and 2023, Lensa AI faced significant backlash from the digital art community. Stable Diffusion, the AI model powering Magic Avatars, was trained on billions of internet images, many of which were copyrighted artworks. Several artists found fragments of their signatures in Lensa-generated avatars, making the app a flashpoint in the debate over AI training data and artist rights. Artists argued that training AI on copyrighted works without permission constituted "theft by algorithm." Prisma Labs responded that they used an open-source model and did not control the training data, but this response did not satisfy the artistic community.

BIPA Lawsuit: Prisma Labs faced a class action lawsuit in 2024 under Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The lawsuit alleged that Prisma wrongfully scraped photos from the internet and processed biometric information without proper consent. Dechert law firm successfully defended Prisma Labs, obtaining a landmark win that established important precedents for AI companies operating under biometric privacy laws. This victory was significant for the broader AI industry, as BIPA compliance has been a major legal risk for AI companies handling facial data.

Privacy Practices: Common Sense Media gave Prisma a "Warning" rating for privacy practices, citing issues related to data use and profile creation. The company faces ongoing scrutiny regarding how user photos are processed, stored, and protected in its cloud infrastructure.

Pricing Concerns: A 2025 survey found that 75% of Lensa users thought the subscription was overpriced and 85% called the avatar pack pricing unfair. Auto-renewal complaints are a common theme in app store reviews. The dual pricing model (subscription plus avatar pack fees) has been criticized as making users "pay twice."

Regulatory Compliance: Prisma Labs must navigate complex regulatory requirements including GDPR in Europe, CCPA in California, BIPA in Illinois, mobile app store policies, and emerging AI governance frameworks. The company's handling of biometric data for facial recognition and avatar generation is subject to particular scrutiny.