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The former Soviet Union is proving to be a productive source of photo and video apps that go viral.
The latest is Prisma. The smartphone app can transform your photos — even lousy ones — into something resembling a work of art, stylized as an impressionist or pop-art painting. It’s been downloaded about 16.5 million times since release last month on Apple Inc. devices, with the pace surging to 2 million a day after its debut for Android phones this week, according to Prisma Labs Inc., the Russian startup behind it.
Prisma counts Russian politicians and Bollywood stars among fans posting pictures to their Instagram accounts. The trajectory resembles that of an app created by the startup’s neighbors in Belarus. MSQRD, which lets users superimpose the faces of celebrities or animals over their own in selfie videos, shot into the App Store charts in December and was acquired by Facebook Inc. in March. MSQRD and Prisma also share two backers: Yuri Gurski, a vice president at Mail.Ru Group Ltd., and Gagarin Capital. Mail.Ru has a minority stake in Prisma.
With its fan base spreading — Prisma was in the top 10 on the App Store in 77 countries on Monday, according to research firm App Annie — co-founder Alexey Moiseenkov took a trip this month to Silicon Valley, where he promoted the company. Facebook’s headquarters was one stop on that tour, prompting speculation by tech blogs that the app could be an acquisition target.