FiftyThree
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Technology, Software, Hardware |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder | Georg Petschnigg, Jonathan Harris, Julian Walker, Andrew S. Allen |
| Defunct | August 21, 2018 |
| Fate | Acquired by WeTransfer |
| Headquarters | New York City and Seattle , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Georg Petschnigg (co-founder), Jonathan Harris (co-founder), Julian Walker (co-founder), Andrew S. Allen (co-founder) |
| Products | Paper (app), Pencil (stylus), Paste (presentation software), Book (foldout notebook) |
Number of employees | 51 (peak), 14 (at acquisition) |
FiftyThree, Inc. was a privately held American tech firm focused on developing mobile creative applications. Its premier offering, Paper, earned the distinction of Apple’s iPad App of the Year in 2012. The company also created Pencil, a digital stylus, alongside Paste, a collaborative tool for presentations. FiftyThree maintained offices in both New York City and Seattle.
On August 21, 2018, WeTransfer acquired FiftyThree’s intellectual property and assets. Following this acquisition, Paper and Paste were integrated into WeTransfer’s product lineup. Of the 14 employees at the time, 12—including the full executive team—joined WeTransfer.
History
Established in 2011 by Georg Petschnigg, Jonathan Harris, Julian Walker, and Andrew S. Allen—who had previously worked together at Microsoft—FiftyThree set out to design user-friendly mobile creativity tools featuring simplified interfaces. The company initially operated out of Petschnigg’s apartment before launching its first product, Paper, in March 2012, which rapidly gained widespread acclaim.
In 2013, FiftyThree expanded its offerings with the release of Book by FiftyThree and the Pencil stylus. The subsequent year saw the rollout of the FiftyThree SDK, the Mix platform, and an update to Paper (version 3.0). The team maintained a nearly balanced composition of designers and engineers recruited from leading companies such as Microsoft, Google, Adobe, Apple, Sonos, and Nike. By December 2014, the workforce had grown to 51 employees.
The company’s name, FiftyThree, references the typical reach of a human arm—53 centimeters—symbolizing the creative space.
In June 2013, FiftyThree secured $15 million in Series A financing led by Chris Dixon of Andreessen Horowitz. Other prominent investors included Ron Conway (SV Angel), Shana Fisher (Highline Ventures), Josh Kushner (Thrive Capital), and entrepreneur Jack Dorsey.
To bolster brand visibility and market impact, FiftyThree engaged in strategic collaborations: partnering with Women's Wear Daily during New York Fashion Week (2013), working with Historic Royal Palaces for London’s Fashion Rules exhibit (2013), teaming up with (RED) to support AIDS awareness initiatives, collaborating with GE to visualize brain activity artistically, and joining forces with Skillshare to provide creative classes featuring artists like Shantell Martin.
In 2014, FiftyThree moved its New York headquarters to 60 Hudson Street—a historic building formerly occupied by Western Union—and relocated its Seattle office to Pioneer Square.
March 2015 marked a $30 million Series B funding round led by Dayna Grayson at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), aimed at broadening product development into enterprise and educational sectors.
Paper
Paper by FiftyThree debuted as an iPad app in March 2012. Within just two weeks post-launch, it achieved 1.5 million downloads and users created over 7 million pages. By April 2014, Paper had surpassed 10 million downloads with more than 100 million pages produced; collectively users spent an aggregate of one thousand years within the app.
The application provides digital notebooks for sketching, diagramming, illustrating, note-taking, and drawing that can be shared through email or online platforms. Offered in ten languages, Paper is free to download including the Draw tool; additional features such as Sketch, Outline, Write, Color, and Mixer are accessible through in-app purchases. Utilizing an OpenGL framework, Paper delivers real-time 3D visual effects combined with touch gesture controls for a responsive experience akin to gaming interfaces.
In October 2012, Paper introduced Mixer—a feature allowing users to blend two colors to create custom hues; by April 2014 over 47 million unique colors had been generated using Mixer. In May 2013, the Made With Paper Stream launched to highlight user artwork followed by Presentation Mode for external display use.
The app was updated for iOS 7 compatibility in March 2014 and integrated Adobe Creative Cloud support in November that year enabling direct exports to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. December 2014 updates added Color Picker and Swap Background Colors functionalities for enhanced color handling.
September 2014 saw the launch of Mix—a public platform within Paper designed for sharing and collaborating on creations under the Creative Commons Universal Public Domain license. By March 2015 Mix had grown beyond one million registered users. Later that year in December new social features allowed users to connect with friends via Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook.
In February 2015 FiftyThree made all core tools—Draw, Sketch, Outline, Write, Color, and Mixer—available free with every download of Paper. In May that year Think Kit was introduced featuring Diagram, Cut, and Fill tools designed for creating charts and diagrams using Intention Engine technology which recognizes shapes in real-time to produce polished visuals suitable for professional presentations. Think Kit also brought expanded sharing options allowing exports to productivity platforms such as Trello, Slack, Dropbox, and Box.
Paper arrived on iPhone in September 2015 with version 3.0 introducing photo import capabilities alongside annotation tools and a swipe-to-style text feature. The interface shifted from a notebook metaphor to “Spaces,” organizing ideas within a grid layout. Concurrently Mix was rebranded as “People You Follow.”
In November 2017 Paper adopted an optional subscription model on a monthly basis and underwent redesigns for compatibility with iOS 11.
Pencil and the FiftyThree SDK
FiftyThree introduced Pencil, a digital stylus, in November 2013 across the U.S. and Canada, offering two variants: graphite with a brushed aluminum finish and walnut crafted from sustainably sourced walnut wood. In January 2015, the lineup expanded with the Pencil Gold, featuring anodized brushed aluminum. As an active stylus, Pencil incorporates palm rejection, blending capabilities, and a built-in eraser activated by flipping the device. Its 14k gold-plated switches facilitate Bluetooth Low Energy communication with iPads. These functionalities enable users to comfortably rest their palms while sketching, smudge or blend using their fingertips, and erase effortlessly by turning the stylus around. The device is Bluetooth Smart certified and powered by a rechargeable USB battery.
In July 2014, FiftyThree released the FiftyThree SDK to allow developers to seamlessly integrate Pencil into third-party applications. Initial collaborations included Procreate, Noteshelf, and Squiggle. By November 2014, compatibility extended to Mobile Mouse and Autodesk Sketchbook. The following year, support broadened further to encompass Microsoft OneNote, Adobe Illustrator Draw, Adobe Photoshop Sketch, PicsArt Photo Studio, Tayasui Sketches, Astropad, PDFpen 2, Flowpaper, and ZoomNotes.
September 2014 saw an update to Pencil tailored for iOS 8 that introduced Surface Pressure technology. This enhancement dynamically adjusts line thickness based on transitions between Pencil’s broad edge and fine tip.
FiftyThree ceased its hardware operations in 2016.
Book
In partnership with Moleskine, FiftyThree launched Book in October 2013. Book is a foldout notebook consisting of 15 custom-printed pages showcasing a user’s Paper app sketches, precisely formatted to match the iPad’s 4×3 aspect ratio. The pages are produced using sustainable paper combined with HP Indigo’s four-color digital printing process. Customers could personalize both the cover and spine. Ordering was facilitated directly through the Paper application. This service was discontinued in September 2015.
Paste
Released in 2017, Paste is a subscription-based presentation software designed primarily for enterprise users. Available on iOS and web platforms, Paste supports collaborative workflows and integrates smoothly with various business productivity tools.
Recognition
Paper by FiftyThree earned Apple’s App of the Year accolade in 2012 along with an Apple Design Award. It also received a Crunchie Award for Best Design and an AIGA Design award. In 2013, Paper garnered the IxDA Interaction Award, the IDSA Gold IDEA award, and recognition from Communication Arts. Additionally, Time Inc. highlighted FiftyThree as one of "10 NYC Startups To Watch."
In 2014, Pencil was honored with a Crunchie for Best Design, an IDSA Silver IDEA award for Computer Equipment, and a Gold IDEA award for Packaging. The collaborative effort between FiftyThree and Moleskine on Book earned IDSA’s Gold IDEA award for Digital Design.
Mix received Communication Arts' Interactive Annual award in the tablets/handheld category in 2015 as well as a Bronze Edison Award recognizing excellence in Collaborative Services.
These awards underscore FiftyThree’s leadership in innovative product design within the creative software sector.