Eliot Andres, who co-founded the popular AI photography platform Photoroom, has exited his executive position at the Paris startup after seven years. The departure marks a major leadership shift for one of France’s highest-profile artificial intelligence companies.
Andres launched Photoroom alongside CEO Matthieu Rouif in 2019. Their pitch to Y Combinator centered on a simple ambition: letting anyone produce professional-grade photo edits without formal training. That vision eventually landed the company a €500 million valuation.
Throughout most of his tenure, Andres served as chief technology officer. He transitioned into a contributor role earlier this year before confirming his full exit from day-to-day operations on LinkedIn.
“After seven years, I’m stepping down from my executive role at Photoroom,” Andres wrote. “I’ll remain involved in strategic decisions as a board member. There is no perfect time for a founder to step back, but I’m confident the time is right.”
Rouif responded publicly, saying he looked forward to continuing their partnership through board-level collaboration.
Taking over the CTO duties is Javier Sotelo, a former Groupon executive who came aboard at the beginning of the year. The handoff appears designed to keep technical leadership stable while Andres pulls back.
Meanwhile, Photoroom continues to gain commercial traction. The company closed a €43 million Series B round in 2024. Enterprise customers now include DoorDash, Wolt, and Decathlon, all of whom rely on the app’s AI tools to generate polished product imagery at scale.
Andres offered few specifics about his next move beyond a short statement: “I’m taking a bit of time to reflect on my next projects. They won’t stray far from AI or apps.”
His exit underscores a familiar pattern among venture-backed founders: step away once the company reaches maturity, then pursue the next build. For Photoroom, the challenge becomes proving it can sustain momentum without one of its original technical architects in the room every day.
