IconFinder is a search engine for Icons. The company was founded in 2009 in Copenhagen and the amount of user and downloads have exploded since then (May 2012: 1.100.000 uniques). The demand for design icons for the web and App design market is said to be strong and this is exactly what marketplace builds upon.

Iconfinder Marketplace allows designers to sell icons to buyers. Iconfinder takes a 30% cut on the deal, and the rest is for the designer. This platform allows designers to capitalize on their creative work in an easy and effective way which is unique in this market. Not all designers can submit icons, the artists are hand picked by Iconfinder to ensure quality: a way for Iconfinder to target the professional end of the market.

“The marketplace is a big step for us. Users will be able to buy high quality vectors directly from the search results. It would be the easiest way to find and buy icons online. This will make it possible for talented icon designers to get paid for their work,” said Martin LeBlanc (source: trendsonline.dk).

Balancing the need for free icons with the demand for paid icons will be of key importance to the future successes they envision.

We want IconFinder to be ‘the number one bookmark’ for people in the design industry,” says Martin. “Until now, resources and tools have been fragmented. 5 years ago, designers had thousands of icons on their computer, now it is only necessary to go to one place. Iconfinders goal is to make the design on the screen better.” says founder of 500 Startups and investor Dave McClure. (source: trendsonline.dk)