Startup profile · funding coverage
FiftyThree
FiftyThree created the Paper iPad drawing app (Apple App of the Year 2012) before WeTransfer acquired its assets in 2018.
Stage
acquired
Status
acquired
Coverage
full
Why FiftyThree is interesting
Paper made touch creation feel native on iPad; NEA's $30M Series B bet on enterprise/education expansion preceded a creative-tools rollup by WeTransfer.
Key facts
- Series A (2013): $15M led by a16z (/fund/andreessen-horowitz) with Thrive Capital (/fund/thrive-capital) (TechCrunch)
- Series B (Mar 2015): $30M led by NEA (/fund/new-enterprise-associates) (TechCrunch)
- Exit (Aug 2018): Paper/Paste assets acquired by WeTransfer
Investors in our directory
Funds linked from FiftyThree's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.
Industries
Consumer Developer Tools
Industry hub pages are rolling out from our fund-derived baseline taxonomy.
Related funding articles
Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover FiftyThree's financing or category context.
FAQs about FiftyThree
Funding context and why this company shows up in venture coverage.
FiftyThree created Paper, an iPad drawing app (Apple App of the Year 2012), and Paste, a collaborative mood-board tool for creative teams.
FiftyThree's Series A was led by Andreessen Horowitz (/fund/andreessen-horowitz) with Thrive Capital (/fund/thrive-capital). Its $30M Series B (2015) was led by NEA (/fund/new-enterprise-associates).
WeTransfer acquired Paper and Paste assets in August 2018. The company is no longer independent.
Paper made touch-based creation feel native on iPad at launch — a design benchmark that influenced creative apps for years.
FiftyThree was acquired by WeTransfer in 2018. Paper and Paste live on under WeTransfer's product suite.
Last updated: 2026-07-24