Our Story

What is Pictory? 

Who are the founders

Vikram Chalana: Vikram is an engineer turned entrepreneur. He was the co-founder of Winshuttle, an enterprise software company that he helped grow to 300 employees globally.

Vishal Chalana: Vishal is a technology leader with an extensive track record building commercially-successful enterprise and cloud solutions. Vishal was the co-founder of Winshuttle, an enterprise-software company.

Abid Mohammed: Abid is a growth strategy leader with a proven track record. He has deep cross-functional experience in sales, partnerships, product management, and customer service.

Why and how did Vikram, Vishal, and Abid start Pictory? 

At Winshuttle, Vikram, Vishal and Abid faced a significant challenge: how to effectively communicate to their colleagues, partners, and customers who were distributed across different time zones and often had varying levels of context. They knew that clear, concise communication was crucial to keep everyone aligned, productive, and informed. After being inspired by the engagement metrics in short-form videos on social media, a light-bulb moment occurred to them. Short-form video could be the perfect solution to bridge this communication divide.

However, there was a major obstacle. Neither Vikram nor Abid had the skills to create engaging, polished videos. They tried exploring hiring an external company and even an in-house videographer, but the process proved to be costly, slow, and lacked the flexibility they needed for frequent updates. They needed something faster, more accessible, and more adaptable to their needs. They built their first prototype at a hackathon in Seattle in 2019. In July 2020, they launched the first version of Pictory which has grown in functionality, scale, and customer experience over the last 4+ years. 

What began as a challenge at Winshuttle turned into the inspiration for a groundbreaking solution. Today, Pictory.ai is democratizing video-creation, helping countless individuals and businesses share their stories visually, whether it's for marketing, education, or team communication. Vikram and Abid's journey from facing their own struggles to creating a tool that empowers others is a testament to the power of innovation and the drive to make complex tasks more accessible to everyone