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Evgeny Tchebotarev wouldn’t be happy if he became just another investment banker.

Instead of pursuing the business world after graduation, Tchebotarev merged his bachelor of commerce ’07 degree and passion for photography to create his own photo-sharing company with computer science alumnus Oleg Gutsol.

Once based in the Digital Media Zone (DMZ), 500px recently closed a deal with U.S. investors for $8.8 million in Series-A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz and Harrison Metal. Andreessen Horowitz is one of Silicon Valley’s most respected venture capitalists, having supported established brands such as Airbnb, Facebook, Foursquare, Pinterest, Skype and Twitter. Other investors include Creative Artists Agency, Rugged Ventures, Dustin Plett and ff Venture Capital.

“The funding will allow us to move forward on projects that are on hold,” Tchebotarev said. “It takes a while to build something. This is the first time ever we can think about what we’re doing. It gives us the mental freedom to focus on the product versus paying bills.”

Jeff Jordan at Andreessen Horowitz chose to support 500px because of its effective strategy in making investments last as long as possible. He was impressed with what they were able to achieve on such a small budget and “can’t wait to see what they can accomplish with the additional resources.”

"500px is all about building and empowering a passionate community of photographers and creating an amazing platform for them to display, share and sell their work," Jordan said. "In doing so, they've created one of the most beautiful online sites in the world and one that's enjoying eye-opening user growth and engagement. We're happy to be part of the team and look forward to supporting their efforts to build 500px into one of the world's leading photography brands."

The $8.8 million has secured the team new office space in Toronto at 22 Duncan St. that will be five times the size of their current workplace. The large work space will accommodate the expected 30-plus staff to be hired in the coming months.

“We want the office to be the premier hangout spot for all creative people,” Tchebotarev said. “It has thwo floors to include a café and gallery space for photography exhibits and events, and it’ll be at street level. We want to have the right atmosphere people can work in so they can work the way they want to.”

Getting noticed by a venture capitalist is no small feat. Tchebotarev says it’s a full-time job to find funding. He and Gutsol spent eight months calling investors, sending data, models and background information to pique interest.

“You have to be persistent,” Tchebotarev said. “People sometimes give up after six months when things don’t seem to work. We had those moments too but eventually if you want to build something great you have to be persistent. We’re at the beginning of something great. It takes a while.”

500px started off as a small idea and Tchebotarev initially began the venture as a LiveJournal on the web during his undergraduate lectures. After meeting Gutsol through mutual friends and bonding over motorcycles, the duo re-launched 500px as a website in 2009 and joined the DMZ in 2011. During their time at the DMZ, the team grew from three to 12 and in July 2011 they were named Toronto’s number-one startup in the TechVibes Startup Index. The growth in team size moved 500px out of the DMZ into their first downtown office.

“It was an interesting experience. Prior to the DMZ, we worked out of my apartment so I was very happy to get into the DMZ,” he said. “The best thing we had was flexible space. We could experiment, and we experienced our first funding and massive growth there. Working from the DMZ drives you to work more and bounce off ideas. The DMZ is ideal because there’s lots of people, resources, space and the location. It fosters creativity because of the constant circulation of talent.”

In addition to providing resources and prime downtown location for new startups, the DMZ pushes for businesses to network. A big part of being an entrepreneur is meeting the right people, which happens during the frequent visits made by business people, government representatives, venture capitalists and international delegates. Relevant companies are asked to pitch visitors or are invited to attend external events such as tradeshows and conferences.