Squarespace
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | New York, NY (SoHo) |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) | Anthony Casalena |
| Industry | Web content management system, Website builder, Web hosting service |
| Employees | 500+ (as of May 2015)[1] |
| Website |
www |
| Alexa rank |
 617 (As of January 2016)[2] |
| Launched | January 2004 |
Squarespace is a SaaS-based content management system (CMS) which is composed of a website builder, blogging platform and hosting service. The service allows individuals and businesses to create and maintain websites and blogs.
Since launching in 2004, Squarespace has grown to 503 employees[1] in 190 countries, and millions of users have created websites on the Squarespace platform.[3]
History
Squarespace was founded in 2003 and launched in January 2004 by Anthony Casalena while he studied at the University of Maryland,[4] using a $30,000 investment from his father. He created the initial software behind the company after trying and disliking other personal web page platforms.[5] Squarespace was founded to create an all-in-one web publishing solution. On November 17, 2014, Squarespace announced that it acquired Brace.io, a website creation startup powered by cloud tools like Dropbox and Amazon Web Services. The price of the acquisition was not released.[6]
Releases
| Version | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| style="background-color: #FDB3AB; " title="Old version, no longer supported" data-sort-value="4" | 4 | May 2007 | Introduced full site searching, FAQs, integrated form building, forums, and a Google Maps component. |
| class="templateVersion co" style="background-color: #FEF8C6; " title="Older version, yet still supported" data-sort-value="5" | 5 | July 2008 | First major interface revision. Added a drag-and-drop interface with extensive use of JavaScript. |
| class="templateVersion c" style="background-color: #D4F4B4; " title="Current stable version" data-sort-value="6" | 6 | July 2012 | Completely new system featuring a more free form and flexible layout system. Added portfolio templates, responsive designs which work well on mobile devices. This version added a true developer platform allowing full control of all HTML, CSS and Javascript files. The commerce portion added ShipStation order integration, Xero accounting support, and Stripe payment processing. |
| class="templateVersion c" style="background-color: #D4F4B4; " title="Current stable version" data-sort-value="7" | 7 | October 2014 | A major redesign of the Squarespace 6 interface offered as an in-place upgrade for existing users. Added Cover Pages, Getty Images integration, Google Apps integration, 15 new template variants, updated Android apps, and more.[7][8][9] |
Awards
- In 2011, Squarespace Founder and CEO Anthony Casalena was named one of Crains New York's Top Entrepreneurs of 2011.[10]
- In September 2012, the company was listed in Time.com's 50 Best Websites of 2012.[11]
- In December 2012, the company was ranked #2 Best Place to Work in New York City by Crain's New York.[12]
- In January 2013, the company placed #45 in Forbes' annual list of America's Most Promising Companies.[13]
- In January 2013, Squarespace Founder and CEO Anthony Casalena was named one of America's Most Promising CEOs Under 35 by Forbes.[14]
- In November 2013, Squarespace was awarded a Critics' Choice CMS Award for Best Website Builder by CMS Critic.[15]
- In April 2014, Squarespace won 4 Webby Awards.[16]
- In June 2014, Squarespace Founder and CEO Anthony Casalena was listed as one of Inc. Magazine's 35 under 35.[17]
- In September 2014, Squarespace was named the #3 best medium company to work at in the USA by Fortune Magazine [18]
- In October 2015, Squarespace was named the #5 best medium company to work at in the USA by Fortune Magazine [19]
- In December 2015, Squarespace was ranked #7 Best Place to Work in New York City by Crain's New York.[20]
Industry competitors
Squarespace's primary competitors in the website publishing industry include WordPress, Weebly, Wix.com, GoDaddy, Jimdo, Webflow, Webydo[21] amongst others. The exact number of Squarespace users is not disclosed, although Casalena estimates that Squarespace signs up about 1,000 new customers a day.[22]
Funding
Squarespace is funded by Accel Partners and Index Ventures. The company raised $38.5 million in its Series A round of funding in July, 2010. As part of the financing deal, Squarespace formed a board of directors, to add its three charter members: Jonathan Klein, Andrew Braccia, and Dominique Vidal. Casalena remains Squarespace's largest shareholder.[23]
Squarespace raised another $40 million in Series B funding from General Atlantic in April 2014.[24][25] This is a minority investment. Anton Levy, Managing Director of General Atlantic, will join the Squarespace board of directors.[24]
See also
References
- 1 2 "About Squarespace". Retrieved February 12, 2015.
- ↑ "Squarespace.com Site Info". Retrieved January 27, 2016.
- ↑ "About Squarespace". Squarespace. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ↑ "About Our Company - Squarespace". Squarespace. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
- ↑ "Squarespace Raises $38.5 Million From Accel, Index Ventures". Techcrunch. 2010-07-13. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
- ↑ Napier, Lopez November 17, 2014 TheNextWeb. "Squarespace acquires Brace.io to bolster its developer tools"
- ↑ Rhodes, Margaret (2014-10-07). "The New Squarespace Is a UX Dream That Eliminates the Backend Entirely". Wired. Retrieved 2014-10-07.
- ↑ "This Is The New Squarespace". TechCrunch. 2014-10-07. Retrieved 2014-10-07.
- ↑ "Squarespace Announces Major Upgrade". TheNextWeb. 2014-10-07. Retrieved 2014-10-07.
- ↑ "Top Entrepreneurs 2011". Crain's New York Business. 2011-05-28. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
- ↑ "50 Best Websites 2012". Time (magazine). 2012-09-18. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
- ↑ "Best Places to Work 2012". Crain's New York Business. 2012-12-02. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
- ↑ "America's Most Promising Companies". Forbes. 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
- ↑ Colao, J.J. (2013-02-06). "America's Most Promising CEOs Under 35". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
- ↑ "Critics' Choice Award for Best Website Builder". CMS Critic.
- ↑ "Squarespace Wins Four Webby Awards". Squarespace Blog.
- ↑ "For Squarespace, Slow and Steady Wins the Race". Inc. Magazine. 2014-06-25. Retrieved 2014-06-25.
- ↑ "50 Best Small and Medium-Size Companies to Work For". Fortune Magazine. 2014-09-18. Retrieved 2014-09-18.
- ↑ "50 Best Small and Medium-Size Companies to Work For". Fortune Magazine. 2015-10-21. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
- ↑ "Best Places to Work 2015". Crain's New York Business. 2015-12-04. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
- ↑ "Squarespace Website Builder Review - SuperbWebsiteBuilders.com". SuperbWebsiteBuilders.com. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
- ↑ Pofeldt, Elaine. "How a dorm blog snared $79 million in VC funding". CNBC. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
- ↑ "Index, Accel bet big on Squarespace". Reuters. 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
- 1 2 "Squarespace Takes $40 Million in Growth Equity". BeatBeat.
- ↑ "Squarespace Raises $40M in Series B Funding from Global Growth Investor General Atlantic". General Atlantic.