Company:Calendly
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Founder | Tope Awotona |
| Headquarters | Remote[1] |
Key people | Tope Awotona (CEO) |
| Products | Meeting scheduling software |
Number of employees | 424 (April 2022)[1] |
| Website | calendly |
Calendly is a software company that develops a business communication platform used for teams to schedule, prepare and follow up on external meetings. The company was founded in Atlanta, Georgia by Nigerian-born American entrepreneur Tope Awotona, but discontinued its physical offices in July 2021.[2]
As of January 2021, Calendly was valued at $3 billion, making it a tech unicorn.[1]
History
Calendly was founded in Atlanta in 2013 by Tope Awotona, a former EMC (now Dell EMC) salesperson who was frustrated with the difficulty of scheduling sales calls.[3] He founded the company with his savings and by taking out a small-business loan, while working at the co-working incubator Atlanta Tech Village.[1] He hired the Kyiv, Ukraine-based company Railsware to help develop the software.[1] In late 2013, seed investors provided a $550,000 investment.[1]
The software began as a freemium version for individual users when the company launched.[3] In late 2014, the company added a premium version.[3]
In January 2021, Calendly raised $350 million from investment firms OpenView Venture Partners and Iconiq, at a reported $3 billion valuation.[4] In July 2021, during the COVID-19 outbreak, Awotona closed the company's Atlanta headquarters and took the company remote.[5]
In January 2022, the company received attention on Twitter, when a Silicon Valley entrepreneur criticized the etiquette behind sending a Calendly link, and others defended the process.[6] The company reported a large spike in sign-ups after the social media attention.[6] In a February article about Google's calendar application, Wired reported that Calendly's was a market leader.[7]
Products
Calendly develops a software as a service scheduling automation platform to help schedule external meetings and make them more productive.[4] Users share open time slots in their calendars to book meetings by sending a scheduling link, or through embedded times in an email or text message.[4][6] Recipients of Calendly invitations select an available time before it is automatically added to Google and Microsoft Outlook calendars.[4]
The company offers a freemium version for individuals, and premium versions for individuals, teams and enterprises.[6] The premium version offers additional features such as additional calendars, team scheduling features and integration with video conferencing and payment services.[4][8]
The software has been recognized for its viral nature, since recipients of invites could be encouraged to try the software themselves.[8]
Operations
Calendly was founded in Atlanta, but as of July 2021, operates an all-remote workforce without an official headquarters.[1] Tope Awotona is the company's CEO.[1] The company reported 424 employees in April 2022.[1] As of January 2021, the company was valued at $3 billion.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Nigeria-Born Tope Awotona Poured His Life Savings Into Calendly. Now He’s One Of America’s Wealthiest Immigrants". April 6, 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2022/04/06/nigeria-born-tope-awotona-poured-his-life-savings-into-calendly-now-hes-one-of-americas-wealthiest-immigrants/.
- ↑ "Atlanta unicorn Calendly scraps its office, shifts to all-remote workforce" (in en-US). 2021-07-01. https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2021/07/01/calendly-remote-workfoce.html.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Meet the unicorn founder that braved war zones and missed meetings to make his mark on the startup world". November 19, 2020. https://fortune.com/2020/11/19/calendly-founder-tope-awotona-startup-unicorn/.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "How Atlanta’s Calendly turned a scheduling nightmare into a $3B startup". January 26, 2021. https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/26/how-atlantas-calendly-turned-a-scheduling-nightmare-into-a-3b-startup/.
- ↑ "Atlanta unicorn Calendly scraps its office, shifts to all-remote workforce". July 1, 2021. https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2021/07/01/calendly-remote-workfoce.html.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Calendly is a way to tell people when you’re free for a meeting — but some techies hate it". February 7, 2022. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/07/what-is-calendly-.html.
- ↑ "Google Calendar's ‘Appointment Schedule’ Is Good, Not Great". February 5, 2022. https://www.wired.com/story/calendly-google-calendar-appointment-schedule/.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "How Calendly is building a platform by turning scheduling into a center-stage event". September 22, 2021. https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/22/how-calendly-is-building-a-platform-by-turning-scheduling-into-a-center-stage-event/.
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