Company:SendGrid

From HandWiki
SendGrid
TypeSubsidiary
NYSE: SEND
Russell 2000 Component
IndustryTechnology
Founded2009
FounderIsaac Saladana, Jose Lopez, Tim Jenkins
Headquarters
Denver, Colorado
,
United States
Key people
Sameer Dholakia (CEO)[1]
Revenue$111.9 million (2017)[2]
ParentTwilio
Websitesendgrid.com
SendGrid Denver office

SendGrid is a Denver, Colorado-based customer communication platform for transactional and marketing email.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The company was founded by Isaac Saldana, Jose Lopez, and Tim Jenkins in 2009, and incubated through the TechStars accelerator program.[9][10][11][12] As of 2017, SendGrid has raised over $81 million and has offices in Denver, Colorado; Boulder, Colorado; Irvine, California; Redwood City, California; and London.[8][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

The company went public with a debut in the New York Stock Exchange on November 16, 2017.[19]

General

SendGrid provides a cloud-based service that assists businesses with email delivery.[7][9][20][21] The service manages various types of email including shipping notifications, friend requests, sign-up confirmations, and email newsletters. It also handles internet service provider (ISP) monitoring, domain keys, sender policy framework (SPF), and feedback loops.[13][22][23][24] Additionally, the company provides link tracking, open rate reporting.[22] It also allows companies to track email opens, unsubscribes, bounces, and spam reports.[7][22][25] Beginning in 2012, the company integrated SMS, voice, and push notification abilities to its service through a partnership with Twilio.[15]

SendGrid offers a freemium version and a Lite Plan (pay-as-you-go), as well as three expanded levels of service: Essentials, Pro, and Premier.[7][26][27]

SendGrid's clients include Uber, Twilio, Foursquare, Pandora, and Airbnb.[13][21][24][28]

Controversy

The controversial firing of Adria Richards in March 2013 and the surrounding circumstances became known as Donglegate.[29][30][31][32][33]

Funding

Before SendGrid was called SendGrid, they named the project smtpapi.com, a domain name still owned by Sendgrid.[34] After founding SendGrid in Riverside, California, in July 2009, Saldana, Lopez, and Jenkins enrolled the startup in the TechStars accelerator program and moved the company to Boulder, Colorado.[9][11][35][36][37] By December 2009, the company announced it had raised $750,000 in a funding round led by Highway 12 Ventures.[22] Other participating investors included SoftTech VC, FF Angel, and TechStars founder David Cohen.[22]

In April 2010, the email software-as-a-service (SaaS) company received $5 million in Series A round funding from Foundry Group, SoftTech VC, and Highway 12 Ventures, as well as individual investors including David Cohen, Scott Petry, Dave McClure, and Matt Mullenweg.[25][38] Ryan McIntyre, the co-founder of Foundry, joined SendGrid's board of directors at this time as well.[25]

In January 2012, SendGrid raised $21 million in Series B funding.[12][15][28][39][40][41][42] The funding round – led by Bessemer Venture Partners and previous investors Highway 12 Ventures, Foundry Group, 500 Startups, and TechStars – occurred concurrently with a new partnership between SendGrid and Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform.[10][15][24][28][42]

In December 2014, SendGrid raised $20 million in Series C funding. The series C round was led by new investor Bain Capital Ventures. Current investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Foundry Group also participated.

In November 2016, SendGrid raised $33 million in Series D funding. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Bessemer Ventures and the Foundry Group.[18]

Growth and development

Former Citrix executive Sameer Dholakia joined SendGrid as the CEO in September of 2014.

The company announced in May 2011 that it had sent out over 9 billion emails for more than 23,000 companies since its founding.[27] In the same month, SendGrid announced a partnership with web host service Rackspace Hosting that allows Rackspace users to launch email campaigns using SendGrid's software.[7][24][26]

By January 2012, the service reported that it was sending out 2.6 billion personalized emails per month.[12][39][41] By March, the company was experiencing 10% monthly growth.[24]

SendGrid announced in June 2012 that it was working with 60,000 businesses and had sent out a total of 45 billion emails since its start in 2009.[12]

On July 25, 2012, the company reported it had partnered with Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) companies CloudBees, Heroku, and Engine Yard.[15] The company opened its Denver office the following October.[9][14][17]

In December 2012, SendGrid teamed up with Twilio to incorporate SMS and push notification services to its platform.[15][43] The company announced integrations with Parse, Windows Azure, and StackMob the same month.[44] In April 2013, SendGrid announced it had sent over 100 billion emails.[45] That June, the company released its new email marketing service.[46][47][48] The service allows marketing professionals and non-technical users to create emails using various newsletter templates and features a drag-and-drop template to fill in content.[47][48]

In December 2017, SendGrid announced that they are processing around 36 billion emails per month.[34]

In October 2018, Twilio announced plans to acquire SendGrid for $2 billion.[49]

In December 2018, a SendGrid shareholder filed a lawsuit in Colorado federal court in response to the planned acquisition.[50]

References

  1. ↑ "SendGrid Appoints Sameer Dholakia as New CEO". http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sendgrid-appoints-sameer-dholakia-as-new-ceo-277609291.html. 
  2. ↑ "SendGrid Company Profile". Craft. https://craft.co/sendgrid. Retrieved 27 September 2019. 
  3. ↑ Leena Rao (March 9, 2011). "SendGrid Sends 7.5 Million Emails, Brings Former Oracle Exec As CEO". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2011/03/09/sendgrid-sends-7-5-billion-emails-brings-former-oracle-exec-as-ceo/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  4. ↑ "TechStars Incubator Hatches 10 New Companies". TechCrunch. August 6, 2009. https://techcrunch.com/2009/08/06/techstars-incubator-hatches-10-new-companies/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  5. ↑ Dana Oshiro (September 30, 2009). "TechStars Investor Day Hits a Home Run". ReadWrite. http://readwrite.com/2009/09/30/techstars-investor-day-hits-a#awesm=~obNWKNcC2fuEQE. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  6. ↑ "SendGrid raises $21M in VC; Microsoft to partner". Denver Business Journal. January 17, 2012. http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2012/01/17/sendgrid-raises-21m-in-vc-microsoft.html. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "How SendGrid Makes Sure Those App Emails Go Through, With Jim Franklin". TechRockies. November 13, 2012. http://www.techrockies.com/how-sendgrid-makes-sure-those-app-emails-go-through-with-jim-franklin/s-0046191.html. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Ben Kuo (November 16, 2012). "Ten of Southern California's Top Software Companies". socalTECH. http://www.socaltech.com/ten_of_southern_california_s_top_software_companies/s-0046284.html. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Sprouter (October 31, 2012). "Just do it: Ideas are worthless unless you execute them, startup founder says". Financial Post. http://business.financialpost.com/2012/10/31/just-do-it-ideas-are-worthless-unless-you-execute-them-startup-founder-says/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Sarah Kuta (February 12, 2012). "From unlimited burritos to on-site yoga, Boulder firms pile on perks". Boulder Daily Camera. http://www.dailycamera.com/business/ci_19929854?IADID=Search-www.dailycamera.com-www.dailycamera.com. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Brad McCarty (May 16, 2013). "Startup Stories: SendGrid shares its passion for fixing email". The Next Web. https://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2013/05/16/startup-stories-sendgrid-shares-its-passion-for-fixing-email-video/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Leena Rao (January 17, 2012). "Bessemer Leads 21m Round In Cloud-Based Email Delivery And Management Service SendGrid". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2012/01/17/bessemer-leads-21m-round-in-cloud-based-email-delivery-and-management-service-sendgrid/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Sean Ludwig (February 18, 2013). "10 Boulder startups we're excited about". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2013/02/18/top-10-boulder-startups/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Andy Vuong (November 5, 2012). "Could downtown Denver be the next Silicon Valley?". The Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/popular/ci_21922566?source=pop_neighbors_arvada. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 Sean Ludwig (July 25, 2012). "SendGrid partners with Heroku, Engine Yard, & others on email management". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2012/07/25/sendgrid-partners-heroku-engine-yard-cloudbees/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  16. ↑ Sean Ludwig (December 4, 2012). "Cloud tag team: SendGrid and Twilio partner on email, SMS, and voicemail solutions for the enterprise". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2012/12/04/sendgrid-twilio-partners/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Greg Avery (August 10, 2012). "Boulder's SendGrid opening Denver office". Denver Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2012/08/10/boulders-sendgrid-opens-denver-office.html. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Email delivery platform SendGrid raises $33 million ahead of IPO in 2017" (in en-US). VentureBeat. 2016-11-30. https://venturebeat.com/2016/11/30/sendgrid-33-million/. 
  19. ↑ Chuang, Tamara (2017-11-12). "As SendGrid preps for public debut, the IPO market appears receptive". The Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/2017/11/12/sendgrid-public-offer-debut-stock-exchange/. Retrieved 2017-11-13. 
  20. ↑ Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry (August 2, 2011). "SendGrid Is Sending 2 Billion Emails Per Month And Just Getting Started". Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/sendgrid-2011-8. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Ingrid Lunden (June 29, 2012). "Inbox Alert: SendGrid Sends 45B Emails For 60,000 Customers, 20B In 2012 Alone". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2012/06/29/inbox-alert-sendgrid-sends-45b-emails-for-60000-customers-20b-in-2012-alone/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 Leena Rao (December 8, 2009). "SendGrid Raises $750K for Email Delivery Software". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2009/12/08/sendgrid-raises-750k-for-email-delivery-software/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  23. ↑ Stephanie Miles (August 1, 2012). "SendGrid: Reliable Email Delivery for Businesses". AppVita. http://www.appvita.com/2012/08/01/sendgrid-reliable-email-delivery-for-businesses/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 Julie Bort (March 1, 2012). "All Those Emails From Pinterest Are Very Good For This Guy". Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/all-those-e-mails-from-pinterest-are-very-good-for-this-guy-2012-3. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Evelyn Rusli (April 20, 2010). "SendGrid Raises $5 Million, Sends A Bajillion Emails". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2010/04/20/sendgrid-raises-5-million-sends-a-bajillion-e-mails/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Nicole Henderson (May 19, 2011). "Web Host Rackspace Partners with Email Infrastructure Provider SendGrid". TheWhir. http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/web-host-rackspace-partners-with-email-infrastructure-provider-sendgrid. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Rip Empson (May 10, 2011). "Email Delivery System SendGrid Announces New Pricing Model, Now You Can Pay-As-You-Go". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2011/05/10/email-delivery-system-sendgrid-announces-new-pricing-model-now-you-can-pay-as-you-go/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Bambi Francisco Roizen (January 17, 2012). "SendGrid gets $21m in capital, led by Bessemer". Vator. http://vator.tv/news/2012-01-17-sendgrid-gets-21m-in-capital-led-by-bessemer. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  29. ↑ "The Internet Shaming of Lindsey Stone". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/21/internet-shaming-lindsey-stone-jon-ronson. 
  30. ↑ "Comment to Hacker News article 'Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out'". https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5398681. 
  31. ↑ "Techie Adria Richards fired after tweeting about men's comments". CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57575905/techie-adria-richards-fired-after-tweeting-about-mens-comments/. 
  32. ↑ Zandt, Deanna. "Why Asking What Adria Richards Could Have Done Differently Is The Wrong Question". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/deannazandt/2013/03/22/why-asking-what-adria-richards-could-have-done-differently-is-the-wrong-question/. 
  33. ↑ Vuong, Andy (March 25, 2013). "SendGrid employee's tweet sets off firestorm". The Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22863310/sendgrid-employees-tweet-sets-off-firestorm. Retrieved September 18, 2015. 
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Duskic, Goran (2017-12-13). "How SendGrid became one of the largest API companies in the world - Isaac Saldana Interview - WhoAPI blog" (in en-US). WhoAPI blog. https://whoapi.com/blog/3217/sendgrid-became-one-of-largest-api-companies-in-the-world-isaac-saldana-interview/. 
  35. ↑ Alan Shimel (July 11, 2013). "Boulder Startup Spotlight: SendGrid, an American success story". NetworkWorld. http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/bouldere-startup-spotlight-sendgrid-american-success-story. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  36. ↑ Martin Tantow (March 19, 2011). "The Top 100 Cloud Computing Private Companies". CloudTimes. http://cloudtimes.org/2011/03/19/the-top-100-cloud-computing-private-companies/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  37. ↑ "Techstars Boulder Companies SendGrid and Retel Announce Financings". Feld. December 10, 2009. http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/12/techstars-boulder-companies-sendgrid-and-retel-announce-financings.html. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  38. ↑ Alastair Goldfisher (May 4, 2010). "TechStars startup SendGrid raises $5 million". Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/2010/05/04/us-peweek-earlystage-roundup-idUSTRE6435OH20100504. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Alicia Wallace (January 18, 2012). "Boulder startup SendGrid raises $21 million". The Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_19762829. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  40. ↑ Dan Primack (January 18, 2012). "Venture capital deals". CNN Money. http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/18/venture-capital-deals-60/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Liz Gannes (January 17, 2012). "SendGrid Raises $21M to Send Even More Emails". AllThingsD.com. http://allthingsd.com/20120117/sendgrid-raises-21m-to-send-even-more-emails/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Ryan Kim (January 17, 2012). "Email is still hot: Why SendGrid got $21M in VC funds". Gigaom. http://gigaom.com/2012/01/17/sendgrid-rides-transactional-email-boom-raises-21m/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  43. ↑ Harrison Weber (December 4, 2012). "SendGrid and Twilio team up to offer email, SMS, voice and push notifications for the enterprise market". The Next Web. https://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/12/04/sendgrid-and-twilio-team-up-to-create-a-multi-messaging-platform-for-the-enterprise/?fromcat=all. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  44. ↑ Barb Darrow (December 13, 2012). "SendGrid adds Parse, Stackmob, Azure integrations". Gigaom. http://gigaom.com/2012/12/13/sendgrid-launches-parse-stackmob-azure-integrations-for-mobile-email-ubiquity/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  45. ↑ Denise Hulce (April 29, 2013). "9 Best practice tips for marketing emails". FourthSource. http://www.fourthsource.com/email-marketing/9-best-practice-tips-for-marketing-emails-14094. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  46. ↑ Sean Ludwig (June 18, 2013). "SendGrid launches email marketing service that undercuts MailChimp & Constant Contact". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2013/06/18/sendgrid-email-marketing/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Barb Darrow (June 18, 2013). "SendGrid picks fight with heavyweight MailChimp in email marketing". Gigaom. http://gigaom.com/2013/06/18/sendgrid-picks-fight-with-heavyweight-mailchimp-in-email-marketing/. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Kristina Knight (June 18, 2013). "SendGrid launches email service". BizReport. http://www.bizreport.com/2013/06/sendgrid-launches-email-service.html. Retrieved August 13, 2013. 
  49. ↑ Condon, Stephanie (15 October 2018). "Twilio to acquire email API platform SendGrid for $2 billion". ZDNet. https://www.zdnet.com/article/twilio-to-acquire-email-api-platform-sendgrid-for-2-billion/. 
  50. ↑ Jones, Diana Novak (6 December 2018). "Shareholder Sues SendGrid Over $2B Twilio Deal - Law360" (in en). https://www.law360.com/articles/1108690/shareholder-sues-sendgrid-over-2b-twilio-deal. 

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