Company:Squarespace

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Squarespace, Inc. is an American website building, hosting, and domain registration company based in New York City.[1] It provides software as a service for website building, e-commerce, domain registration, marketing, and online scheduling. The platform allows users to use pre-built website templates, drag-and-drop editing, and artificial intelligence-powered design tools.[2]

In 2003, Anthony Casalena founded Squarespace as a blog hosting service while attending the University of Maryland, College Park. He was its only employee until 2006 when it reached $1 million in revenue. The company grew from 30 employees in 2010 to 550 by 2015. Over the years, the company evolved to become more than a website builder, expanded internationally, and grew its employee base.[3] It began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 19, 2021,[4] and was taken private in October 2024. According to W3Techs, Squarespace is used by 2.5% websites worldwide.[5] In its 2026 review of website builders, WIRED listed Squarespace as the "best website builder for most people," emphasizing its balance of usability and design flexibility.[6]

History

Casalena began developing Squarespace for his personal use while attending the University of Maryland.[7][8] He started sharing it with friends and family members[7] and participated in a "business incubator" program at the university.[8] In January 2004, he launched Squarespace as do-it-yourself website builder for the public,[8][9] with a $30,000 seed fund from his father,[10] a small grant from the university,[11] and 300 beta testers who paid a discounted rate.[8][12][13][14] At that time, Casalena was the company's sole developer and employee, and worked out of his dorm room.[8][13]

In 2006, Casalena hired two full-time W2[clarification needed] employees, a principal designer and a customer support representative. By the time Casalena graduated in 2005,[15] Squarespace was making annual revenues of $1 million.[9] He moved to New York City, continued hiring, and had 30 employees by 2010.[9][14] That year, Squarespace received $38.5 million in its first round of venture capital funding led by Index Ventures and Accel Partners,[16] enabling it to hire more staff, continue to develop its software,[17] and double its marketing budget.[7] From 2009 to 2012, it grew an average of 266% in yearly revenue.[18] In April 2014, it received another $40 million in funding.[19][20] By 2015, it had reached $100 million in revenue and 550 employees.[9]

Squarespace purchased Super Bowl advertising spots from 2014[21][7] to 2026.[22] Its 2017 ad won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial.[23] In 2017, it signed a sponsorship deal with the New York Knicks to add the Squarespace logo to their uniforms.[24]

Squarespace acquired appointment scheduling company Acuity Scheduling in April 2019.[25] In October 2019, Squarespace acquired Unfold, an app co-founded by Alfonso Cobo that allows users to editorialize their social media content.[26] In April 2021, the company bought hospitality industry management platform Tock for more than $400 million.[27] It sold Tock to American Express in June 2024.[28]

In early 2021, the company filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to go public through direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "SQSP".[29][30][31] In March 2021, Squarespace raised $300 million in a round of funding led by Dragoneer, Tiger Global, D1 Capital Partners and Fidelity Management & Research Company with participation from existing investors. This funding round valued the company at $10 billion.[32]

On June 15, 2023, Squarespace concluded an agreement to purchase the Google Domains business, including approximately 10 million registered domain names.[33][34]

In May 2024, Squarespace signed a deal with British private equity firm Permira to be taken private.[35] The transaction was finalized in October 2024.[36]

Corporate affairs

Leadership

Squarespace is managed by CEO and Founder Anthony Casalena. Other key executives are:[37]

  • Courtenay O'Connor, General Counsel
  • David Lee, Chief Brand and Creative Officer
  • John Colton, Chief Technology Officer
  • Nathan Gooden, Chief Financial Officer
  • Angela Crossman, Chief People Officer
  • Paul Gubbay, Chief Product Officer
  • Raphael Fontes, Senior Vice President, Customer Operations
  • Roberta Meo, Vice President, Channels and Services
  • Kevin Doerr, SVP, Head of Domains & Applications
  • Josh Groth, SVP, Growth

Products

Website builder

Squarespace was initially built for creating and hosting blogs.[12] In 2011, Squarespace was upgraded to version 6, with new templates, a grid-based user interface, and other enhancements.[17] Version 7, which went live in 2014, replaced its coding backend with a drag and drop interface,[38][39] and added integration with Google Workspace (formerly G Suite and Google Apps for Work) and Getty Images.[20] The platform includes responsive templates and integrated SEO tools. In 2026, Squarespace was ranked as the "best all-around website builder" by SiteBuilderReport for a range of site types including small businesses, portfolios, and online stores.[40]

E-commerce

E-commerce functionality, such as integration with Stripe for accepting credit card payments, was added in 2013.[41] Additional commerce features were added in 2014 and beyond, including payments integration and analytics.[42] In 2023, Squarespace introduced a native payment solution to expand its commerce infrastructure.[43]

Domains

Squarespace started selling domains in 2016. In 2023, it acquired the Google Domains business, adding approximately 10 million domains under management.[34] The acquisition significantly expanded its presence as a domain registrar, and is now one of the largest domain providers worldwide according to Domain Name Stat.[44]

Artificial intelligence

Starting in 2024, Squarespace introduced AI-driven features for automating website layout generation, AI-generated copy suggestions, SEO recommendations and content optimization.[45][46]

References

  1. ↑ "Squarespace Offices / A+I" (in en-US). July 31, 2018. https://www.archdaily.com/897337/squarespace-offices-a-plus-i. 
  2. ↑ Roach, Jacob. "I Let Squarespace's AI Builder Design a Website for Me. Here's What It's Like" (in en-US). Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. https://www.wired.com/story/squarespace-blueprint-ai-website-builder/. 
  3. ↑ "Squarespace 20th Anniversary" (in en). https://timeline.squarespace.com/. 
  4. ↑ Giles, Margaret (May 19, 2021). "What to Know as Squarespace Goes Public" (in en-US). https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1037495/what-to-know-as-squarespace-goes-public. 
  5. ↑ "Usage statistics and market share of Squarespace" (in en-US). https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/web_hosting. 
  6. ↑ Roach, Jacob. "Want to Start a Website? These Are the Best Website Builders" (in en-US). Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. https://www.wired.com/story/best-website-builders/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Cole, Samantha (May 21, 2014). "How Squarespace's CEO Pivoted to Scale for Millions" (in en-US). https://www.fastcompany.com/3030867/how-squarespaces-ceo-pivoted-to-scale-for-millions. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 "About Us - Squarespace". https://www.squarespace.com/about/company. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Clifford, Catherine (April 22, 2016). "How Squarespace Went From a Dorm-Room Project to a $10 Million Web Publishing Platform". https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/274486. 
  10. ↑ "UMD Alumnus Company Squarespace to Run Inaugural Big Game Ad" (in en). February 1, 2014. https://umdrightnow.umd.edu/news/umd-alumnus-company-squarespace-run-inaugural-big-game-ad. 
  11. ↑ Patterson, Dan (June 30, 2016). "How Squarespace became a multimillion dollar publishing giant" (in en). https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-squarespace-grew-from-a-startup-to-multimillion-dollar-publishing-giant/. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "How Squarespace became a multimillion-dollar publishing giant". June 30, 2016. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-squarespace-grew-from-a-startup-to-multimillion-dollar-publishing-giant/. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Caumont, Andrea (September 13, 2004). "Squarespace Lets Users Manage Multi-Page Web Sites". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17038-2004Sep12.html. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Rusli, Evelyn (July 13, 2010). "Squarespace Raises $38.5 Million From Accel, Index Ventures". https://techcrunch.com/2010/07/13/squarespace-raises-38-5-million-from-accel-index-ventures/. 
  15. ↑ "Alumni Hall Of Fame | UMD Department of Computer Science". https://www.cs.umd.edu/community/alumni/halloffame/19551. 
  16. ↑ "Squarespace Raises $38.5 Million From Accel, Index Ventures" (in en-US). July 14, 2010. https://techcrunch.com/2010/07/13/squarespace-raises-38-5-million-from-accel-index-ventures/. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Squarespace 6: Rebuilt From The Ground Up To Take On WordPress, Tumblr And Everyone Else". October 21, 2011. https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/21/squarespace-6-rebuilt-from-the-ground-up-to-take-on-wordpress-tumblr-and-everyone-else/. 
  18. ↑ "Fast 50". Crain's New York Business. October 7, 2013. http://www.crainsnewyork.com/gallery/20131006/FEATURES/926009999. 
  19. ↑ Zipkin, Nina (February 15, 2018). "The Founder of Squarespace Explains Why You Don't Want to Raise As Much Money as Possible" (in en). https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/309089. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Warren, Christina (October 7, 2014). "Squarespace Ramps up its Tools to Compete with Wordpress". Mashable. http://mashable.com/2014/10/07/squarespace-google-integration/#kj_b0f0bePqH. 
  21. ↑ "UMD Alumnus Company Squarespace to Run Inaugural Big Game Ad" (in en). http://research.umd.edu/news/news_story.php?id=7945. 
  22. ↑ Nudd, Tim (February 4, 2026). "Inside Squarespace's darkly comic gem of a Super Bowl ad with Emma Stone". https://adage.com/super-bowl/super-bowl-ad-campaigns/aa-squarespace-unavailable-emma-stone/. 
  23. ↑ "Squarespace's Super Bowl Ad With John Malkovich Wins the Emmy for Best Commercial". September 11, 2017. http://www.adweek.com/creativity/squarespaces-super-bowl-ad-with-john-malkovich-wins-the-emmy-for-best-commercial/. 
  24. ↑ Soshnick, Scott (October 10, 2017). "Knicks Team Up With Squarespace for Patch Sponsorship Deal". https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-10/nba-s-knicks-set-uniform-patch-sponsorship-with-squarespace. 
  25. ↑ Ha, Anthony (April 23, 2019). "Squarespace makes its first acquisition with Acuity Scheduling". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/23/squarespace-acquires-acuity-scheduling/. 
  26. ↑ Ha, Anthony (October 22, 2019). "Squarespace acquires social media authoring startup Unfold". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/22/squarespace-acquires-unfold/. 
  27. ↑ Roof, Katie (April 1, 2021). "Squarespace Buys Tech Startup Tock for $400 Million Plus". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/squarespace-buys-tech-startup-tock-for-400-million-plus/2021/03/31/980a896c-9265-11eb-aadc-af78701a30ca_story.html. 
  28. ↑ Sawers, Paul (2024-06-21). "Squarespace sells restaurant reservation system Tock to American Express for $400M" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2024/06/21/squarespace-sells-restaurant-reservation-system-tock-to-american-express-for-400m/. 
  29. ↑ "Squarespace confidentially files for stock market listing" (in en). Reuters. January 27, 2021. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-squarespace-ipo-idUSKBN29W2PE. 
  30. ↑ "Website-building company Squarespace confidentially files to go public". https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/website-building-company-squarespace-confidentially-files-to-go-public/articleshow/80506436.cms. 
  31. ↑ Novet, Jordan (April 16, 2021). "Website maker Squarespace files to go public on NYSE through direct listing" (in en). CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/16/website-maker-squarespace-files-to-go-public-on-nyse.html. 
  32. ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (March 16, 2021). "Squarespace raises $300M at a staggering $10B valuation". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/16/squarespace-raises-300m-at-staggering-10b-valuation/. 
  33. ↑ Li, Abner (2023-06-15). "Google Domains shutting down, assets sold and being migrated to Squarespace" (in en-US). https://9to5google.com/2023/06/15/google-domains-squarespace/. 
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 "Squarespace Enters Definitive Agreement to Acquire Google Domains Assets" (Press release). PR Newswire. 2023-06-15. Archived from the original on 2023-06-15. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  35. ↑ "Software company Squarespace being taken private by Permira in $6.9 billion deal". Associated Press. May 13, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/squarespace-permira-software-068715b5a3b658cdaad13f493593192c. 
  36. ↑ Sawers, Paul (October 17, 2024). "Permira completes Squarespace acquisition after upping bid to $7.2B". https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/17/permira-completes-squarespace-acquisition-after-upping-bid-to-7-2b/. 
  37. ↑ "Our Team". https://www.squarespace.com/about/team. 
  38. ↑ Nudd, Tim (October 20, 2014). "Squarespace's Radical Update Is Like a Blank Canvas. So Its New Ads Are, Too". Adweek. http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/squarespaces-radical-update-blank-canvas-so-its-new-ads-are-too-160811/. 
  39. ↑ Rhodes, Margaret (October 7, 2014). "The New Squarespace is a UX Dream that Eliminates the Backend Entirely". Wired. https://www.wired.com/2014/10/new-squarespace-ux-dream-eliminates-backend-entirely/. 
  40. ↑ Benjamins, Steve; Mendpara, Juhil (January 3, 2026). "Best Website Builders". https://www.sitebuilderreport.com/. 
  41. ↑ Summers, Nick (February 14, 2013). "Squarespace Adds Commerce Tools To Its Website Builder". https://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/02/14/squarespace-adds-commerce-tools-to-its-website-builder-allowing-users-to-manage-and-sell-goods-online/. 
  42. ↑ Novet, Jordan (April 16, 2014). "Don't forget about website runner Squarespace. It just raised $40M". https://venturebeat.com/2014/04/16/squarespace-funding/. 
  43. ↑ PYMNTS (2023-10-04). "Squarespace Adds Payments to Serve the Needs of 'Long Tail' eCommerce Sellers" (in en-US). https://www.pymnts.com/news/ecommerce/2023/squarespace-adds-payments-to-serve-the-needs-of-long-tail-ecommerce-sellers/. 
  44. ↑ "Domain Name Registrars List - Domain Name Stat". https://domainnamestat.com/statistics/registrar/others. 
  45. ↑ Inc, Squarespace. "Squarespace Refresh 2024: Introducing a New Era for Entrepreneurs" (in en). https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/squarespace-refresh-2024-introducing-a-new-era-for-entrepreneurs-302253451.html. 
  46. ↑ Ha, Anthony (2024-10-06). "Website builder Squarespace says it's training its AI tools with curation and taste" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/06/cpo-paul-gubbay-says-squarespace-is-training-its-ai-tools-with-curation-and-taste/. 
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