Webflow, a cloud-based no-code website development and hosting platform utilized by main enterprises reminiscent of Allianz, Rakuten, Zendesk, and Dell, has raised $140 million in a collection B spherical of funding co-led by Accel and Silversmith. Alphabet’s CapitalG development fund additionally participated within the spherical as a brand new investor, with Webflow now valued at $2.1 billion.
For context, Webflow was reportedly valued at not more than $400 million at its $72 million series A spherical 17 months in the past. This highlights a speedy yr of development for the San Francisco-based startup because it doubled its paying clients to 100,000 and launched a new enterprise product replete with single sign-on assist, safety audit compliance, AWS-powered superior DDoS safety, uptime monitoring, and extra.
Going low-code
The net has been awash in website-building instruments designed for non-coders since its earliest days, and the instruments have change into more and more refined, making a reported $6.5 billion market within the course of. Nasdaq-listed web site builder Wix is at present flying excessive, with its shares doubling over the previous yr to make it a $15 billion firm, whereas well-funded Squarespace can also be at present gearing up to go public.
But Webflow has got down to separate itself from the pack with a concentrate on skilled web sites that may be utterly constructed from a visible canvas. “We’re in an entirely different professional league,” Webflow cofounder and CEO Vlad Magdalin advised VentureBeat. “Webflow doesn’t rely on templates, but rather allows any kind of professional website to be designed from the ground up.”
Above: Weblow customization
Of course, there’s additionally the omnipresent WordPress, and it’s straightforward sufficient to carve out a half-respectable web site utilizing its array of themes and templates. But any customization often requires some type of coding, be that in HTML, PHP, CSS, or JavaScript.
“Our main unique selling point is the visual development environment to make down-to-the-pixel customizations, without code,” Magdalin added.
He argues that the corporate’s closest competitor is definitely hand-coding. “Usually, when companies or freelance service professionals switch to Webflow, they are not switching from a product, but rather from having to rely on a developer to manually translate design files to code,” Magdalin mentioned.
Founded in 2012, Webflow was initially targeted extra on prototyping or less complicated low-functionality web sites, however right now it’s utilized by companies of all sizes throughout the spectrum. Dell, for instance, makes use of Webflow for inside web sites that host content material reminiscent of fashion guides, whereas Dropbox’s e-signature division HelloSign makes use of Webflow to design, develop, and host all of its advertising pages. Many others proceed to make use of Webflow for speedy prototyping or to launch smaller microsites or touchdown pages.
Above: Dropbox-owned HelloSign makes use of Webflow for its advertising pages
At its core, Webflow helps circumvent the time-consuming steps sometimes concerned in getting an internet site from the design stage to the online.
