The archive · Developer & Business Tools · Strategic decision · 2017–2019
Algolia raises $110M Series C as search-as-a-service passes 8,000 customers
Paris-born, SF-based Algolia closes a $110M Accel-led round, betting businesses buy site and app search as an API instead of building it.
Algolia
What the business is
API-based search-as-a-service that lets businesses embed fast site and app search, positioned against building search from scratch or heavier, costlier enterprise integrations.
Starting capital：$74M raised before the round; the $110M Series C (Accel-led, Salesforce Ventures joining) brought cumulative funding to about $184M as of 2019-10-15.
How it started
Algolia was founded in France and is based in San Francisco, selling an easy-to-use, API-based search service so businesses buy search technology rather than build it from the ground up. It had been in Asia since 2014, and when it last raised money in June 2017 it counted only 3,000 customers.
What happened
Customers grew from 3,000 at the June 2017 round to more than 8,000 by October 2019, including Twitch, Slack, Discovery and LVMH, while the company added supplementary tools such as search analytics and A/B testing. On 2019-10-15 Algolia announced a $110M Series C led by Accel with Salesforce Ventures, Alven, DAG Ventures, Founders Circle, Owl Rock Capital, SaaStr Fund and World Innovation Lab, earmarked for R&D, doubling down on voice, and further expansion in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. CEO Nicolas Dessaigne said there were no plans to build a consumer service, and Salesforce planned to integrate Algolia into its Commerce Cloud.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
Algolia is a search-as-a-service company: an API-based service businesses embed in their websites and apps to get fast, relevant search, instead of buying open-web search or building search technology from scratch. On 2019-10-15 TechCrunch reported that Algolia had closed a $110M Series C led by Accel, with Salesforce Ventures among the participants.
The bet behind the company was that search for businesses was a buyable API, not a build project: an easy-to-integrate tool stood in contrast to solutions built in-house from the ground up, or to lengthier and more expensive enterprise integrations. Founded in France and based in San Francisco, Algolia had been in Asia since 2014 and counted just 3,000 customers when it last raised money in June 2017.
By October 2019 the customer count had grown to more than 8,000, including Twitch, Slack, Discovery and LVMH, alongside newer supplementary tools such as search analytics and A/B testing. The Series C money was earmarked for R&D, doubling down on voice, and further expansion in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.
CEO Nicolas Dessaigne said Algolia had no plans to build a consumer service, preferring to stay the market-leading search-as-a-service for businesses. Salesforce's strategic investment and planned Commerce Cloud integration showed the round's logic: rather than build native search, the CRM giant backed an API it could integrate.
What has to be true
- Concrete scale: customers went from 3,000 at the June 2017 round to more than 8,000 by October 2019, including Slack, Twitch, Discovery and LVMH.
- Strategic validation: Salesforce Ventures joined an Accel-led round and planned Commerce Cloud integration, choosing endorsed third-party search over building its own.
- Discipline of focus: CEO Nicolas Dessaigne explicitly ruled out a consumer search product, betting on businesses that want search embedded in their own sites and apps.
- The story drew 318 points and 106 comments on Hacker News on 2019-10-15, a strong developer-audience signal for the search-as-a-service pitch.
What can be applied
Own the unglamorous slice: while Google owns open-web search, Algolia sells search inside apps and sites as an API, and that developer-first focus compounded to 8,000+ customers.
Aftermath
As of 2019-10-15 Algolia was live and scaling: 8,000+ customers, about $184M raised in total after the Series C, and the new capital committed to search R&D, voice, and growth across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. The material records no later outcome beyond the announcement, so subsequent fundraising, valuation or business changes are not included.
Sources
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