The archive · Developer & Business Tools · Strategic decision · 2014–2019
Automattic raises $300M at $3B from Salesforce Ventures to keep betting on the open web
WordPress owner Automattic closes a single-investor $300M Series D at $3B, betting open-source WordPress can become the operating system of the web.
Automattic
What the business is
Automattic runs WordPress.com, Jetpack, WordPress.com VIP and WooCommerce — freemium products built on the open-source WordPress project, which powers 34% of the world's top 10 million websites as of September 2019.
Starting capital：$300M Series D at a $3B post-money valuation, sole investor Salesforce Ventures (September 2019); before that a $160M Series C in 2014 and little other funding in the company's nearly 15-year history.
How it started
Automattic, the commercial company built around the WordPress open-source project, has been around for nearly 15 years as of 2019 and was founded by Matt Mullenweg, its CEO. It runs the most popular services on top of WordPress, and the freemium model was working: 200–300 employees in 2014, WordPress powering 22% of the world's top 10 million websites then, and close to 1,200 employees expected once the Tumblr acquisition closed.
What happened
TechCrunch reported on 2019-09-19 that Automattic had closed a $300M Series D at a $3B post-money valuation, with Salesforce Ventures as its single investor. Salesforce had been a longtime Automattic customer, Mullenweg said integrations were imaginable, and the company insisted there would be no big departure from its product lineup or its slow-paced, sustainable approach to launching and iterating products.
How it ended up
The round closed as acceleration, not a pivot: Mullenweg said the roadmap was the same and the money would let Automattic get there in five years instead of 10. WordPress's share of the world's top 10 million websites had already climbed from 22% in 2014 to 34% by the announcement.
Background
Automattic is the company behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce and soon Tumblr, built on the open-source WordPress project — the most popular content management system on the planet. On 2019-09-19 TechCrunch reported it had closed a $300M Series D at a $3B post-money valuation, with Salesforce Ventures as the round's single investor.
The bet was strategic, not financial engineering: Mullenweg argued that open source creates a virtuous cycle of adoption and that WordPress could reach Android-like market share, becoming the operating system of the open web against closed platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Medium, which optimize for engagement and time spent.
The freemium model was already compounding: WordPress's share of the world's top 10 million websites rose from 22% in 2014 to 34% by 2019, while Automattic grew from 200–300 employees toward close to 1,200 as the Tumblr deal closed. Automattic had raised little in its first decade beyond a $160M Series C in 2014.
Salesforce was a longtime customer, and Mullenweg said partnerships or integrations with its platform were easy to imagine — but Automattic said the roadmap would not change, just arrive in five years instead of 10. The case is about taking strategic capital while refusing to bend a deliberate, slow-paced product strategy.
What has to be true
- The scale curve was concrete: WordPress's share of the world's top 10 million websites rose from 22% in 2014 to 34% by the 2019 round, evidence that the open-source flywheel was already turning.
- The funding history was the discipline: 15 years with little outside capital, a $160M Series C in 2014, then a single-investor $300M round — exceptions to a slow-paced rule, not the rule itself.
- The investor had product logic: Salesforce was a longtime Automattic customer that could imagine WordPress complementing its products, so the capital came with a partnership thesis, not control.
- The stated plan was acceleration without pivot: the roadmap stays the same, just done in five years instead of 10 — money as time, with the open-web mission untouched.
What can be applied
A company can compound without chasing engagement: give the core away open source, sell services on top, and take strategic capital only when it accelerates a roadmap you were already committed to.
Aftermath
As of the TechCrunch article's date (2019-09-19), Automattic was live and scaling: the $300M Series D closed at a $3B post-money valuation, headcount was approaching 1,200 as the Tumblr acquisition completed, and WordPress ran 34% of the world's top 10 million websites. The material ends at the announcement, so later fundraising, ownership changes or business results are not documented here.
Sources
- Automattic raises $300 million at $3 billion valuation from Salesforce Ventures
- Automattic raises $300M at $3B valuation from Salesforce Ventures
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe what you are building, and see who is betting on the same thing.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card