Squarespace started in Anthony Casalena’s dorm room at the University of Maryland in 2003. He built the first version because existing website tools felt clunky and ugly — he wanted something that looked good right out of the box. The company bootstrapped for years before taking its first venture funding in 2010.
The platform combines website building, hosting, domains, and e-commerce in a single subscription. Merchants get inventory management, shipping integrations, tax calculations, and abandoned cart recovery without needing plugins or third-party tools. Templates are designed by an in-house team and cover everything from restaurants to fashion boutiques.
Squarespace went public via direct listing on the NYSE in May 2021. The company pulled in roughly $867 million in revenue that year. It’s particularly popular with creative professionals — photographers, artists, musicians, and small business owners who want a professional-looking online presence without hiring a developer.
In 2023 Squarespace acquired Google Domains’ assets, adding about 10 million domain registrations to its portfolio. That deal significantly boosted its domain business and brought millions of potential new customers into its ecosystem.
The platform serves millions of websites across 200+ countries. Casalena still leads the company as CEO. Squarespace employs more than 1,700 people, primarily out of its headquarters in downtown Manhattan.
