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{{Short description|Email delivery service}}
{{User sandbox}}
{{Infobox company
<!-- EDIT BELOW THIS LINE -->
| name = SendGrid
{{Infobox Dotcom company
| company_name = SendGrid
| logo = SendGrid_2016_Logo.png
| company_logo =
| image = File:SendGridDenver.jpg
| image_caption = SendGrid headquarters in Denver
| company_type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| location_city = [[Boulder]]
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| founder = Isaac Saldana, Jose Lopez, Tim Jenkins
| location_country = [[USA]]
| key_people = Sameer Dholakia ([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])<ref>{{cite press release
| url = http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sendgrid-appoints-sameer-dholakia-as-new-ceo-277609291.html
| title = SendGrid Appoints Sameer Dholakia as New CEO
| website = www.prnewswire.com
| access-date = 2016-04-25}}</ref>
| industry = Technology
| homepage = {{url|https://sendgrid.com}}
| foundation = 2009
| foundation = 2009
| revenue = $111.9 million (2017)<ref>{{Cite news
| key_people = Isaac Saldana (Co-founder, President), Tim Jenkins (Co-founder, CTO), Jose Lopez (Co-founder, Web Architect)
| title = SendGrid Company Profile
| industry = [[Information Technology]]
| work = Craft
| homepage = [http://www.sendgrid.com/ Sendgrid.com]
| url = https://craft.co/sendgrid
| accessdate = 27 September 2019}}</ref>
| parent = [[Twilio]]
| location_city = [[Denver, Colorado]]
| location_country = [[United States]]
}}
}}
'''SendGrid''' is a [[cloud-based]] infrastructure for processing large quantities of [[email]], both sending and receiving. SendGrid takes on the responsibility of [[security]], [[scalability]], [[deliverability]], and [[analytics]] to keep the cost and complexity to a minimum for customers. SendGrid's infrastructure is accessible through an SMTP [[API]], Web API, or Event API. The SMTP API uses the [[SMTP protocol]], while the Web API and Event API use the [[HTTP protocol]].


'''SendGrid''' (also known as '''Twilio SendGrid''') is a [[Denver, Colorado]]-based customer communication platform for transactional and marketing [[email]].<ref name="Tcrunch4">{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/03/09/sendgrid-sends-7-5-billion-emails-brings-former-oracle-exec-as-ceo/ |title=SendGrid Sends 7.5 Million Emails, Brings Former Oracle Exec As CEO |author=Leena Rao |date=March 9, 2011 |publisher=TechCrunch |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Tcrunch09">{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/08/06/techstars-incubator-hatches-10-new-companies/ |title=TechStars Incubator Hatches 10 New Companies |author= |date=August 6, 2009 |publisher=TechCrunch |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name="REWT">{{cite web |url=http://readwrite.com/2009/09/30/techstars-investor-day-hits-a#awesm=~obNWKNcC2fuEQE |title=TechStars Investor Day Hits a Home Run |author=Dana Oshiro |date=September 30, 2009 |publisher=ReadWrite |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name="DENBIZ">{{cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2012/01/17/sendgrid-raises-21m-in-vc-microsoft.html |title=SendGrid raises $21M in VC; Microsoft to partner |author= |date=January 17, 2012 |publisher=Denver Business Journal |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name="TECHR">{{cite web |url=http://www.techrockies.com/how-sendgrid-makes-sure-those-app-emails-go-through-with-jim-franklin/s-0046191.html |title=How SendGrid Makes Sure Those App Emails Go Through, With Jim Franklin |author= |date=November 13, 2012 |publisher=TechRockies |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name="SOC">{{cite web |url=http://www.socaltech.com/ten_of_southern_california_s_top_software_companies/s-0046284.html |title=Ten of Southern California's Top Software Companies |author=Ben Kuo |date=November 16, 2012 |publisher=socalTECH |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref> The company was founded by Isaac Saldana, Jose Lopez, and Tim Jenkins in 2009, and incubated through the [[Techstars]] [[Business incubator|accelerator]] program.<ref name="BFP">{{cite web |url=http://business.financialpost.com/2012/10/31/just-do-it-ideas-are-worthless-unless-you-execute-them-startup-founder-says/ |title=Just do it: Ideas are worthless unless you execute them, startup founder says |author=Sprouter |date=October 31, 2012 |publisher=Financial Post |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name="DAC">{{cite web |url=http://www.dailycamera.com/business/ci_19929854?IADID=Search-www.dailycamera.com-www.dailycamera.com |title=From unlimited burritos to on-site yoga, Boulder firms pile on perks |author=Sarah Kuta |date=February 12, 2012 |publisher=Boulder Daily Camera |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name="NEXT2">{{cite web |url=https://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2013/05/16/startup-stories-sendgrid-shares-its-passion-for-fixing-email-video/ |title=Startup Stories: SendGrid shares its passion for fixing email |author=Brad McCarty |date=May 16, 2013 |publisher=The Next Web |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Tcrunch6">{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/01/17/bessemer-leads-21m-round-in-cloud-based-email-delivery-and-management-service-sendgrid/ |title=Bessemer Leads 21m Round In Cloud-Based Email Delivery And Management Service SendGrid |author=Leena Rao |date=January 17, 2012 |publisher=TechCrunch |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref>
As of June 2012, SendGrid has sent over 45 Billion emails for 60,000 businesses. They deliver more than 4 billion emails each month to companies like [[Airbnb]], [[Twilio]], [[Foursquare]], [[Pandora]], and [[Pinterest]]<ref name="SendGrid Raises 21 Million">[http://sendgrid.com/blog/sendgrid-raises-21-million/ SendGrid Raises 21 Million]</ref>.
As of 2017, SendGrid has raised over $81 million and has offices in [[Denver|Denver, Colorado]]; [[Boulder, Colorado]]; [[Irvine, California]]; [[Redwood City, California]]; and [[London]].<ref name=SOC /><ref name=Tcrunch6 /><ref name=Vent2013>{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/2013/02/18/top-10-boulder-startups/ |title=10 Boulder startups we're excited about |author=Sean Ludwig |date=February 18, 2013 |publisher=VentureBeat |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name=DPNov12>{{cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/popular/ci_21922566?source=pop_neighbors_arvada |title=Could downtown Denver be the next Silicon Valley? |author=Andy Vuong |date=November 5, 2012 |publisher=The Denver Post |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name=Vent2012>{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/2012/07/25/sendgrid-partners-heroku-engine-yard-cloudbees/ |title=SendGrid partners with Heroku, Engine Yard, & others on email management |author=Sean Ludwig |date=July 25, 2012 |publisher=VentureBeat |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name=VentTw>{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/2012/12/04/sendgrid-twilio-partners/ |title=Cloud tag team: SendGrid and Twilio partner on email, SMS, and voicemail solutions for the enterprise |author=Sean Ludwig |date=December 4, 2012 |publisher=VentureBeat |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name=DENBIZ2>{{cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2012/08/10/boulders-sendgrid-opens-denver-office.html |title=Boulder's SendGrid opening Denver office |author=Greg Avery |date=August 10, 2012 |publisher=Denver Business Journal |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://venturebeat.com/2016/11/30/sendgrid-33-million/|title=Email delivery platform SendGrid raises $33 million ahead of IPO in 2017|date=2016-11-30|work=VentureBeat|access-date=2018-08-01|language=en-US}}</ref>


The company went public with a debut in the [[New York Stock Exchange]] on November 16, 2017.<ref>{{cite news |last=Chuang |first=Tamara |url=http://www.denverpost.com/2017/11/12/sendgrid-public-offer-debut-stock-exchange/ |title=As SendGrid preps for public debut, the IPO market appears receptive |work=[[The Denver Post]] |date=2017-11-12 |accessdate=2017-11-13 }}</ref> [[Twilio]] acquired SendGrid in February 2019.
== History ==
SendGrid was founded in July of 2009 and based in Boulder, Colorado after they graduated from the TecStars program. The founders were Isaac Saldana, Tim Jenkins, and Jose Lopez. They are backed by the Foundry Group, Highway 12 Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and others. Since their inception, they have continued to grow in the amount of emails sent, employees, and finally customers.


==General==
{| class="wikitable"
SendGrid provides a [[cloud computing|cloud-based]] service that assists businesses with email delivery.<ref name=TECHR /><ref name=BFP /><ref name=BIZI>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/sendgrid-2011-8 |title=SendGrid Is Sending 2 Billion Emails Per Month And Just Getting Started |author=Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry |date=August 2, 2011 |publisher=Business Insider |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name=Tcrunch7>{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/06/29/inbox-alert-sendgrid-sends-45b-emails-for-60000-customers-20b-in-2012-alone/ |title=Inbox Alert: SendGrid Sends 45B Emails For 60,000 Customers, 20B In 2012 Alone |author=Ingrid Lunden |date=June 29, 2012 |publisher=TechCrunch |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref> The service manages various types of email including shipping notifications, friend requests, sign-up confirmations, and email [[newsletters]]. It also handles [[Internet service provider]] (ISP) monitoring, [[DomainKeys|domain keys]], the [[sender policy framework]] (SPF), and [[feedback]] loops.<ref name=Vent2013 /><ref name=Tcrunch2>{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/12/08/sendgrid-raises-750k-for-email-delivery-software/ |title=SendGrid Raises $750K for Email Delivery Software |author=Leena Rao |date=December 8, 2009 |publisher=TechCrunch |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name=Appv12>{{cite web |url=http://www.appvita.com/2012/08/01/sendgrid-reliable-email-delivery-for-businesses/ |title=SendGrid: Reliable Email Delivery for Businesses |author=Stephanie Miles |date=August 1, 2012 |publisher=AppVita |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name=BIZI2>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/all-those-e-mails-from-pinterest-are-very-good-for-this-guy-2012-3 |title=All Those Emails From Pinterest Are Very Good For This Guy |author=Julie Bort |date=March 1, 2012 |publisher=Business Insider |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref> Additionally, the company provides link tracking and [[open rate]] reporting.<ref name=Tcrunch2 /> It also allows companies to track email opens, unsubscribes, bounces, and spam reports.<ref name=TECHR /><ref name=Tcrunch2 /><ref name=Tcrunch3>{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/04/20/sendgrid-raises-5-million-sends-a-bajillion-e-mails/ |title=SendGrid Raises $5 Million, Sends A Bajillion Emails |author=Evelyn Rusli |date=April 20, 2010 |publisher=TechCrunch |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref>
|-
Beginning in 2012, the company integrated [[SMS]], voice, and [[push technology|push notification]] abilities into its service through a partnership with [[Twilio]].<ref name=Vent2012 />
! Date !! Messages Sent !! # Employees !! # Customers
|-
| Q4 2009 || 268M || 4 || 1000
|-
| Q4 2010 || 2.1B || 19 || 12000
|-
| Q4 2011 || 6.9B || 70 || 37000
|}


SendGrid offers a [[freemium]] version and a Lite Plan (pay-as-you-go), as well as three expanded levels of service: Essentials, Pro, and Premier.<ref name=TECHR /><ref name=Whir2011>{{cite web |url=http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/web-host-rackspace-partners-with-email-infrastructure-provider-sendgrid |title=Web Host Rackspace Partners with Email Infrastructure Provider SendGrid |author=Nicole Henderson |date=May 19, 2011 |publisher=TheWhir |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name=Tcrunch5>{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/05/10/email-delivery-system-sendgrid-announces-new-pricing-model-now-you-can-pay-as-you-go/ |title=Email Delivery System SendGrid Announces New Pricing Model, Now You Can Pay-As-You-Go |author=Rip Empson |date=May 10, 2011 |publisher=TechCrunch |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref>
== Funding ==
SendGrid has gone through several iterations of funding, starting at their inception in 2009 when they received seed funding. They have completed searies A, A-1, and B funding, since their inception through January of 2012. They have raised a total of $22,762,000 since inception.


SendGrid's clients include [[Uber]], [[Twilio]], [[Foursquare City Guide|Foursquare]], [[Pandora radio|Pandora]], and [[Airbnb]].<ref name=Vent2013 /><ref name=Tcrunch7 /><ref name=BIZI2 /><ref name=Va21m>{{cite web |url=http://vator.tv/news/2012-01-17-sendgrid-gets-21m-in-capital-led-by-bessemer |title=SendGrid gets $21m in capital, led by Bessemer|author=Bambi Francisco Roizen |date=January 17, 2012 |publisher=Vator |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Date !! Amount USD !! Funding Type
|-
| 08/2009 || 12k || Seed Funding
|-
| 12/08/2009 || 750k || Series A Funding
|-
| 04/20/2010 || 5M || Series A-1 Funding
|-
| 01/17/2012 || 17M || Series B Funding
|}


== Technology ==
==Controversy==
The controversial firing of Adria Richards in March 2013 and the surrounding circumstances became known as [[Donglegate]].<ref name="guardianjonronson">{{cite news|work=The Guardian|title=The Internet Shaming of Lindsey Stone|date=21 February 2015 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/21/internet-shaming-lindsey-stone-jon-ronson|last1=Ronson |first1=Jon }}</ref><ref name="ycombinator-hackernews">{{cite web|title=Comment to Hacker News article 'Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out'|url=https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5398681}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Techie Adria Richards fired after tweeting about men's comments|publisher=CBS News|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/techie-adria-richards-fired-after-tweeting-about-mens-comments/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Why Asking What Adria Richards Could Have Done Differently Is The Wrong Question|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/deannazandt/2013/03/22/why-asking-what-adria-richards-could-have-done-differently-is-the-wrong-question/ | first=Deanna|last=Zandt}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22863310/sendgrid-employees-tweet-sets-off-firestorm|title=SendGrid employee's tweet sets off firestorm|publisher=The Denver Post|first=Andy|last=Vuong|date=March 25, 2013|accessdate=September 18, 2015}}</ref>
SendGrid is built using Ruby, PHP, Python, Gearman, ZeroMQ, Rails, Symfony, Twisted, Bootstrap, JQuery, GIT, as well a other technologies. It primarily runs on a Linux environment using service oriented architecture.
SendGrid provides two ways to send emails, SMTP API or Web API, to allow flexibility to their customers.


=== SMTP API ===
==Funding==
Before SendGrid was called Twilio SendGrid, they named the project ''smtpapi.com''.<ref name="Duskic">{{Cite news|url=https://whoapi.com/blog/3217/sendgrid-became-one-of-largest-api-companies-in-the-world-isaac-saldana-interview/|title=How SendGrid became one of the largest API companies in the world - Isaac Saldana Interview - WhoAPI blog|last=Duskic|first=Goran|date=2017-12-13|work=WhoAPI blog|access-date=2017-12-13|language=en-US}}</ref> After founding SendGrid in [[Riverside, California]], in July 2009, Saldana, Lopez, and Jenkins enrolled the startup in the TechStars accelerator program and moved the company to Boulder, Colorado.<ref name="BFP" /><ref name="NEXT2" /><ref name="Nwwd">{{cite web |url=http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/bouldere-startup-spotlight-sendgrid-american-success-story |title=Boulder Startup Spotlight: SendGrid, an American success story |author=Alan Shimel |date=July 11, 2013 |publisher=NetworkWorld |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name="CLOUD11">{{cite web |url=http://cloudtimes.org/2011/03/19/the-top-100-cloud-computing-private-companies/ |title=The Top 100 Cloud Computing Private Companies |author=Martin Tantow |date=March 19, 2011 |publisher=CloudTimes |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Feld09">{{cite web |url=http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/12/techstars-boulder-companies-sendgrid-and-retel-announce-financings.html |title=Techstars Boulder Companies SendGrid and Retel Announce Financings |author= |date=December 10, 2009 |publisher=Feld |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref> By December 2009, the company announced it had raised $750,000 in a funding round led by Highway 12 Ventures.<ref name="Tcrunch2" /> Other participating investors included [[SoftTech VC]], FF Angel, and TechStars founder [[David Cohen (entrepreneur)|David Cohen]].<ref name=Tcrunch2 />
The SMTP API is the recommended use by SendGrid, as it allows for more options and can process emails more efficiently.
The SMTP API allows developers to customize the handling instructions for the email being sent. They use headers based on a JSON list of instructions and options.
Example: To assign a category of "newuser", a header would be included on the SMTP request:
<syntaxhighlight lang="javascript">
"X-SMTPAPI: {"category" : "newuser"}
</syntaxhighlight>


In April 2010, the email [[software as a service|software-as-a-service]] (SaaS) company received $5 million in [[Series A round]] funding from Foundry Group, SoftTech VC, and Highway 12 Ventures, as well as individual investors including David Cohen, Scott Petry, [[Dave McClure]], and [[Matt Mullenweg]].<ref name=Tcrunch3 /><ref name=Reut2010>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peweek-earlystage-roundup-idUSTRE6435OH20100504 |title=TechStars startup SendGrid raises $5 million |author=Alastair Goldfisher |date=May 4, 2010 |publisher=Reuters |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref> Ryan McIntyre, the co-founder of Foundry, joined SendGrid's board of directors at this time as well.<ref name=Tcrunch3 />
In addition to assigning categories to emails, you can customize the emails using additional customized JASON header items. Others include:
* TO: Array of address to send messages to <syntaxhighlight lang="javascript">{"to": ["Ben Golden <ben@sendgrid.com>", "Joe Scharf <joe@sendgrid.com>"]}</syntaxhighlight>
*Substition: An associative array of substitution tags, where each tag is associated with a list of replacement text for the tag in the body text. Each Substitution value corresponds to an email in the “To” section of the JSON string.<syntaxhighlight lang="javascript">{"sub":{"%name%": ["Ben", "Joe"], "%role%": ["%sellerSection%", "%buyerSection%"]}}</syntaxhighlight>
*Section: Sections can be used to simplify substitution values that are common to many recipients. This is an associative array of sections that can be used in substitution values.<syntaxhighlight lang="javascript">{"section":{"%sellerSection%": "Seller information for: %name%", "%buyerSection%": "Buyer information for: %name%"}}</syntaxhighlight>
*Unique Arguments: An associative array of arguments and their values to be applied to all emails sent in this SMTP API transaction.<syntaxhighlight lang="javascript">{"unique_args": {"orderNumber": "12345", "eventID": "6789"}}</syntaxhighlight>
*Apps: An associative array of filters and their settings, used to override filter settings already setup for your account. Settings are an associative array of the setting names and their values.<syntaxhighlight lang="javascript">{"filters": {"footer": {"settings": {"enable":1,"text/plain": "Thank you for your business"}}}}</syntaxhighlight>
All of the above examples can then be combined into one larger JSON string placed in a header named X-SMTPAPI.


In January 2012, SendGrid raised $21 million in Series B funding.<ref name=FinFo2012>{{cite web |url=http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/18/venture-capital-deals-60/ |title=Venture capital deals |author=Dan Primack |date=January 18, 2012 |publisher=CNN Money |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref> The funding round – led by [[Bessemer Venture Partners]] and previous investors Highway 12 Ventures, Foundry Group, [[500 Startups]], and TechStars – occurred concurrently with a new partnership between SendGrid and [[Microsoft]]’s Windows Azure platform.<ref name="Gig2012">{{cite web |author=Ryan Kim |date=January 17, 2012 |title=Email is still hot: Why SendGrid got $21M in VC funds |url=http://gigaom.com/2012/01/17/sendgrid-rides-transactional-email-boom-raises-21m/ |accessdate=August 13, 2013 |publisher=Gigaom}}</ref>
<syntaxhighlight lang="javascript">
X-SMTPAPI: {
"to": [
"ben@sendgrid.com",
"joe@sendgrid.com"
],
"sub": {
"%name%": [
"Ben",
"Joe"
],
"%role%": [
"%sellerSection%",
"%buyerSection%"
]
},
"section": {
"%sellerSection%": "Seller information for: %name%",
"%buyerSection%": "Buyer information for: %name%"
},
"category": "Orders",
"unique_args": {
"orderNumber": "12345",
"eventID": "6789"
},
"filters": {
"footer": {
"settings": {
"enable": 1,
"text/plain": "Thank you for your business"
}
}
}
}
</syntaxhighlight>
=== WEB API ===
SendGrids web API is extensive, which allows developers to send email, as well as get statistics, bounces, spam reports, unsubscribes, and other information. The web API is not RESTful, and only uses GET and POST HTTP verbs. The web API allows both XML and JSON requests and provides responses, both error and success, in the same format you post in.


In December 2014, SendGrid raised $20 million in Series C funding. The series C round was led by a new investor [[Bain Capital Ventures]]. Current investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Foundry Group also participated.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2014-12-02|title=SendGrid Caches $20M Series C for Email Technology|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/DJFVW00120141202eac2anpf0|access-date=2020-12-21|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>
'''XML Error'''
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml">
<result>
<message>error</message>
<errors>
...
<error>... error messages ...</error>
...
</errors>
</result>
</syntaxhighlight>


In November 2016, SendGrid raised $33 million in Series D funding. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Bessemer Ventures and the Foundry Group.<ref name=":0" />
'''JSON Error'''
<syntaxhighlight lang="javascript">
{"message":"error","errors":[..."error messages"...]}
</syntaxhighlight>


==Growth and development==
'''XML Success'''
{{Prose|section|date=March 2022}}
<syntaxhighlight lang="xml">
<result>
success
</result>
</syntaxhighlight>


The company announced in May 2011 that it had sent over 9 billion emails to more than 23,000 companies since its founding.<ref name=Tcrunch5 /> In the same month, SendGrid announced a partnership with web host service [[Rackspace]] Hosting that allows Rackspace users to launch email campaigns using SendGrid's software.<ref name=TECHR /><ref name=BIZI2 /><ref name=Whir2011 />
'''JSON Success'''
<syntaxhighlight lang="javascript">
{"message":"success"}
</syntaxhighlight>


By January 2012, the service reported sending out 2.6 billion personalized emails monthly.<ref name=Tcrunch6 /><ref name="DP21">{{cite web |author=Alicia Wallace |date=January 18, 2012 |title=Boulder startup SendGrid raises $21 million |url=http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_19762829 |accessdate=August 13, 2013 |publisher=The Denver Post}}</ref><ref name="AllD2012">{{cite web |author=Liz Gannes |date=January 17, 2012 |title=SendGrid Raises $21M to Send Even More Emails |url=http://allthingsd.com/20120117/sendgrid-raises-21m-to-send-even-more-emails/ |accessdate=August 13, 2013 |publisher=AllThingsD.com}}</ref> By March, the company was experiencing 10% monthly growth.<ref name=BIZI2 />
When calling the web API, you can send several parameters to customize the message being sent to the users, such as to, toname, subject, text and/or html, from, bcc, replyto, date, files, as well as others.


SendGrid announced in June 2012 that it was working with 60,000 businesses and had sent out 45 billion emails since its start in 2009.<ref name=Tcrunch6 />
'''Send to Single Recipient'''


On July 25, 2012, the company reported it had partnered with [[Platform as a service|platform-as-a-service]] (PaaS) companies [[CloudBees]], [[Heroku]], and [[Engine Yard]].<ref name=Vent2012 /> The company opened its Denver office the following October.<ref name=BFP /><ref name=DPNov12 /><ref name=DENBIZ2 />
sendgrid.com/enwiki/api/mail.send.json?api_user=youremail@domain.com&api_key=secureSecret&to=destination@example.com&toname=Destination&subject=Example%20Subject&text=testingtextbody&from=info@domain.com


In December 2012, SendGrid partnered with Twilio to incorporate [[short message service|SMS]] and push notification services to its platform.<ref name=Vent2012 /><ref name=NEXT>{{cite web |url=https://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/12/04/sendgrid-and-twilio-team-up-to-create-a-multi-messaging-platform-for-the-enterprise/?fromcat=all |title=SendGrid and Twilio team up to offer email, SMS, voice and push notifications for the enterprise market |author=Harrison Weber |date=December 4, 2012 |publisher=The Next Web |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref> The company announced integrations with Parse, [[Windows Azure]], and StackMob the same month.<ref name=Gig20122>{{cite web |url=http://gigaom.com/2012/12/13/sendgrid-launches-parse-stackmob-azure-integrations-for-mobile-email-ubiquity/ |title=SendGrid adds Parse, Stackmob, Azure integrations |author=Barb Darrow |date=December 13, 2012 |publisher=Gigaom |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref>
'''Send to multiple recipients'''
In April 2013, SendGrid announced it had sent over 100 billion emails.<ref name=FOUR>{{cite web |url=http://www.fourthsource.com/email-marketing/9-best-practice-tips-for-marketing-emails-14094 |title=9 Best practice tips for marketing emails |author=Denise Hulce |date=April 29, 2013 |publisher=FourthSource |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref> That June, the company released its new email marketing service.<ref name=Vent3>{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/2013/06/18/sendgrid-email-marketing/ |title=SendGrid launches email marketing service that undercuts MailChimp & Constant Contact |author=Sean Ludwig |date=June 18, 2013 |publisher=VentureBeat |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name=Gig2013>{{cite web |url=http://gigaom.com/2013/06/18/sendgrid-picks-fight-with-heavyweight-mailchimp-in-email-marketing/ |title=SendGrid picks fight with heavyweight MailChimp in email marketing |author=Barb Darrow |date=June 18, 2013 |publisher=Gigaom |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name=BizR>{{cite web |url=http://www.bizreport.com/2013/06/sendgrid-launches-email-service.html |title=SendGrid launches email service |author=Kristina Knight |date=June 18, 2013 |publisher=BizReport |accessdate=August 13, 2013}}</ref> The service allows marketing professionals and non-technical users to create emails using various newsletter templates and features a drag-and-drop template to fill in the content.<ref name=Gig2013 /><ref name=BizR />


Former Citrix executive Sameer Dholakia joined SendGrid as the [[CEO]] in September 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/boosters_bits/2014/09/sendgrid-replaces-franklin-as.html|title=SendGrid replaces Franklin as CEO|website=Denver Business Journal|first1=Greg|last1=Avery|date=September 30, 2014}}</ref>
sendgrid.com/enwiki/api/mail.send.json?api_user=youremail@domain.com&api_key=secureSecret&to[]=destination@example.com&toname[]=Destination&to[]=destination2@example.com&toname[]=Destination2&subject=Example%20Subject&text=testingtextbody&from=info@domain.com


In October 2017, SendGrid was ranked #13 in [[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]'s list of The 50 Best Workplaces in Southern California.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/31/best-companies-southern-california/|title=The 50 Best Workplaces in Southern California|website=Fortune|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}</ref>
The web API also includes custom parameters to be sent through x-smtpapi parameter. The format is the same as the SMTP API custom parameters using JSON formatted key/value pair combinations.


In December 2017, SendGrid announced that they are processing around 36 billion monthly emails.<ref name="Duskic"/>
== Email Deliverability ==
SendGrid provides the infrastructure to send email in small, medium, or large quantities while providing you the tools needed to ensure your deliverability success rate is where you want it<ref name="SendGrid Deliverability Guide">[http://go.sendgrid.com/rs/sendgrid/images/SendGrid_Deliverability_Guide.pdf SendGrid Deliverability Guide]</ref>.


In October 2018, [[Twilio]] announced plans to acquire SendGrid for $2 billion.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/twilio-to-acquire-email-api-platform-sendgrid-for-2-billion/|title=Twilio to acquire email API platform SendGrid for $2 billion|last=Condon|first=Stephanie|date=15 October 2018|work=[[ZDNet]]|access-date=8 November 2018}}</ref>
According to hubspot.com, there are 19 email deliverability terms that you should know:<ref name="Email Deliverability Terms">[http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31964/19-Email-Deliverability-Terms-Every-Marketer-Should-Know.aspx 19 Email Deliverability Terms Every Marketer Should Know]</ref>
*Acceptance Rate
*[[Black List]]
*[[CAN-SPAM Act]]
*Deliverability
*[[DKIM]] (DomainKey Identified Mail)
*[[Opt-in email | Double Opt-In]]
*[[Ham (e-mail) | Ham]]
*Hard Bounce
*[[Honeypot (computing) | Honeypot]]
*[[Open rate]]
*Read Length
*[[Sender Policy Framework]]
*Sender Score
*[[Opt-in email | Single Opt-In]]
*[[Soft bounce]]
*[[Email spam | Spam]]
*[[Spam reporting | Spam Report]]
*[[Spamtrap]]
*Warming Up an IP


In December 2018, a SendGrid [[shareholder]] filed a lawsuit in [[Colorado]] federal court in response to the planned acquisition.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law360.com/articles/1108690/shareholder-sues-sendgrid-over-2b-twilio-deal|title=Shareholder Sues SendGrid Over $2B Twilio Deal - Law360|last=Jones|first=Diana Novak|date=6 December 2018|website=www.law360.com|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}}</ref>
According to aweber.com, Ensuring requested opt-in email marketing is delivered to subscriber inboxes is an increasingly difficult battle in the age of spam filtering. Open and click through response rates can be dramatically affected by as much as 20-30% due to incorrect spam filter classification.<ref name="Email Deliverability Tips">[http://www.aweber.com/blog/email-deliverability/email-deliverability-tips.htm Email Deliverability Tips]</ref>


Twilio completed its acquisition of SendGrid on February 1, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.twilio.com/press/releases/twilio-completes-acquisition-sendgrid|title=Twilio Completes Acquisition of SendGrid|date=1 February 2019|website=www.twilio.com|language=en|access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref>
Email deliverability consists of several configurations:
*Permission
*Subscriber Address
*List Management
*Message Format
*Content
*CAN-SPAM Compliance
*Reputation
*Relationships & Whitelisting


Since the acquisition in 2019, a growing number of customers have complained about support response time, leading to a large number of negative reviews.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.trustpilot.com/review/sendgrid.com|title=SendGrid Reviews|date=2 September 2020|website=www.trustpilot.com|language=en|access-date=2 September 2020}}</ref>
== Competitors ==
*[[Amazon Simple Email Service]]
*Postmark
*SocketLabs
*MailJet


== References ==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist|3}}


== External links ==
==External links==
* {{Official website|https://sendgrid.com/}}
* [http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-01-17/tech/30634313_1_emails-startups-publishers SendGrid Sends 2.6 Billion Monthly Emails And It Just Raised $21 Million]
* [http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/17/sendgrid-funding-bessemer-foundry/ SendGrid raises $21M from Bessemer, Foundry, others to make automated e-mails painless]
* [http://aws.amazon.com/ses/ Amazon Simple Email Service ]
* [http://postmarkapp.com/ Postmark]
* [http://www.socketlabs.com/ SocketLabs]
* [http://www.mailjet.com/ MailJet]


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<!-- Categories -->
{{DEFAULTSORT:SendGrid}}
[[Category:Business intelligence]]
[[Category:Software companies established in 2009]]
[[Category:Computer algebra]]
[[Category:American companies established in 2009]]
[[Category:Computer science]]
[[Category:2009 establishments in Colorado]]
[[Category:Data management]]
[[Category:Software companies based in Colorado]]
[[Category:Companies based in Boulder, Colorado]]
[[Category:Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:Email marketing software]]
[[Category:Companies based in Denver]]
[[Category:2017 initial public offerings]]
[[Category:Go (programming language) software]]
[[Category:2019 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:Software companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Bain Capital companies]]

Latest revision as of 02:11, 1 September 2024

SendGrid
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryTechnology
Founded2009
FounderIsaac Saldana, Jose Lopez, Tim Jenkins
Headquarters,
Key people
Sameer Dholakia (CEO)[1]
Revenue$111.9 million (2017)[2]
ParentTwilio
Websitesendgrid.com

SendGrid (also known as Twilio SendGrid) is a Denver, Colorado-based customer communication platform for transactional and marketing email.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The company was founded by Isaac Saldana, Jose Lopez, and Tim Jenkins in 2009, and incubated through the Techstars accelerator program.[9][10][11][12] As of 2017, SendGrid has raised over $81 million and has offices in Denver, Colorado; Boulder, Colorado; Irvine, California; Redwood City, California; and London.[8][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

The company went public with a debut in the New York Stock Exchange on November 16, 2017.[19] Twilio acquired SendGrid in February 2019.

General

[edit]

SendGrid provides a cloud-based service that assists businesses with email delivery.[7][9][20][21] The service manages various types of email including shipping notifications, friend requests, sign-up confirmations, and email newsletters. It also handles Internet service provider (ISP) monitoring, domain keys, the sender policy framework (SPF), and feedback loops.[13][22][23][24] Additionally, the company provides link tracking and open rate reporting.[22] It also allows companies to track email opens, unsubscribes, bounces, and spam reports.[7][22][25] Beginning in 2012, the company integrated SMS, voice, and push notification abilities into its service through a partnership with Twilio.[15]

SendGrid offers a freemium version and a Lite Plan (pay-as-you-go), as well as three expanded levels of service: Essentials, Pro, and Premier.[7][26][27]

SendGrid's clients include Uber, Twilio, Foursquare, Pandora, and Airbnb.[13][21][24][28]

Controversy

[edit]

The controversial firing of Adria Richards in March 2013 and the surrounding circumstances became known as Donglegate.[29][30][31][32][33]

Funding

[edit]

Before SendGrid was called Twilio SendGrid, they named the project smtpapi.com.[34] After founding SendGrid in Riverside, California, in July 2009, Saldana, Lopez, and Jenkins enrolled the startup in the TechStars accelerator program and moved the company to Boulder, Colorado.[9][11][35][36][37] By December 2009, the company announced it had raised $750,000 in a funding round led by Highway 12 Ventures.[22] Other participating investors included SoftTech VC, FF Angel, and TechStars founder David Cohen.[22]

In April 2010, the email software-as-a-service (SaaS) company received $5 million in Series A round funding from Foundry Group, SoftTech VC, and Highway 12 Ventures, as well as individual investors including David Cohen, Scott Petry, Dave McClure, and Matt Mullenweg.[25][38] Ryan McIntyre, the co-founder of Foundry, joined SendGrid's board of directors at this time as well.[25]

In January 2012, SendGrid raised $21 million in Series B funding.[39] The funding round – led by Bessemer Venture Partners and previous investors Highway 12 Ventures, Foundry Group, 500 Startups, and TechStars – occurred concurrently with a new partnership between SendGrid and Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform.[40]

In December 2014, SendGrid raised $20 million in Series C funding. The series C round was led by a new investor Bain Capital Ventures. Current investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Foundry Group also participated.[41]

In November 2016, SendGrid raised $33 million in Series D funding. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Bessemer Ventures and the Foundry Group.[18]

Growth and development

[edit]

The company announced in May 2011 that it had sent over 9 billion emails to more than 23,000 companies since its founding.[27] In the same month, SendGrid announced a partnership with web host service Rackspace Hosting that allows Rackspace users to launch email campaigns using SendGrid's software.[7][24][26]

By January 2012, the service reported sending out 2.6 billion personalized emails monthly.[12][42][43] By March, the company was experiencing 10% monthly growth.[24]

SendGrid announced in June 2012 that it was working with 60,000 businesses and had sent out 45 billion emails since its start in 2009.[12]

On July 25, 2012, the company reported it had partnered with platform-as-a-service (PaaS) companies CloudBees, Heroku, and Engine Yard.[15] The company opened its Denver office the following October.[9][14][17]

In December 2012, SendGrid partnered with Twilio to incorporate SMS and push notification services to its platform.[15][44] The company announced integrations with Parse, Windows Azure, and StackMob the same month.[45] In April 2013, SendGrid announced it had sent over 100 billion emails.[46] That June, the company released its new email marketing service.[47][48][49] The service allows marketing professionals and non-technical users to create emails using various newsletter templates and features a drag-and-drop template to fill in the content.[48][49]

Former Citrix executive Sameer Dholakia joined SendGrid as the CEO in September 2014.[50]

In October 2017, SendGrid was ranked #13 in Fortune's list of The 50 Best Workplaces in Southern California.[51]

In December 2017, SendGrid announced that they are processing around 36 billion monthly emails.[34]

In October 2018, Twilio announced plans to acquire SendGrid for $2 billion.[52]

In December 2018, a SendGrid shareholder filed a lawsuit in Colorado federal court in response to the planned acquisition.[53]

Twilio completed its acquisition of SendGrid on February 1, 2019.[54]

Since the acquisition in 2019, a growing number of customers have complained about support response time, leading to a large number of negative reviews.[55]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "SendGrid Appoints Sameer Dholakia as New CEO". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  2. ^ "SendGrid Company Profile". Craft. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  3. ^ Leena Rao (March 9, 2011). "SendGrid Sends 7.5 Million Emails, Brings Former Oracle Exec As CEO". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  4. ^ "TechStars Incubator Hatches 10 New Companies". TechCrunch. August 6, 2009. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  5. ^ Dana Oshiro (September 30, 2009). "TechStars Investor Day Hits a Home Run". ReadWrite. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  6. ^ "SendGrid raises $21M in VC; Microsoft to partner". Denver Business Journal. January 17, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e "How SendGrid Makes Sure Those App Emails Go Through, With Jim Franklin". TechRockies. November 13, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  8. ^ a b Ben Kuo (November 16, 2012). "Ten of Southern California's Top Software Companies". socalTECH. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  9. ^ a b c d Sprouter (October 31, 2012). "Just do it: Ideas are worthless unless you execute them, startup founder says". Financial Post. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  10. ^ Sarah Kuta (February 12, 2012). "From unlimited burritos to on-site yoga, Boulder firms pile on perks". Boulder Daily Camera. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  11. ^ a b Brad McCarty (May 16, 2013). "Startup Stories: SendGrid shares its passion for fixing email". The Next Web. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  12. ^ a b c d Leena Rao (January 17, 2012). "Bessemer Leads 21m Round In Cloud-Based Email Delivery And Management Service SendGrid". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  13. ^ a b c Sean Ludwig (February 18, 2013). "10 Boulder startups we're excited about". VentureBeat. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  14. ^ a b Andy Vuong (November 5, 2012). "Could downtown Denver be the next Silicon Valley?". The Denver Post. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  15. ^ a b c d Sean Ludwig (July 25, 2012). "SendGrid partners with Heroku, Engine Yard, & others on email management". VentureBeat. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  16. ^ Sean Ludwig (December 4, 2012). "Cloud tag team: SendGrid and Twilio partner on email, SMS, and voicemail solutions for the enterprise". VentureBeat. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  17. ^ a b Greg Avery (August 10, 2012). "Boulder's SendGrid opening Denver office". Denver Business Journal. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  18. ^ a b "Email delivery platform SendGrid raises $33 million ahead of IPO in 2017". VentureBeat. 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  19. ^ Chuang, Tamara (2017-11-12). "As SendGrid preps for public debut, the IPO market appears receptive". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  20. ^ Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry (August 2, 2011). "SendGrid Is Sending 2 Billion Emails Per Month And Just Getting Started". Business Insider. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  21. ^ a b Ingrid Lunden (June 29, 2012). "Inbox Alert: SendGrid Sends 45B Emails For 60,000 Customers, 20B In 2012 Alone". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  22. ^ a b c d e Leena Rao (December 8, 2009). "SendGrid Raises $750K for Email Delivery Software". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  23. ^ Stephanie Miles (August 1, 2012). "SendGrid: Reliable Email Delivery for Businesses". AppVita. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  24. ^ a b c d Julie Bort (March 1, 2012). "All Those Emails From Pinterest Are Very Good For This Guy". Business Insider. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  25. ^ a b c Evelyn Rusli (April 20, 2010). "SendGrid Raises $5 Million, Sends A Bajillion Emails". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  26. ^ a b Nicole Henderson (May 19, 2011). "Web Host Rackspace Partners with Email Infrastructure Provider SendGrid". TheWhir. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  27. ^ a b Rip Empson (May 10, 2011). "Email Delivery System SendGrid Announces New Pricing Model, Now You Can Pay-As-You-Go". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  28. ^ Bambi Francisco Roizen (January 17, 2012). "SendGrid gets $21m in capital, led by Bessemer". Vator. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  29. ^ Ronson, Jon (21 February 2015). "The Internet Shaming of Lindsey Stone". The Guardian.
  30. ^ "Comment to Hacker News article 'Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out'".
  31. ^ "Techie Adria Richards fired after tweeting about men's comments". CBS News.
  32. ^ Zandt, Deanna. "Why Asking What Adria Richards Could Have Done Differently Is The Wrong Question". Forbes.
  33. ^ Vuong, Andy (March 25, 2013). "SendGrid employee's tweet sets off firestorm". The Denver Post. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  34. ^ a b Duskic, Goran (2017-12-13). "How SendGrid became one of the largest API companies in the world - Isaac Saldana Interview - WhoAPI blog". WhoAPI blog. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  35. ^ Alan Shimel (July 11, 2013). "Boulder Startup Spotlight: SendGrid, an American success story". NetworkWorld. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  36. ^ Martin Tantow (March 19, 2011). "The Top 100 Cloud Computing Private Companies". CloudTimes. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  37. ^ "Techstars Boulder Companies SendGrid and Retel Announce Financings". Feld. December 10, 2009. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  38. ^ Alastair Goldfisher (May 4, 2010). "TechStars startup SendGrid raises $5 million". Reuters. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  39. ^ Dan Primack (January 18, 2012). "Venture capital deals". CNN Money. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  40. ^ Ryan Kim (January 17, 2012). "Email is still hot: Why SendGrid got $21M in VC funds". Gigaom. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  41. ^ "SendGrid Caches $20M Series C for Email Technology". Wall Street Journal. 2014-12-02. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  42. ^ Alicia Wallace (January 18, 2012). "Boulder startup SendGrid raises $21 million". The Denver Post. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  43. ^ Liz Gannes (January 17, 2012). "SendGrid Raises $21M to Send Even More Emails". AllThingsD.com. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  44. ^ Harrison Weber (December 4, 2012). "SendGrid and Twilio team up to offer email, SMS, voice and push notifications for the enterprise market". The Next Web. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  45. ^ Barb Darrow (December 13, 2012). "SendGrid adds Parse, Stackmob, Azure integrations". Gigaom. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  46. ^ Denise Hulce (April 29, 2013). "9 Best practice tips for marketing emails". FourthSource. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  47. ^ Sean Ludwig (June 18, 2013). "SendGrid launches email marketing service that undercuts MailChimp & Constant Contact". VentureBeat. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  48. ^ a b Barb Darrow (June 18, 2013). "SendGrid picks fight with heavyweight MailChimp in email marketing". Gigaom. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  49. ^ a b Kristina Knight (June 18, 2013). "SendGrid launches email service". BizReport. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  50. ^ Avery, Greg (September 30, 2014). "SendGrid replaces Franklin as CEO". Denver Business Journal.
  51. ^ "The 50 Best Workplaces in Southern California". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  52. ^ Condon, Stephanie (15 October 2018). "Twilio to acquire email API platform SendGrid for $2 billion". ZDNet. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  53. ^ Jones, Diana Novak (6 December 2018). "Shareholder Sues SendGrid Over $2B Twilio Deal - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  54. ^ "Twilio Completes Acquisition of SendGrid". www.twilio.com. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  55. ^ "SendGrid Reviews". www.trustpilot.com. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
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39°44′53″N 104°59′57″W / 39.748150°N 104.999039°W / 39.748150; -104.999039