Wix.com

Wix.com Ltd. (Hebrew: וויקס.קום) is an Israeli software company, publicly listed in the US, that provides cloud-based web development services. It allows users to create HTML5 websites and mobile sites through the use of online drag and drop tools.[3] Along with its headquarters and other offices in Israel, Wix also has offices in Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, the Netherlands, the United States, Ukraine, and Singapore.[4]

Wix.com Ltd.
TypePublic company
ISINIL0011301780
IndustryInternet
Founded2006 (2006)
Founders
  • Avishai Abrahami
  • Nadav Abrahami
  • Giora Kaplan
Headquarters
Tel Aviv
,
Israel
Number of locations
22 (2022)
List
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Mark Tluszcz (Chairman)
Avishai Abrahami (CEO)
ProductsOnline services for stores, bookings, hotels, events, restaurants, fitness, video, music, shoutout, answers, logo maker
ServicesWebsite builder, business management, web hosting service
Revenue US$1.27 billion (2021)
US$−325 million (2021)
US$−117 million (2021)
Total assets US$2.06 billion (2021)
Total equity US$146 million (2021)
OwnersBaillie Gifford (14.2%)
Starboard Value (9%)
BlackRock (4.7%)
Principal Global (4.3%)
Jackson Square Partners (4.3%)
Number of employees
5,929 (December 2021)
Subsidiaries
  • DeviantArt
  • SpeedETab
  • Inkfrog
  • Rise.ai
  • Modalyst
Websitewww.wix.com
Footnotes / references
[1][2]
Wix's secondary headquarters, also in Tel Aviv Port, Israel

Users can use applications for social media, e-commerce, online marketing, contact forms, e-mail marketing, and community forums to their web sites.[5][6] The Wix website builder is built on a freemium business model, earning its revenues through premium upgrades.[7] According to W3Techs, Wix is used by 2.3% of the top 10 million websites.[8]

History

Product development

Wix was founded in 2006 by Israeli developers Avishai Abrahami, Nadav Abrahami, and Giora Kaplan.[9] Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Wix was backed by investors Insight Venture Partners, Mangrove Capital Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, DAG Ventures, and Benchmark Capital.[10] The company entered an open beta phase in 2007 using a platform based on Adobe Flash.[11]

By April 2010 Wix had 3.5 million users and raised US$10 million in Series C funding provided by Benchmark Capital and existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Mangrove Capital Partners.[12] In March 2011, Wix had 8.5 million users and raised US$40 million in Series D funding, bringing its total funding to that date to US$61 million.[13]

In June 2011, Wix launched the Facebook store module, making its first step into the social commerce trend.[14] In March 2012, Wix launched a new HTML5 site builder, replacing the Adobe Flash technology.[15][16] In October 2012, Wix launched an app market for users to sell applications built with the company's automated web development technology. Wix's software development kit lets app developers create and offer web apps to Wix users.[17]

By August 2013, the Wix platform had more than 34 million registered users.[18]

On 15 May 2014, Wix launched the WixHive API which allows Wix apps within a user web site to capture and share their visitor data (such as contact information, messages, purchases and bookings) with other installed apps within the same web site.[19]

In August 2014, Wix launched Wix Hotels, a booking system for hotels, bed and breakfasts, and vacation rentals which use Wix websites.[20] Wix Music was launched in 2015 as a platform for independent musicians to market and sell their music.[21] Wix Restaurants was launched in 2016.[22]

In December 2017, Wix Code, an API for adding database collections and custom JavaScript scripting, was released.[23] In March 2020, Wix Code was re-branded to Corvid API,[24] and then in January 2021 re-branded from Corvid to Velo, to avoid resemblance to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[25]

In December 2018, Wix launched Ascend by Wix,[26] a suite of 20 products that lets entrepreneurs start, manage and promote a business directly from the Wix web development platform.

Wix introduced Wix Fitness,[27] an all-in-one solution for fitness entrepreneurs to grow and promote their business and manage customer relationships in November 2019.

In February 2020, Wix unveiled Editor X,[28] a new platform to offer advanced capabilities for designers and web agencies.

As of June 2020, with the continuous improvement to its features updates and releases,[29] Wix claimed it had more than 180 million registered users from 190 countries around the world.[30]

At the end of 2020, and as a result of Adobe's decision to end their support for the Flash Player,[31] Wix stopped allowing their users to create websites in the Flash Editor as well as getting support for the Flash sites and deleting all the Flash sites,[32] thus officially ending the life of Wix's first product.

In 2021, Wix partnered with Vistaprint[33] and then partnered with LegalZoom[34] a year later to better support entrepreneurs starting a business.

By 2022, the Wix platform had more than 220 million registered users worldwide.[35]

IPO and acquisitions

On 5 November 2013, Wix had an initial public offering on NASDAQ, raising about US$127 million for the company and some share holders.[36]

In April 2014, Wix announced the acquisition of Appixia, an Israeli startup for creating native mobile commerce (mCommerce) apps. In October 2014, Wix announced its acquisition of OpenRest, a developer of online ordering systems for restaurants.[37][38]

On 23 February 2017, Wix acquired the online art community DeviantArt for US$36 million.[39]

In February 2020, Wix acquired Inkfrog for eBay sellers to enable marketplace and sales channel integrations.

On 2 March 2021, Wix acquired SpeedETab,[40] a Miami-based restaurant online technology provider.

In May 2021, Wix acquired Rise.ai,[41] the gift card and customer re-engagement solution for online brands. A month later, Wix acquired Modalyst,[42] a leading marketplace and dropshipping platform.

Description

Users must purchase premium packages to connect their sites to their own domains, remove Wix ads, access the form builder, add e-commerce capabilities, or buy extra data storage and bandwidth.[7]

Wix provides customizable website templates and a drag-and-drop HTML5 web site builder that includes apps, graphics, image galleries, fonts, vectors, animations and other options. Users also may opt to create their web sites from scratch. In October 2013, Wix introduced a mobile editor to allow users to adjust their sites for mobile viewing.[43]

Wix App Market offers both free and subscription-based applications, with a revenue split of 80% for the developer and 20 percent for Wix.[44] Customers can integrate third-party applications into their own web sites, such as photograph feeds, blogging, music playlists, online community, e-mail marketing, and file management.[45]

Custom JavaScript code can be inserted into Wix webpages using the Velo API.[46]

Acquisitions
  • Appixia: Developer of a platform for building "mCommerce" apps (acquired March 2014)
  • OpenRest: Provider of online ordering and mobile solutions for restaurants (acquired October 2014[37])
  • Moment.me: Mobile website builder for events and marketing tools for social lead generation (acquired April 2015[47])
  • Flok: Provider of customer loyalty programs tools (acquired January 2017)
  • DeviantArt: Online community for art/design creators and enthusiasts (acquired February 2017[39])
  • InkFrog: A web design company that provides customized business management software for eBay sellers (acquired February 2020[48])
  • SpeedETab: Restaurant online technology provider (acquired March 2021)[49]
  • Rise.ai: Gift card and customer re-engagement solution for online brands (acquired May 2021)[50]
  • Modalyst: a marketplace and dropshipping platform (acquired June 2021)[51]

Use of WordPress code

In October 2016, there was a controversy over Wix's use of WordPress's GPL-licensed code.[52] In response, Avishai Abrahami, Wix's CEO, published an answer explaining which open-source code was used and how Wix collaborates with the open-source community.[53] However, it was subsequently noted that collaboration with the open-source community was not sufficient under the terms of the GPL license, which requires any code built on GPL-licensed code to be released under the same license.[54]

Removal of activist website

On 31 May 2021, a Wix-hosted website run by exiled Hong Kong activists (2021hkcharter.com) was shut down at the request of the Hong Kong Police. This was the first known case of Hong Kong's National Security Law being used to censor content on an overseas website. Wix later apologized for "mistakenly removing the website" and reinstated the website after it had been down for four days.[55][56]

References
  1. "Wix.com Ltd 2021 Annual Report (Form 20-F)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 1 April 2022.
  2. "Top Institutional Holders". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  3. Zukerman, Erez (9 April 2012). "Create a Website Easily With Wix". PC World. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  4. "Wix Offices Around the World". wix.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  5. "Now At 25M Users, Wix Brings Third-Party Apps To Its Website Builder With New Marketplace". TechCrunch. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  6. "Wix's new ADI tool uses artificial intelligence to build a Website for you". The Next Web. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  7. "New options for building a free website". MSN. 23 July 2013. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  8. "Usage statistics and market share of Wix". w3techs.com. Retrieved 26 April 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. Tress, Luke (23 February 2017). "Wix acquires online creative community DeviantArt". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  10. Vidra, Eze (28 March 2011). "Israeli startup Wix Raises $40 Million, Wants to Become a Large Company in Israel". VC Cafe. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  11. McCarthy, Caroline (13 October 2008). "Site creator Wix announces funding, subscriptions". CNET. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  12. "Investment of $10 Million Raised by Wix for Promotion of Flash Website Software". PRWeb. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  13. Israeli startup Wix Raises $40 Million, Wants to Become a Large Company in Israel, Eze Vidra, VCCafe; 28 March 2011
  14. Nicole Perlroth, Wix Unveils New Facebook eStore For Small Businesses, Forbes, 22 June 2011
  15. Wix launches a brand new HTML5 site builder as Flash heads the way of the dodo, Harrison Weber, The Next Web, 26 March 2012
  16. Robert Brandl, Wix html5 Website Builder – Let’s Compare It with the Flash Version, Websitetooltester.com, 11 April 2012
  17. Barrett, Jeff (16 October 2012). "Wix introduces game-changing App Market for web developers". The Washington Times. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  18. Shemer, Nadav (10 June 2013). "6 Israeli Startups To Watch As Google Reportedly Buys Waze For $1.3 Billion". Fast Company. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  19. "WixHive API". Wix.com. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  20. Boutique hotels just got easier to book, Sara Ashley O'Brien, CNN Money, 6 August 2014
  21. Wix targets indie musicians with WixMusic launch, Natalie Gagliordi, ZDNet | 31 March 2015
  22. Wix.com Launches Wix Restaurants Bringing a True DIY Solution for Online and Mobile Ordering to Restaurants Worldwide, Yahoo! Finance, 31 March 2016
  23. Cohen, Emmanuel (5 December 2017). "Huge News! You Can Now Create Without Limits Using Wix Code". Wix Blog. Wix. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  24. Balfour, Jonah (3 March 2020). "What is Corvid by Wix? Build Web Applications, Faster". Wix Blog. Wix. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  25. "What Happens When a Pandemic Sounds like Your Product Name".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. press-room (20 January 2019). "Introducing: Ascend by Wix". Press Room | Press Releases | Wix.com. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  27. Rosenberg, Matthew (12 November 2019). "Introducing Wix Fitness: All in One Solution for Fitness Entrepreneurs". Press Room | Press Releases | Wix.com. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  28. Rosenberg, Matthew (6 February 2020). "Wix Unveils Editor X - Extending Leadership of Web Creation Market". Press Room | Press Releases | Wix.com. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  29. "Updates & Releases". 24 June 2020.
  30. "The Leader in Website Creation". June 2020.
  31. "Adobe Flash Player End of Life". adobe.com. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  32. "Important Information About the Flash Editor".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  33. Ltd, Wix com. "Vistaprint Selects Wix as the Technology Layer for its Millions of Small Business Customers Worldwide to Create, Manage and Grow their Business Online". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  34. Ltd, Wix com. "Wix and LegalZoom Join Forces to Offer Personalized Solutions for Small Businesses to Establish and Grow their Business Online". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  35. "The Leader in Website Creation" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  36. Israeli start-up Wix raises $127m in Nasdaq IPO, Financial Times, 6 November 2013
  37. "Wix expands with acquisition of restaurant solutions provider OpenRest". geektime.com. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  38. "Fresh From IPO, Wix Acquires Israeli Startup Appixia To Bring Native Mobile Commerce Support To 42M Users – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  39. "Website builder Wix acquires art community DeviantArt for $36M". TechCrunch. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  40. Ltd, Wix com. "Wix Acquires SpeedETab to Strengthen Wix Restaurant Capabilities". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  41. Ltd, Wix com. "Wix Acquires Rise.ai to Extend Native Wix eCommerce Platform Offering". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  42. Ltd, Wix com. "Wix Acquires Modalyst to Provide Its Own eCommerce Supplier Marketplace and Native Dropshipping Solution". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  43. "New Mobile Solution from Wix". Wix Blog.
  44. "Wix Developer Center | Build a Web App | Wix.com". Wix Developer site. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  45. Clancy, Heatjer (16 May 2013). "Small-business web host becomes Google reseller". ZDNet. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  46. "API Overview". Corvid Reference. Wix. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  47. "Wix Buys Moment.Me For $10M To Add Social Marketing To Its Website Building Platform – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  48. "Wix Launches Extended eCommerce Solution". MarTechSeries. 1 July 2020.
  49. Ltd, Wix com. "Wix Acquires SpeedETab to Strengthen Wix Restaurant Capabilities". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  50. Ltd, Wix com. "Wix Acquires Extend Native Wix eCommerce Platform Offering". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  51. Ltd, Wix com. "Wix Acquires Modalyst to Provide Its Own eCommerce Supplier Marketplace and Native Dropshipping Solution". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  52. The Wix Mobile App, a WordPress Joint, Ma.tt, 28 October 2016
  53. Dear Matt Mullenweg: an open letter from Wix.com's CEO | Official Wix Blog, 29 October 2016
  54. Gallagher, Sean. "Wix gets caught 'stealing' GPL code from WordPress". Ars Technica.
  55. EDT, Zoe Strozewski On 6/3/21 at 3:50 pm (3 June 2021). "Wix apologizes for removing website in support of Hong Kong democracy". Newsweek. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  56. "Hong Kong security law used to shut down website run by overseas activists". South China Morning Post. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
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