Company Founding and Early Years
- Automattic is founded by Matt Mullenweg, who had previously co-created the open-source WordPress software in 2003.
- WordPress.com is launched, making the powerful publishing platform available as a hosted service.
- In June, the first European Automattician is hired.
- In October, the first American Automattician is hired.
- Toni Schneider is appointed as first CEO.
- WordPress VIP service is launched.
- Series A funding rounds total $1.1M.
- The first WordPress.com paid upgrade is received.
- The first “Grand Meetup”—with just 8 people—is held in San Francisco.
- On August 5th, the first WordCamp is held in San Francisco.
First Acquisitions and Milestones
In 2007, Akismet, one of the first successful anti-spam services for blogs, becomes widely adopted. In July, the first Oceanic Automattician is hired and Automattic reaches 10 Automatticians. That same year, Automattic acquires Gravatar, the globally recognized avatar service. Acquisitions the following year include BuddyPress, IntenseDebate, and Crowdsignal, formerly known as Polldaddy.
Also in 2008, WordPress.com reaches one million signed up blogs. The website has one month where it reaches one billion page views. Financially, Series B funding rounds total $29.5M.
Automattic’s growth continues into 2009 and beyond, as more people join the team, over 15k new bloggers sign up on WordPress.com every day, dozens of WordCamps are held around the world, and the company releases new services.
2009
- VideoPress is launched.
- WordPress.com zooms past 10 million blogs.
- In March, the first Asian Automattician is hired.
2010
- The WordPress Foundation is established.
- On September 9th, the WordPress trademark is transferred to the WordPress Foundation.
- VaultPress, service for WordPress backups and security, is introduced.
- In May, Automattic reaches 50 Automatticians.
Further Growth and Valuing
2011
- In March, Jetpack is launched.
- Multiple funding rounds total $126.7M from Tiger Capital.
2012
- In February, Automattic reaches 100 Automatticians.
2013
- Automattic acquires Simplenote and Simplenote Creator Simperium, expanding into note-taking applications.
- The sabbatical benefit is used for the first time.
- In February, the first Latin American Automattician is hired.
2014
- On January 13th, Matt Mullenweg becomes CEO of Automattic.
- $160 million is raised in funding, valuing the company at $1.16 billion.
Expansion Beyond Publishing
2015
- The three-month sabbatical becomes an official benefit for everyone.
- Automattic acquires WooCommerce (including WooThemes, Sensei and all the other plugins and themes), moving into e-commerce and dramatically expanding its reach beyond publishing.
- Calypso, the development platform for managing WordPress.com sites, is open-sourced.
- Series C funding rounds total $160M.
2016
- In August, Automattic reaches 500 Automatticians.
2018
- On December 6, 2018, Gutenberg, the new block-based editor, is officially launched with WordPress 5.0.
- Automattic acquires Zero BS CRM (now Jetpack CRM) and Tumblr (from Verizon), marking a pivotal expansion into creative publishing platforms.
- Newspack, a new publishing platform, is launched.
- The company raises $300 million from Salesforce Ventures, valuing the company at $3 billion.
- Series D funding rounds total $380.6M.
- In September 2019, Automattic reaches 1,000 Automatticians.
Recognition and Influence
In May 2020, WooCommerce Payments is launched, followed by a strategic acquisition: in 2021, Automattic acquires Pocket Casts, expanding into podcasting. Other notable acquisitions during this period include Frontity, Parse.ly, Day One, and the WPScan security service. This phase of growth is further supported by an additional funding round of $288 million.
Gutenberg becomes the default editor, revolutionizing the WordPress content creation experience with its modern block-based approach, solidifying the company’s influence across the digital landscape.
2023
- Automattic acquires Texts, expanding into messaging apps.
- In March, Automattic acquires the ActivityPub plugin for WordPress, reinforcing its commitment to open web standards.
- As of 2023, there are 10 billion published blog posts in WordPress.com.
2024
2025
- In April, the company continues to innovate, introducing Big Sky, WordPress.com’s new AI website builder.
- Automattic is a Most Loved Workplace™ in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Automattic continues to innovate at the intersection of content, commerce, and community, with a vision to power the next generation of the open web.
An Automattic Timeline