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WeTransfer

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WeTransfer B.V.
Company typePrivate
IndustrySoftware
Founded2009; 15 years ago (2009)
Founders
  • Rinke Visser
  • Bas Beerens
  • Ronald Hans
Headquarters
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
ServicesSaaS
Revenue€72m (2021)[1]
OwnerBending Spoons
Number of employees
350+ (2024)[2]
Websitewetransfer.com/index/

WeTransfer B.V. is a Dutch internet-based computer file transfer service company that was founded in 2009 and based in Amsterdam.[3] In 2024, the company was acquired by Bending Spoons.[4]

History

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Early history

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WeTransfer was founded in 2009 by Rinke Visser, Bas Beerens and Ronald Hans (Nalden) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.[5][3] It was created to enable the sharing of large files (up to 2GB) free of charge.[6]

In 2012, WeTransfer implemented a re-design and introduced a paid-for 'Plus' tier with support for larger file transfers.[6][7]

In 2014, WeTransfer launched "creative-class.tv", an ongoing video series. The company initiated its first bursaries that year through a collaborative partnership with Central Saint Martins.[8] These scholarships supported two students from around the globe in their full-time studies.

In 2015, WeTransfer raised a US$25 million Series A funding round from Highland Capital Partners Europe.[9] They also added venture capitalist Troy Carter to its board.[10][11]

2016–2022

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In 2016, WeTransfer announced the acquisition of digital design studio Present Plus,[12] established in 2010 by Damian Bradfield and WeTransfer co-founder Nalden.[12] In September, WeTransfer opened its first office in the United States at Venice Beach, Los Angeles.[13]

In early 2017, Gordon Willoughby became the company's Chief Executive Officer, taking over from Bas Beerens, who became Executive Chairman.[14]

In January 2018, WeTransfer launched a content arm called "WePresent".[15] In August, WeTransfer acquired app developer FiftyThree, who owned sketching app Paper and collaborative presentation app Paste.[16] In October, WeTransfer relaunched its mobile app under the name "Collect by WeTransfer".[17][18]

In June 2019, WeTransfer experienced a security incident in which files were "sent to the wrong people".[19] In August, the company closed a €35 million secondary funding round led by HPE Growth.[20]

In May 2020, India banned WeTransfer, citing security reasons.[21] In June, the company became a certified B Corporation.[22]

In February 2021, WeTransfer claimed to have achieved carbon-neutral certification, having pledged the previous year to reduce emissions by 30% by 2025.[23] In March, the 2020 short film "The Long Goodbye" by Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed commissioned by WeTransfer through WePresent won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.[24] In April, the company launched a charitable arm known as "Supporting Act", focused on helping emerging creative talent, pledging to donate 1% of revenues from 2022 onwards.[25] In October, WeTransfer announced sales in 2020 of €65m.[26]

In April 2021, Reuters reported that the WeTransfer logos and likeness were used in high-profile phishing scams.[27]

In January 2022, WeTransfer planned for an IPO for a valuation of up to $800 million but ended up canceling the offering shortly before listing citing market volatility.[28]

In 2022, Alexandar Vassilev took over as the company's Chief Executive Officer.[29]

In May 2023, WeTransfer announced it reduced 78% of server emissions as part of its environmental commitments.[30]

Sale to Bending Spoons

[edit]

In July 2024 Italian technology company Bending Spoons announced that it would acquire WeTransfer.[31]

In early September 2024, Bending Spoons' CEO Luca Ferrari announced that WeTransfer would be having layoffs, with 'up to 3/4 of the jobs' likely to be cut.[2][32]

Leadership

[edit]

Bas Beerens founded the file-sharing platform WeTransfer[33] with Nalden (Ronald Hans) and Rinke Visser in 2009.[34]

Damian Bradfield joined the company as a "founding shareholder" in 2010.[35] Bradfield is currently WeTransfer's Chief Creative Officer.

Chief Executive Gordon Willoughby joined WeTransfer in January 2017.[36] He announced his departure from the company in May 2022 and was replaced by former Chief Technology Officer Alexandar Vassilev.[37]

Chief Financial Officer Melissa Nussbaum joined WeTransfer from King in September 2020.[38]

Martha Lane Fox joined WeTransfer as chair in July 2020.[39]

Technology

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WeTransfer is based on Amazon's infrastructure and technology. It uses Amazon S3 for storage and for sending files.[40]

Services

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WeTransfer offers a free, limited service, and a paid option called "Pro" where users can send and store more data.[41][42]

Revenue model

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WeTransfer has a dual revenue model split between advertising and premium ("pro") subscriptions.[43]

WeTransfer displays full-screen advertisements while transferring[44] instead of banner ads.[45] The company donates 30% of the advertising inventory to creatives and charitable causes.[46]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "WeTransfer owner seeks Amsterdam IPO, plans $182 mln share issue". Reuters. 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  2. ^ a b "FD: nieuwe eigenaar van WeTransfer schrapt driekwart van personeel". Tweakers (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  3. ^ a b Eva Oude Elferink (2013-10-21). "Nalden: 'Door het design van WeTransfer durven mensen het te gebruiken'". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  4. ^ Bergen,Bloomberg, Mark. "WeTransfer acquired by Bending Spoons, the Italian software powerhouse behind Evernote and Meetup". Fortune Europe. Archived from the original on 2024-08-22. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
  5. ^ Zeven, Martijn (3 June 2021). "Nederlands WeTransfer mikt op beurswaardering van €1 miljard" [Dutch WeTransfer aims for €1 billion market valuation]. Quote (in Dutch). ISSN 0920-8275.
  6. ^ a b "WeTransfer". wetransfer.com. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  7. ^ "WeTransfer: The Internet's Cleanest and Simplest File Sharing Drops a New Beta Version". HYPEBEAST. 2012-09-21. Archived from the original on 2022-05-30. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  8. ^ "MA Material Futures Announces New Bursaries". Central Saint Martins. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Dutch startup WeTransfer just raised $25 million to expand into the US". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2024-02-29. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  10. ^ "Troy Carter Joins The Board Of WeTransfer". Fast Company. 9 November 2015. Archived from the original on 2022-07-01. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  11. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (17 February 2015). "WeTransfer, Funky Dutch Cousin Of Dropbox And Box, Gets $25M To Go Large In The U.S." TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2024-08-04. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  12. ^ a b Lunden, Ingrid. "Dropbox rival WeTransfer acquires Present Plus to boost product and design teams". Techcrunch. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  13. ^ Kissel, Chris (3 October 2016). "How to Make Your Tech Company Cool: Throw a Party With Kamasi Washington". LA Weekly. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  14. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (15 December 2016). "WeTransfer's founder leaves CEO role, ex-Amazon exec steps in for commercial push". TechCrunch. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  15. ^ Kiefer, Brittaney (December 13, 2021). "WeTransfer's Creative Work Has Qualified for the Oscars". Adweek. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  16. ^ "WeTransfer buys creative apps Paper and Paste from FiftyThree". The Verge. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  17. ^ Hardwick, Tim (October 30, 2018). "WeTransfer Relaunches Mobile File-Sharing App as 'Collect'". Mac Rumors. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  18. ^ Lucic, Kristijan (October 29, 2018). "WeTransfer App Gets Rebranded To 'Collect by WeTransfer'". Android Headlines. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  19. ^ "WeTransfer Security Incident Sent Files to the Wrong People". BleepingComputer. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  20. ^ O'Hear, Steve (19 August 2019). "HPE Growth backs WeTransfer in €35M secondary funding round". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  21. ^ "WeTransfer 'Partially' Blocked in India, Company Says". NDTV Gadgets 360. 31 May 2020. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  22. ^ Aziz, Afdhel. "WeTransfer Announces It Is Becoming A B-Corp". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  23. ^ "WeTransfer turns to offsets to achieve carbon-neutral certification". edie.net. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  24. ^ "Riz Ahmed wins Oscar for The Long Goodbye". the Guardian. 2022-03-27. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
  25. ^ Tait, Simon (22 April 2021). "WeTransfer sets up foundation to train future creatives". artsindustry.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  26. ^ "WeTransfer Sales Jump to $76 Million in 2020 Before Possible IPO". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg L.P. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  27. ^ Browne, Ryan (2021-04-24). "Fake 'WeTransfer' file download steals Aussies' personal details". Yahoo. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  28. ^ Browne, Ryan (2022-01-27). "The stock market is so volatile that one European tech firm has canceled its IPO". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  29. ^ Levingston, Ivan (2022-05-03). "WeTransfer Boss Willoughby to Exit, CTO Vassilev to Succeed". Bloomberg News.
  30. ^ "Tech tackles carbon: WeTransfer and Apple confirm emissions cuts, TikTok moves to tackle climate misinformation". www.businessgreen.com. 2023-04-21. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  31. ^ Pollina, Elvira (31 July 2024). Weir, Keith (ed.). "Italy's Bending Spoons buys file sharing service WeTransfer". Reuters. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  32. ^ Mehta, Ivan (2024-09-08). "Bending Spoons plans to lay off 75% of WeTransfer staff after acquisition". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2024-09-09. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  33. ^ Send large files to clients with these 11 free tools on creativebloq.com. Retrieved 16 July 2018
  34. ^ Gratis en eenvoudig grote bestanden te delen met WeTransfer on eenmanierom.nl. Retrieved 16 July 2018
  35. ^ Holmes, Barry J. (24 June 2018). "Damian Bradfield — the WeTransfer boss who ships 1bn files a month". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  36. ^ "File-sending scaleup WeTransfer CEO Gordon Willoughby on becoming a B Corp: 'It fits our purpose'". 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  37. ^ "WeTransfer Boss Willoughby to Exit, CTO Vassilev to Succeed". Bloomberg L.P. 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  38. ^ Trentmann, Nina (2020-09-24). "File-Sharing Company WeTransfer Names First CFO". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  39. ^ Aziz, Afdhel. "WeTransfer Announces It Is Becoming A B-Corp". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  40. ^ "AWS Case Study: WeTransfer". Amazon Web Services, Inc. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  41. ^ "Controlling the cloud: how to make the most of your online storage". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  42. ^ "How to share huge files online". Popular Science. 2022-03-26. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  43. ^ "WeTransfer Case Study". Amazon Web Services, Inc. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  44. ^ "Behance". behance.net. April 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  45. ^ "How The Cofounder Of WeTransfer Went From Blog To Startup". Fast Company. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  46. ^ Budds, Diana (2017-10-12). "WeTransfer's Plan To Disrupt The Creative Process". Fast Company. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
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