SendGrid
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Communication platform, Email marketing |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Founder | Isaac Saldana, Jose Lopez, Tim Jenkins |
| Headquarters | Denver , United States |
Key people | Sameer Dholakia (CEO) |
| Products | Transactional and promotional email solutions |
| Parent | Twilio |
Twilio SendGrid, widely recognized as SendGrid, is a U.S.-based communication platform that focuses on transactional and promotional email solutions, with its main office situated in Denver, Colorado.
History
SendGrid was established in 2009 by Isaac Saldana, Jose Lopez, and Tim Jenkins and initially developed through the Techstars accelerator program. By the end of 2009, the company had secured $750,000 in funding led by Highway 12 Ventures, with additional backing from SoftTech VC and TechStars founder David Cohen.
In April 2010, the company obtained $5 million in Series A financing from investors including Foundry Group, SoftTech VC, Highway 12 Ventures, as well as individuals like Scott Petry and Matt Mullenweg. Ryan McIntyre of Foundry Group joined the board during this period. January 2012 brought a $21 million Series B investment led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Later that year, SendGrid opened an office in Denver and collaborated with Twilio to incorporate SMS and push notification capabilities.
June 2013 saw the introduction of SendGrid’s email marketing service designed to compete with platforms such as MailChimp. In September 2014, Sameer Dholakia, formerly with Citrix, was appointed as CEO. By December 2014, a $20 million Series C round was completed, led by Bain Capital Ventures with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners and Foundry Group. Another funding round in November 2016 raised $33 million under similar investor involvement.
SendGrid debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on November 16, 2017. Twilio announced its intention to acquire SendGrid for $2 billion in October 2018, finalizing the transaction in February 2019. This acquisition enhanced Twilio’s international reach and expanded its cloud communication product offerings.
Platform
SendGrid provides a cloud-hosted email delivery solution that assists organizations in managing both transactional and marketing emails such as shipping alerts, registration confirmations, and newsletters. The platform includes features like ISP monitoring, domain keys identification, sender policy framework (SPF), and feedback loops to optimize email deliverability. Additional functionalities include link tracking, open rate analytics, and monitoring of email opens, unsubscribes, bounces, and spam complaints.
The company operates under a freemium pricing structure featuring a Lite Plan based on usage and three advanced tiers—Essentials, Pro, and Premier—designed to meet diverse customer requirements while supporting scalable business growth.