Smartsheet Raises $26 million in Funding to Revolutionize the Spreadsheet

By: Kevin Green  |   December 4th, 2012   |   Business, News

Today’s business environment requires employees from different areas of any business to collaborate on projects and other work related tasks. Business applications that help make collaboration between employees smoother and easier are very popular with corporations and as a result, investors. Some examples include Box, SalesForce, Jive and Google Docs. These either utilize the cloud, are part of enterprise applications or have open accessibility. One major office tool that requires the input of multiple people are spreadsheets. Currently the collaboration tools available that deal with spreadsheets are not very innovative. Smartsheet hopes to change that with its cloud based approach to the collaboration issue.

 

Smartsheet allows users to share an entire spreadsheet with collaborators or just bits of data. The tool also lets users share spreadsheets on the web as well as devices powered by Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android. Smartsheet also integrates with Box, Salesforce, Google Drive and Amazon Web Services to make it more robust and easier to adopt for those using the aforementioned tools.

 

Smartsheet currently has one million users including some very big corporate names like ESPN, MetLife and Toshiba. Most users of the tool actually got it to use on a specific project. When the staff members began using the tool they liked it so much that it started being used all over the organization. One such customer was Insight Venture Partners which ended up investing in the startup, a testament to the tool.

 

Insight Venture Partners led a funding round of $26 million along with Madrona Venture Group and a principal at Insight, Ryan Hinkle, will join the Smartsheet board. The brand new cash injection will be used to increase marketing and sales while also increasing software development efforts.

 

Source: All Things D