Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Algolia.
In this digital age, the fastest way to promote business is to have a well-functioning website. But you can hear many companies complaining about their website’s search.
According to statistics, there are 3.5 billion daily searches and 1.2 trillion searches per year. You can improve your site’s search capabilities with the help of a reliable search-as-a-service platform.
Algolia is at the top of the heap when it comes to search and discovery APIs for web and mobile applications. Let us dig into more details about the company, like how it started, the competition it faces, its market value, and so on.
Algolia – Company Highlights
| Company Name | Algolia |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Sector | Search Engines |
| Founders | Nicolas Dessaigne, Julien Lemoine |
| Founded In | 2012 |
| Revenue | $2.3B (2022) |
| Website | Algolia.com |
Algolia – About
Algolia – Founders and Team
Algolia – Startup Story
Algolia – Mission and Vision
Algolia – Business Model
Algolia – Revenue Model
Algolia – Products and Services
Algolia – Funding and Investors
Algolia – Mergers and Acquisitions
Algolia – Growth
Algolia – Partners
Algolia – Awards and Achievements
Algolia – Competitors
Algolia – About
Algolia is the AI-powered, search-as-a-service platform that allows companies to provide an instant, relevant, and impactful customer experience. Moreover, it developed dynamic experiences that let companies immediately anticipate visitors’ intentions on their web or mobile application.
Millions of developers use the platform globally to distribute their content efficiently over digital media. Algolia is API-first and handles 40 million search queries monthly for over 5,000 firms, including big names such as Periscope, Medium, Twitch, Under Armour, and Strip.
Algolia – Founders and Team
Julien Lemoine and Nicolas Dessaigne founded Algolia in 2012.
Julien Lemoine
Julian Lemoine originally belonged to Paris, France, and graduated in Computer Engineering, Specialization in Cognitive Science and Advanced Algorithms from EPITA. He has over ten years of experience in the search industry.
Before co-founding Algolia and working as the company’s Advisor and Board Member, Julien was CTO of MASA Group.
Nicolas Dessaigne
Nicolas Dessaigne completed his M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Sciences and is the co-founder and Board Member of Algolia. He also worked as CTO at Arisem and VP of R&D at Exalead. Moreover, currently, he is the Independent Board Member of Artifakt and a Group Partner of Y Combinator.
Presently, Algolia has over 800 listed employees, including Bernadette Nixon, CEO, and Board Member.
Algolia – Startup Story
Before the establishment of Algolia, Nicolas, and Julien thought about what sort of product or business they could develop after having experience working in all sorts of firms. It made them create something unique, i.e., a search engine offering through the SaaS model.
Rishabh Rathi
Initially, they had an ambitious yet straightforward goal: to revolutionize how people used to get information when looking for something online. It gave birth to Algolia in 2012. Initially, the company was focused on offline search using mobile phones.
The company commenced with two data centers in Europe, and in 2014, it opened a third center in Singapore. In 2019, Algolio claimed a global presence with 70+ data centers across 16 countries.
Algolia – Mission and Vision
Algolia aims to empower every enterprise to create delightful Search and Discovery experiences for users.
Algolia – Business Model
The Algolia model provides search-as-a-service with which the client’s entire website can be searched via a third-party-hosted search engine. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo crawl the whole web, including the client’s web, and then tailor the information according to the search query.
However, Algolia made the search process easier as it exclusively crawls the customer’s website. By bringing the results the client seeks, the platform drastically cuts down the time the customer spends seeking information.
With its RESTful JSON API model, once the data is passed from the client to Algolia, the search box is integrated into the client’s website. The model is intended to offer the advantages of a full in-house search engine by using a more manageable infrastructure.
Algolia – Revenue Model
The company has three pricing plans- Build, Grow, and Premium.
| Plan | Pricing |
|---|---|
| Build | Free, 10,000 search requests/mo |
| Grow | $0.50 /1000 search requests/mo |
| Premium | Customized Pricing |
Algolia – Products and Services
The Alogolio platform is the company’s primary offering. Moreover, it offers multiple solutions, like Enterprise Search, Headless e-Commerce, Mobile & App Search, and Voice Search.
Algolia – Funding and Investors
Algolia has undertaken 8 funding rounds and has raised $334.2 million. Series D is the latest funding round conducted on July 28, 2021, and raised $150 million. 40 investors back Aloglia; some big names are Lone Pine Capital, Accel Partners, and Alven Capital.
| Date | Round | Number of Investors | Money Raised | Lead Investor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 28, 2021 | Series D | 12 | $150 million | Lone Pine Capital |
| October 15, 2019 | Series C | 10 | $110 million | Accel |
| September 1, 2017 | Secondary Market | 1 | – | Aglae Ventures |
| June 7, 2017 | Series B | 10 | $53 million | Accel |
| May 20, 2015 | Series A | 9 | $18.3 million | Accel |
| June 19, 2014 | Seed Round | 8 | $1.3 million | Storm Ventures |
| March 25, 2014 | Pre Seed Round | 2 | $120k | – |
| October 1, 2013 | Seed Round | 8 | $1.5 million | – |
Algolia – Mergers and Acquisitions
Algolia has acquired 3 companies and these are:
| Company | Announced Date |
|---|---|
| Search.io | September 12, 2022 |
| MorphL | January 26, 2021 |
| SearUrchin.IO | March 14, 2018 |
Algolia – Growth
Algolia is responsible for 1.5 trillion searches a year, 16 times more than Yahoo and 6 times more than Bing. Now, one out of every eight online users uses this technology.
Moreover, its estimated annual revenue in 2022 is $152.8 million per year ($184,707 revenue per employee). Algolia was valued at $2.3 billion in 2022. Its website growth rate is 14.63%, and employees increased by 26%.
Algolia – Partners
Algolia has partnered with the following:
- AKQA Denmark
- Roswell
- Amplience
- Americaneagle.com
- Thanx Media, Inc.
- Supreme
- Develo
- Coexya
- Xpediant Digital
Algolia – Awards and Achievements
Some of the awards it garnered are:
- Gold Winner of the 2023 AVA Digital Awards in the “Digital Marketing” category
- G2 Grid for Enterprise Search Software recognized Algolia as a leader for the 13th time
- MarTech Breakthrough Awards in the “Best Overall Optimization Solution” category
- Best Company Outlook
- Best Placed to Work in the Bay Area
- Best Product & Design Team
Algolia – Competitors
Some of its main competitors are:
- MeiliSearch
- Coveo
- Yext
- ESyte
- AddSearch
- Cludo
FAQs
What is Algolia and what does it do?
Algolia is the AI-powered, search-as-a-service platform that allows companies to provide an instant, relevant, and impactful customer experience. It is API-first and handles 40 million search queries monthly.
Who are the founders of Algolia?
Julien Lemoine and Nicolas Dessaigne founded Algolia in 2012.
What is the pricing offered by Algolia?
The company has three pricing plans- Build, Grow, and Premium. The Build Plan is absolutely free. In the Grow plan the company charges $0.50 per 1000 search requests and in the Premium plan, the pricing can be customized as per the request.
Who are the main competitors of Algolia?
Some of its main competitors are:
- MeiliSearch
- Coveo
- Yext
- ESyte
- AddSearch
- Cludo