Photo by Anna Gordon, via Gigaom
WordPress’s popularity – here at Mequoda, for instance, it’s far and away our favorite CMS and publishing platform, and with one-quarter of the web working with its software, we’re certainly not alone in that sentiment – has put its parent company in a very profitable position.
Automattic, headed up by WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg, announced on Monday they’ve raised $160 million in funding, led by Insight Venture Partners and is valued at $1.2 billion.
Gigaom reports that Mullenweg said the company continues to seek investment because he believes there’s more trailblazing to do on the web, including mastering mobile and making publishing more user-friendly – all without relying on advertisers.
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“There’s 78 percent of web that doesn’t use WordPress, and there are also billions of people coming online,” Mullenweg told Gigaom. “Facebook and Twitter are getting people more comfortable with going online, but those users deserve a platform that is more theirs rather than advertisers. Everyone cares about users of course – no one would say they don’t – but our revenue comes from users.”
To read more about Automattic’s latest funding round and valuation, visit Gigaom.
