[NEWS] WordPress management site WP Engine acquires Flywheel as it moves to a $1B valuation and IPO – Loganspace

WordPressnow accounts for 34 percent of all websites globally, and as we explain time belief to be one of many key corporations that helps tackle the advent and management of some of those WP-hosted sites is getting reasonably bigger by some consolidation within the broader ecosystem.WP Engine, which works with agencies to compose and prepare their WordPress-hosted sites, has aquiredFlywheel, a smaller competitor.

Monetary terms of the deal must not being disclosed,WP Engine’sCEO and chairperson Heather Brunner acknowledged in an interview, but she confirmed to TechCrunch that it appealing her company elevating a runt round (amount also undisclosed) from its current investors to wait on finance the deal. WP Engine’s investors consist of Silver Lake (which closing 300 and sixty five days set awhopping $250 million into the company) alongside with WordPress developer Automattic, Silverton, GuidePost Enhance Equity (formerly identified as North Bridge) and Eric Ries (of “Lean Startup” status).

Brunner also declined to chat valuation of WP Engine, even though she current that contemporary annual habitual revenue is at $132 million, and that Flywheel’s is $18 million, and with a recent growth rate of 50%, collectively the 2 are heading within the correct path to compose $200 million in ARR by 2020 and lumber cross the $1 billion designate for valuation, en route to a public list.

“It’s our aspiration to compose a public-ready company, and this acquisition is portion of making that happen,” she acknowledged. (Satirically, that can per chance per chance per chance point out that WordPress’s companion, and most frequently competitor, might per chance well per chance paddle public before it does.)

The deal is a signal of some consolidation within the ecosystem that has built up round WordPress. WP Engine is a veritable powerhouse in that ecosystem, having been an early mover within the blueprint — WordPress backed it assist in 2011 — and now engaged on building and managing sites for some 120,000 producers and companies in 150 countries (possible totalling multiples of that relating to true sites).

WP Engine, as Brunner describes it, focuses largely on mid-market and greater agencies, while Flywheel — founded and currently essentially based entirely out of Omaha — has fervent about smaller agencies. That makes the 2 natural enhances to every other, but Brunner notes that there will be more received from the union.

“The team there might per chance be terribly product focused,” she current. “They’ve built a suite that we feel has been focused round runt companies, but also they are the forms of instruments that greater companies will elevate pleasure in.” She is relating to the product Local by Flywheel, a native trend utility earlier by bigger than 150,000 builders.

Flywheel, founded in 2012, had most effective raised round $6 million in funding, in conjunction with a$4 million rounda whole lot of years within the past. The economies of scale of throwing in its lot with WP Engine will give it a valuable wider exposure and receive admission to to current customers.

“We founded Flywheel with the idea that in uncover to wait on creatives attain their most effective work, we desired to form an inner culture that encourages our workers to attain the a similar,” acknowledged Dusty Davidson, CEO and co-founding father of Flywheel, in an announcement. “That philosophy has led us to compose an wonderful company and a few of essentially the most effectively-loved merchandise in WordPress, supported by a intrepid neighborhood of talented of us and essentially the most great open provide neighborhood on this planet.”

WP Engine has made a number of other acquisitions sooner than this, of different partners within the WordPress ecosystem, marking it out as a consolidator within the self-discipline. Brunner current that while one of the precious valuable company’s growth efforts might per chance well per chance lead it to extra acquisitions, it’s miles also pursuing a 2nd track of working with third social gathering partners and performing as the intermediary platform for corporations to carry in other products and services in reduction of working their sites. Companions within the WP Engine ecosystem — alongside WordPress itself, for certain — consist of Amazon Internet Companies and products, Cloudflare, Google, HubSpot and Original Relic, she current.