Drop.io
Dropio was a platform enabling users to create simple private exchange points called drops.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Acquisition | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
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Drop.io operated as an online file-sharing service, originating from New York and founded in August 2007 by Sam Lessin and Darshan Somashekar. Lessin, a Harvard alumnus and acquaintance of Mark Zuckerberg, played a role in the early days of Facebook by introducing Zuckerberg to venture capitalists. His background also includes time at Bain & Company before his entrepreneurial ventures.
The company provided a platform for real-time, private sharing of various file types, including photos, videos, and documents, through multi-platform access points like the web, email, and phone. A key feature was its simplicity; users could create private sharing spaces, called "drops," without needing to register for an account. The basic service offered 100 megabytes of free storage, with an option to upgrade to 25 gigabytes for an annual fee. For business and educational clients, Drop.io offered a premium product called "drop.io manager," which allowed for the creation of customized and branded drops with detailed usage reporting. The business model was based on this freemium structure, generating revenue from paid subscriptions for increased storage and professional features.
Throughout its operation, Drop.io secured significant funding, including a $1.2 million Series A round in November 2007 and a subsequent $2.7 million in March 2008 from investors such as RRE Ventures and DFJ Gotham. The company achieved notable milestones, such as being named one of Time magazine's 50 Best Websites of 2009 and moving its entire infrastructure to the cloud in 2008. In October 2010, Facebook, Inc. acquired Drop.io for an estimated $10 million in a deal described as a "talent acquisition." Following the acquisition, the Drop.io service was shut down on December 15, 2010, and Sam Lessin joined Facebook as Vice President of Product Management.
Keywords: file sharing, real-time collaboration, private sharing, online storage, Sam Lessin, Darshan Somashekar, Facebook acquisition, cloud application, freemium model, media sharing, digital asset exchange, web presentation, API integration, data transfer, content collaboration, document sharing, online workspace, ephemeral sharing, private network, venture capital backed