Makeswift

Makeswift operates as a composable visual editor targeting marketing teams that manage websites built with modern frameworks like Next.js. The company was founded by Alan Pledger (CEO), Lindsay Trinkle (COO), Andrew Reifman (CPO), and Miguel Oller (CTO). Pledger's background as a software consultant revealed the challenges non-technical marketers faced in creating web pages, which led to the creation of the company's predecessor, Landing Lion, in 2015. Landing Lion focused on providing a fast, intuitive landing page builder with integrated SEO and analytics.

The platform evolved into Makeswift to offer a more comprehensive content management solution, enabling collaboration between marketers, developers, and designers. In late 2023, e-commerce company BigCommerce acquired Makeswift, with the entire team joining BigCommerce to accelerate the product's vision. Makeswift continues to operate independently, aiming to serve all types of marketing websites, not just e-commerce platforms. The company has secured a total of $4.64 million in funding over several rounds, with a significant $3 million seed round in May 2023 led by Active Capital.

The core of Makeswift's business is to decouple marketing from engineering workflows. It allows developers to integrate custom React components into a drag-and-drop visual builder. This empowers marketers to build and update website layouts and content autonomously using pre-configured, on-brand building blocks, thus reducing the reliance on engineering resources for website changes. The business model is subscription-based, with different plans available, including a free tier and paid plans that offer more features like increased publishing frequency and user counts. Its clients range from startups to publicly traded tech companies.

Makeswift's product is a no-code visual builder that provides real-time collaboration, allowing multiple team members to edit a site simultaneously. Key features include a drag-and-drop interface, responsive design controls, global styles for typography and color, and version history with rollbacks. For developers, it offers an API to connect with existing React components and supports deployment on platforms like Vercel and Netlify. The platform is designed to improve time-to-market for marketing campaigns, reduce technical debt, and give teams granular control over SEO settings and page performance. Users can also manage roles and permissions, schedule publications, and localize content for global audiences.

Keywords: composable commerce, visual editor, headless CMS, Next.js website builder, no-code platform, front-end development, marketing technology, React components, drag-and-drop builder, BigCommerce, website management, content management solution, Alan Pledger, visual page builder, decoupled architecture, enterprise web experiences, marketing team workflow, real-time collaboration, responsive design, component-based development