Strikingly

Strikingly is a website-building platform that lets users create and publish mobile-optimized websites without coding or design experience, typically in under 30 minutes. The editor is click-to-edit and publishes instantly; sites are assembled from pre-designed, customizable templates and sections, with an emphasis on one-page layouts suited to portfolios, digital resumes, events, startups, bloggers and small online stores.

The product bundles domain registration (available on paid upgrades), a built-in e-commerce module called Simple Store supporting coupons, shipping and digital goods with PayPal or Stripe payments, a blogging tool, built-in analytics, signup and contact forms, live chat, newsletters, membership registration with members-only content, social feed embeds for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, galleries, video backgrounds, media sliders, password protection and automatic HTTPS. Additional tools listed include an AI Site Builder, an AI Logo Maker, Strikingly Kickstart, and mobile apps for iOS and Android that allow site editing and publishing from a phone. Support is offered around the clock via email and live chat. The interface is offered in roughly twenty languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Japanese and simplified and traditional Chinese.

Y Combinator lists the company as founded in 2012, part of the Winter 2013 batch, categorized under e-commerce, active, with a team size of 99 and a Shanghai, China location. A secondary aggregator profile describes the company as private with 51-200 employees and states the platform powers over 34,000 websites globally, with presence in the U.S. and China; that figure comes from a third-party summary rather than the company itself.

Founding story

According to a Startup Grind Shanghai event listing, David Chen dropped out of the University of Chicago in 2012 to start Strikingly with co-founders Teng Bao and Dafeng Guo. The team moved to Silicon Valley with $100 and was accepted into Y Combinator. Before Strikingly, Chen co-founded Moneythink, a non-profit financial literacy education organization that won the 2013 MassChallenge 100K award and was subsequently funded by Blackstone.

Business model

Freemium software-as-a-service: users can create and publish a site at no cost, with paid subscription plans unlocking additional capability. A third-party profile describes tiered premium plans (Limited, Pro, VIP) that scale storage, bandwidth and e-commerce features. Domain names become available after upgrading, and the site promotes a free domain with any yearly plan.

Recurring subscription fees for paid website plans, plus domain registration; the company also runs an affiliate program and an agencies/resellers channel.

Traction

A third-party profile states the platform powers over 34,000 websites globally; the company's own site claims it is trusted by millions of entrepreneurs and creatives (an unverified marketing claim). Y Combinator lists a team size of 99, and another aggregator lists 51-200 employees. Disclosed funding totals $18.0M across three rounds.

Latest developments

Current site content shows AI-oriented product additions, including an AI Site Builder and AI Logo Maker alongside Strikingly Kickstart, plus active hiring and a promotional offer of a free domain with any yearly plan. No funding events after September 2018 appear in the sources.