Builder.ai, the leading AI-powered software development platform that empowers businesses to build, run and scale software development without requiring technical expertise or coding, announced that it experienced tremendous business growth in 2020, with a 230% increase in monthly revenue since the start of the pandemic. In particular, the company had record-breaking sales for its Studio product, which grew 21% month-over-month since April 2020.
While COVID-19 took its toll on businesses and resulted in countless closures worldwide, it also drove over a third of businesses to increase the use of digital technology to adapt and stay competitive. Meanwhile, Forrester predicts that 75 percent of application development will use low-code platforms by the end of 2021. It’s also projected that the global low-code development platform market will generate $187 billion in revenue by 2030. This growth will be driven by an increasing demand for business digitization, less dependency on information technology professionals and stringent government norms. Combined, these factors played a key role in Builder.ai’s business growth over the last year.
“Given the uncertainty brought on by the pandemic, I want Builder.ai to be a platform that serves as a sign of hope for small businesses looking to keep their customers engaged, and for entrepreneurs ambitiously driven to launch new business ideas – they are the new developers,” said Sachin Dev Duggal, CEO and Co-Founder of Builder.ai. “Businesses in certain industries, such as retail, fashion, travel and hospitality, have been hit especially hard and we want to be their partner as they adopt a digital-first mindset to stay competitive. With our order-to-create style platform and its ability to drastically reduce the cost and effort typically required to build software, we want to give businesses, small and large, a fighting chance at survival and long-term growth. Our customers’ growth is our growth. With that in mind, we will continue to push our platform to drive digital adoption for small businesses.”
Key milestones achieved by Builder.ai in 2020 include:
- Launch of Studio Rapid in October 2020: Studio Rapid takes a clean design-centric approach to no-code allowing customers to build-to-create their apps in under a day. Businesses can customize their app in the same way as they would create a PowerPoint slide by moving elements, such as images, icons, languages and text. The platform is centered around its zero-day strategy, whereby an app can be tested, optimized and deployed within a day.
- New Customers Signed: Builder.ai’s customer base has grown by over 2.5 times in the last 12 months. Additionally, the company has expanded its enterprise client footprint to include several world renowned brands, such as Pepsi, the US Air Force, Xander Group and the Indian Army.
- Industry Awards Recognition: In June, Builder.ai won the ‘Hottest AI Startup’ award at the Europas 2020. This was days after the company bagged the title of ‘Best COVID-19 Innovation for Recovery’ at the CogX Innovation Awards 2020 for its Studio Store product, which is reimagining the ownership of custom apps and making the development process more efficient than traditionally clunky SaaS platforms.
- Employee Growth: Hiring top talent was a major priority for the business in 2020 with the addition of over 130 new team members during the pandemic spread across the United Kingdom, United States, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The company aims to head into 2021 with the same people-focused vigor.
As the company moves forward with its 2021 business strategy and plans, CEO Sachin Dev Duggal has tapped two prominent executives to join the C-suite.
- Appointment of Chief Operating Officer: Joseph Norena joins the company as its first-ever Chief Operating Officer. With over 20 years of experience in operational management, Norena most recently held the position of Managing Director for HSBC in London and New York. Prior to that, he was the Head of the Trading Execution Desk at Bridgewater Associates. Adding to his industry leadership experience, Norena has also been an industry advisor with Armstrong Wolfe and a Board Advisor to a healthcare AI startup. It is also the reconnection of a long-standing working relationship between Sachin and Joseph during their shared time at Deutsche Bank.
Joseph Norena, Chief Operating Officer of Builder.ai, said: “I’ve been watching what Builder.ai has been doing in the low-code/no-code space for some time and when the opportunity arose to join the company as its first-ever Chief Operating Officer, I was more than thrilled to join the company’s journey. Digital transformation is no easy feat for even the largest of enterprises – costing a fortune, taking months to complete and requiring inordinate amounts of technical expertise/coding. Being part of a company that solves this challenge, especially during COVID-19, makes me immensely proud. I look forward to helping the company build operational processes and efficiencies that enable it to achieve its business goals in 2021 and beyond.”
- Appointment of Chief Financial Officer: Most recently, Andres Elizondo has been brought on as the company’s first Chief Financial Officer. He has over 15 years of experience as a Chief Financial Officer, Non-Executive Director and Board Advisor in the technology sector, particularly with SaaS companies. Throughout his career, he has successfully led the finance functions within global organizations, including guiding companies from privately owned to publicly traded companies (i.e. 2020 IPO of RXT). For the last 10 years, Elizondo held various senior-level finance roles at Rackspace Technology, culminating with his most recent role as EMEA CFO where he was responsible for more than $600 million in annual revenue operation across multiple markets.
Andres Elizondo, Chief Financial Officer of Builder.ai, commented: “What I love about the Builder.ai value proposition is that it’s not trying to do the same thing everyone else is doing – it’s laser-focused on breaking the standard model and disrupting the adoption of digital technologies. I look forward to bringing my financial acumen to the table to help the company carve out its space in the industry and increase its revenue significantly.”
Over the next 12-24 months, the company will invest heavily into further developing more AI capabilities, building and launching new products, empowering businesses to be successful and nurturing talent. To learn how Builder.ai is helping enterprises and small businesses build and scale software development, request a demo.
