Smartsheet
Company History
Smartsheet History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2005 in Bellevue, Washington, United States
When was Smartsheet founded?
Smartsheet was founded in 2005 in Bellevue, Washington, United States by Brent Frei, Mark Mader, Eric Browne and John Creason, making it 21 years old.
- Founded
- 2005
- Founding place
- Bellevue, Washington, United States
- Founders
- Brent Frei, Mark Mader, Eric Browne and John Creason
- Headquarters today
- Bellevue, Washington, USA
- Milestones documented
- 10 (2005–2025)
- Current CEO
- Rajeev Singh
- Acquisitions
- 3
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Smartsheet founded in Bellevue, Washington: Brent Frei and a small founding team start Smartsheet to make spreadsheets collaborative. |
| 2014 | Series E Funding |
| 2017 | Series F Funding |
| 2018 | NYSE IPO (SMAR): Smartsheet lists on the NYSE at $15 per share, raising about $150 million. |
| 2018 | Acquired Converse.AI |
| 2019 | 10,000ft and Slope Acquired |
| 2020 | Brandfolder acquired for about $155 million: Adds digital asset management to Smartsheet workflows. |
| 2024 | Passes $1 billion in ARR: Smartsheet crosses $1 billion in annualized recurring revenue in fiscal 2024. |
| 2025 | Blackstone and Vista complete $8.4 billion buyout: The take-private closes on January 22, 2025, and SMAR is delisted. |
| 2025 | Rajeev Singh named CEO: Singh succeeds acting CEO Sunny Gupta after Mark Mader's retirement. |
- Where was Smartsheet founded?
- Smartsheet was founded in Bellevue, Washington, United States in 2005.
- Who founded Smartsheet?
- Smartsheet was founded by Brent Frei, Mark Mader, Eric Browne and John Creason.
- When did Smartsheet start?
- Smartsheet was founded in 2005.
- How old is Smartsheet?
- Smartsheet is 21 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Smartsheet was founded in 2005 by Brent Frei, Mark Mader, Eric Browne, and John Creason. The founders recognized an absolutely massive flaw in corporate America: millions of workers were using Microsoft Excel to track projects, manage tasks, and coordinate teams, even though Excel was built for financial math, not project management. They set out to build a platform that retained the deeply familiar, highly intuitive 'grid' interface of a spreadsheet, but heavily infused it with powerful project management tools like file sharing, automated workflows, and Gantt charts. After a severe early struggle that nearly bankrupted the company in 2006, they completely redesigned the product, sparking massive viral growth.
Founders
Brent Frei
Brent Frei co-founded Smartsheet in 2005 in Bellevue, Washington, after founding Onyx Software, a CRM vendor he took public. He led Smartsheet in its first year before Mark Mader became CEO in 2006, and later served on the board. Brent Frei was born in 1966.
Mark Mader
Mark Mader joined Smartsheet as CEO in 2006, a year after its founding, and is counted among its founding team. He led the company for about 19 years, through its April 2018 NYSE IPO, the crossing of $1 billion in ARR in fiscal 2024 and the $8.4 billion sale to Blackstone and Vista, which closed in January 2025. He retired as CEO and left the board at the end of September 2025. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Eric Browne
Eric Browne co-founded Smartsheet in 2005. Providing absolutely critical early technical leadership, he helped design the platform's initial architecture, heavily focusing on ensuring the cloud-based application could instantly sync massive spreadsheets across multiple users without data corruption or lag. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
John Creason
John Creason co-founded Smartsheet in 2005. Working closely with the technical founding team, he played a massive role in building the early prototype. He was absolutely instrumental during the company's critical 2006 redesign, which simplified the UI and finally achieved product-market fit. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Key Milestones
Smartsheet founded in Bellevue, Washington: Brent Frei and a small founding team start Smartsheet to make spreadsheets collaborative.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSeries E Funding
Smartsheet raised $35 million in a Series E round led by Sutter Hill Ventures in May 2014.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSeries F Funding
Smartsheet raised $52 million in a round led by Insight Venture Partners in 2017.
Source: smartsheet.comNYSE IPO (SMAR): Smartsheet lists on the NYSE at $15 per share, raising about $150 million.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAcquired Converse.AI
Smartsheet acquired Converse.AI. Smartsheet acquired chatbot and automation startup Converse.AI in 2018; terms were not disclosed.
Source: en.wikipedia.org10,000ft and Slope Acquired
Smartsheet bought the resource-management company 10,000ft and the collaboration company Slope in 2019.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgBrandfolder acquired for about $155 million: Adds digital asset management to Smartsheet workflows.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgPasses $1 billion in ARR: Smartsheet crosses $1 billion in annualized recurring revenue in fiscal 2024.
Source: sec.govBlackstone and Vista complete $8.4 billion buyout: The take-private closes on January 22, 2025, and SMAR is delisted.
Source: smartsheet.comRajeev Singh named CEO: Singh succeeds acting CEO Sunny Gupta after Mark Mader's retirement.
Source: smartsheet.comMajor Acquisitions
Converse.AI
2018Smartsheet acquired chatbot and automation startup Converse.AI in 2018; terms were not disclosed.
10,000ft (Resource Planning)
2019Acquired resource management software maker 10,000ft to add capacity planning and project budgeting.
Brandfolder Inc.
2020Acquired Denver-based digital asset management platform Brandfolder for about $155 million in cash and stock.
Keep researching Smartsheet
Smartsheet Company History FAQ
When and where was Smartsheet originally founded?
Smartsheet was founded in 2005 in Bellevue, Washington, by enterprise software entrepreneur Brent Frei, alongside Eric Browne, John Creason, and Maria Colacurcio.
What inspired the founding of Smartsheet?
Founder Brent Frei, who had previously built and taken CRM pioneer Onyx Software public, observed that despite billions spent on complex enterprise software, millions of workers still ran mission-critical business processes on ad-hoc Excel spreadsheets.
What was the pivotal product redesign in 2008?
The initial 2006 product was overly complex and struggled for traction. In 2008, CEO Mark Mader and the founders made the radical decision to scrap the existing interface and rebuild the entire platform around a familiar, intuitive spreadsheet grid that required zero IT training.
When did Mark Mader become Chief Executive Officer?
Mark Mader joined Smartsheet as CEO in 2006, succeeding Brent Frei. Mader led the company for nearly two decades, guiding it through product-market fit, enterprise scaling, a public listing, and the multi-billion-dollar private equity buyout.
When did Smartsheet complete its initial public offering (IPO)?
On April 27, 2018, Smartsheet went public on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker SMAR, raising $150 million at a valuation of approximately $1.2 billion.
When did Smartsheet cross $1 billion in Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR)?
Smartsheet achieved the rare software milestone of surpassing $1.0 billion in Annualized Recurring Revenue in fiscal year 2024 (ended January 31, 2024), propelled by rapid adoption among Fortune 500 corporations.
What was the landmark $8.4 billion take-private buyout in 2024-2025?
In September 2024, private equity giants Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners agreed to acquire Smartsheet for $56.50 per share in cash, in a deal valuing the company at approximately $8.4 billion. The transaction officially closed on January 22, 2025, taking Smartsheet private.
Why did Smartsheet agree to be taken private by Blackstone and Vista?
Going private shielded Smartsheet from short-term quarterly Wall Street earnings pressures, providing immense institutional capital to accelerate enterprise AI investments, product integration, and international sales expansion.
When did Mark Mader step down as CEO and who succeeded him?
Mark Mader retired as CEO and board member at the end of September 2025 after 19 years of leadership. He was succeeded in October 2025 by enterprise SaaS veteran Rajeev Singh, co-founder of Concur Technologies.
What was the acquisition of Brandfolder in 2020?
In September 2020, Smartsheet acquired leading digital asset management (DAM) platform Brandfolder for $155 million, uniting collaborative project tracking with centralized digital creative asset storage.
How did Smartsheet adapt to the rise of generative artificial intelligence?
In 2023-2025, Smartsheet rolled out enterprise AI capabilities: conversational formula generation, automated workflow synthesis, predictive project risk analysis, and generative text summaries directly inside sheets.
What proportion of the Fortune 500 uses Smartsheet?
Over 85% of the Fortune 500 (including Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Cisco, and Roche) deploy Smartsheet across multiple departments to manage strategic initiatives, product launches, and operational programs.
Related Companies
Compare Smartsheet History With Competitors
Related Strategic History
Compare founding milestones and corporate evolution
Explore Smartsheet
Core profile pages, founders and related research hubs for this company.