Airtable vs Smartsheet: Founders, CEOs and History
Airtable was founded in 2012 by Howie Liu, Andrew Ofstad, Emmett Nicholas. Smartsheet was founded in 2005 by Brent Frei, Mark Mader, Eric Browne and is led by Rajeev Singh.
Company facts
Airtable
- Founded
- 2012
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California, United States
- Employees
- 700
Smartsheet
- Founded
- 2005
- Headquarters
- Bellevue, Washington, USA
- Current CEO
- Rajeev Singh
- Employees
- 3,300
Founders
Airtable
Howie Liu
Howie Liu co-founded Airtable in 2012 and served as CEO through its sale to Bending Spoons in 2026. The September 2026 closing announcement described him as an Airtable co-founder, not as its continuing CEO.
Andrew Ofstad
Andrew Ofstad co-founded Airtable and worked on its product. He is not listed as Airtable's current CEO.
Emmett Nicholas
Emmett Nicholas co-founded Airtable in 2012. Public sources reviewed for this profile do not identify him as Airtable's current CEO.
Smartsheet
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.
Mark Mader
Mark Mader joined Smartsheet as CEO in 2006, a year after its founding, and is counted among its founding team.
Eric Browne
Eric Browne is a member of Smartsheet's 2005 founding team and an Onyx Software alumnus who worked on the early product.
John Creason
John Creason is a member of Smartsheet's 2005 founding team who worked on the early engineering of the cloud platform.
CEOs and their tenures
Airtable
- Howie Liu2012–2026
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Co-founded Airtable, led its venture-funded growth, and served as CEO before Bending Spoons acquired the company.
Source
Smartsheet
- Brent Frei2005–2006
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Co-founded Smartsheet in 2005 after building Onyx Software.
Source - Mark Mader2006–2025
Chief Executive Officer & President
Led Smartsheet through its 2018 NYSE IPO, its pass of $1 billion in ARR in fiscal 2024 and its $8.4 billion sale to Blackstone and Vista; retired at the end of September 2025.
Source - Rajeev Singh2025–present
Chief Executive Officer
Concur co-founder and former Accolade CEO; named CEO on October 6, 2025, succeeding acting CEO Sunny Gupta.
Source - Sunny Gupta2025–2025
Executive Chair and Acting CEO
Apptio co-founder who stepped in as acting CEO during the 2025 leadership transition and remains executive chair.
Source
Timeline: Airtable and Smartsheet side by side
2005Smartsheet
Smartsheet founded in Bellevue, Washington: Brent Frei and a small founding team start Smartsheet to make spreadsheets collaborative.
2012Airtable
Company founded
Howie Liu, Andrew Ofstad, and Emmett Nicholas started Airtable.
2015Airtable
Airtable product launched
Airtable launched its collaborative database product publicly.
2018Airtable
Series C establishes unicorn valuation
Airtable raised $100 million at a reported $1.1 billion valuation.
2018Smartsheet
NYSE IPO (SMAR): Smartsheet lists on the NYSE at $15 per share, raising about $150 million.
2020Smartsheet
Brandfolder acquired for about $155 million: Adds digital asset management to Smartsheet workflows.
2021Airtable
Series E funding
Airtable raised $270 million at a $5.77 billion post-money valuation.
2021Airtable
Bayes acquisition
Airtable acquired the Bayes team and assets for data visualization and reporting work.
2021Airtable
Interface Designer launch
Airtable introduced Interface Designer for building interactive front ends on Airtable workflows.
2021Airtable
Series F funding
Airtable raised $735 million, bringing total investment to $1.36 billion at an $11 billion pre-money valuation.
2022Airtable
Enterprise refocus and workforce reduction
Airtable shifted resources toward large enterprise customers and reduced its team by 254 employees.
2023Airtable
Second workforce reduction
Airtable reduced its team by 237 employees while continuing its enterprise focus.
2024Airtable
Cobuilder launch
Airtable launched Cobuilder, which generates customizable no-code applications from natural-language descriptions.
2024Airtable
Dopt acquisition
Airtable acquired AI-powered onboarding platform Dopt and moved its team into Airtable's AI organization.
2024Smartsheet
Passes $1 billion in ARR: Smartsheet crosses $1 billion in annualized recurring revenue in fiscal 2024.
2025Airtable
DeepSky acquisition and CTO appointment
Airtable acquired AI research product DeepSky and appointed former OpenAI leader David Azose as chief technology officer.
2025Smartsheet
Blackstone and Vista complete $8.4 billion buyout: The take-private closes on January 22, 2025, and SMAR is delisted.
2025Smartsheet
Rajeev Singh named CEO: Singh succeeds acting CEO Sunny Gupta after Mark Mader's retirement.
2026Airtable
Bending Spoons acquisition announced
Bending Spoons agreed to acquire Airtable for $1.285 billion in enterprise value and disclosed approximately $480 million in ARR as of June 2026.
2026Airtable
Bending Spoons acquisition completed
Bending Spoons acquired 100% of Airtable's outstanding shares on September 4, 2026.
Acquisitions
Airtable
- DeepSky2025Undisclosed
- Dopt2024Undisclosed
- Bayes team and assets2021Undisclosed
Smartsheet
- Brandfolder Inc.2020$155M
- 10,000ft (Resource Planning)2019Undisclosed
- Converse.AI2018Undisclosed
Questions about Airtable vs Smartsheet
Who is the CEO of Airtable and Smartsheet?
Smartsheet is currently led by Rajeev Singh. The current CEO or equivalent executive for Airtable was not available in our dataset.
When was Airtable founded vs Smartsheet?
Smartsheet was founded in 2005 — 7 years before Airtable, which was founded in 2012. Smartsheet's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Airtable.
How many employees does Airtable have compared to Smartsheet?
Airtable employs approximately 700 people, while Smartsheet employs approximately 3,300. Smartsheet has the larger workforce at 3,300 employees, compared to Airtable's 700. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Airtable and Smartsheet headquartered?
Both Airtable and Smartsheet are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Airtable and Smartsheet?
Airtable was founded by Howie Liu, Andrew Ofstad, Emmett Nicholas. Smartsheet was founded by Brent Frei, Mark Mader, Eric Browne, John Creason.
Which company has a longer operating history — Airtable or Smartsheet?
Smartsheet has been operating for approximately 21 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Airtable has been in operation for around 14 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Airtable vs Smartsheet overview