Elastic vs Smartsheet: Founders, CEOs and History
Elastic was founded in 2012 by Shay Banon, Steven Schuurman, Uri Boness and is led by Ashutosh (Ash) Kulkarni. Smartsheet was founded in 2005 by Brent Frei, Mark Mader, Eric Browne and is led by Rajeev Singh.
Company facts
Elastic
- Founded
- 2012
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California, United States (incorporated in Amsterdam, Netherlands)
- Current CEO
- Ashutosh (Ash) Kulkarni
- Employees
- 4,019
Smartsheet
- Founded
- 2005
- Headquarters
- Bellevue, Washington, USA
- Current CEO
- Rajeev Singh
- Employees
- 3,300
Founders
Elastic
Shay Banon
Shay Banon created the absolute core of the company in 2010 when he wrote Elasticsearch.
Steven Schuurman
Steven Schuurman co-founded Elastic in 2012. As the company's first CEO, he successfully built the commercial business model around Banon's open-source project, scaling the company from a tiny startup into a massively profitable enterprise software provider be…
Uri Boness
Uri Boness co-founded Elastic after working extensively with Shay Banon on search technology.
Simon Willnauer
Simon Willnauer co-founded Elastic, bringing his massive technical expertise as a core developer of Apache Lucene (the underlying search library that Elasticsearch is built upon).
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. 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.
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…
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.
CEOs and their tenures
Elastic
- Steven Schuurman2012–2017
Chief Executive Officer
As Co-Founder and the original CEO, he guided the company's early, explosive commercialization, securing the massive venture capital required to aggressively expand the sales team globally.
Source - Shay Banon2017–2022
Chief Executive Officer (now Chief Technology Officer)
As the creator of the core product, he served multiple stints as CEO, fiercely defending the company's intellectual property against massive tech giants attempting to monetize it for free.
Source - Ashutosh (Ash) Kulkarni2022–present
Chief Executive Officer
Joined Elastic in 2019 as chief product officer and became CEO in January 2022; previously held product leadership roles at Akamai and McAfee. Led the Search AI repositioning and the push into large multi-year platform deals.
Source
Smartsheet
- Brent Frei2005–2006
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
As the visionary Co-Founder (who previously founded Onyx Software), he provided the massive initial capital and strategic direction to launch the company.
Source - Mark Mader2006–2025
Chief Executive Officer & President
As Co-Founder and CEO, he navigated the company through its difficult early years, guided its highly successful IPO, and established it as a dominant player against aggressive rivals.
Source - Rajeev Singh2025–present
Chief Executive Officer
As a highly experienced tech executive and board member, he provides absolutely critical guidance on scaling enterprise SaaS operations.
Source - Sunny Gupta2025–2025
Executive Chair and Acting CEO
As an influential board member and enterprise CEO, he advises on highly complex enterprise sales strategies.
Source
Timeline: Elastic and Smartsheet side by side
2005Smartsheet
Smartsheet founded in Bellevue, Washington: Brent Frei and a small founding team start Smartsheet to make spreadsheets collaborative.
2010Elastic
Shay Banon Releases Elasticsearch 0.4
Open-sourced the first standalone version of Elasticsearch, igniting viral developer adoption.
2012Elastic
Elasticsearch BV (Elastic) Founded in Amsterdam
Shay Banon, Steven Schuurman, Uri Boness, and Simon Willnauer formally established Elastic.
2014Smartsheet
Series E Funding
Smartsheet raised $35 million in a Series E round led by Sutter Hill Ventures in May 2014.
2015Elastic
Launch of Elastic Cloud (Hosted Elasticsearch SaaS)
Introduced managed cloud service, transforming Elastic into a recurring SaaS business.
2017Elastic
Acquired Opbeat & Prelert
Elastic acquired Opbeat & Prelert.
2017Smartsheet
Series F Funding
Smartsheet raised $52 million in a round led by Insight Venture Partners in 2017.
2018Elastic
Initial Public Offering on NYSE (Ticker: ESTC)
Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, raising $252 million at a $2.5 billion valuation.
2018Smartsheet
NYSE IPO (SMAR): Smartsheet lists on the NYSE at $15 per share, raising about $150 million.
2018Smartsheet
Acquired Converse.AI
Smartsheet acquired Converse.AI. Smartsheet acquired chatbot and automation startup Converse.AI in 2018; terms were not disclosed.
2019Smartsheet
10,000ft and Slope Acquired
Smartsheet bought the resource-management company 10,000ft and the collaboration company Slope in 2019.
2020Smartsheet
Brandfolder acquired for about $155 million: Adds digital asset management to Smartsheet workflows.
2022Elastic
Ashutosh Kulkarni Appointed Chief Executive Officer
Chief product officer Ash Kulkarni succeeded Shay Banon as CEO in January 2022; Banon became CTO.
2023Elastic
Launch of Elasticsearch Vector Database & Hybrid Search for AI
Engineered native vector search and Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF) for Generative AI RAG.
2024Elastic
Release of ES|QL (Elasticsearch Pipelined Query Language)
Debuted influential query engine executing complex search, analytics, and security queries in memory.
2024Smartsheet
Passes $1 billion in ARR: Smartsheet crosses $1 billion in annualized recurring revenue in fiscal 2024.
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.
2026Elastic
Fiscal 2026 revenue reaches $1.739 billion
Revenue grew 17% in the year ended April 30, 2026, with $346 million in adjusted free cash flow.
2026Elastic
Elasticsearch Vector Database launched
Released a serverless vector database for large-scale AI search on September 11, 2026.
Acquisitions
Elastic
- Keep2025Undisclosed
- Jina AI2025Undisclosed
- Cmd2021Undisclosed
- Optimyze2021Undisclosed
- Endgame, Inc.2019$234M
- Opbeat & Prelert2017Undisclosed
Smartsheet
- Brandfolder Inc.2020$155M
- 10,000ft (Resource Planning)2019Undisclosed
- Converse.AI2018Undisclosed
Questions about Elastic vs Smartsheet
Who is the CEO of Elastic and Smartsheet?
Elastic is led by Ashutosh (Ash) Kulkarni and Smartsheet is led by Rajeev Singh. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Elastic founded vs Smartsheet?
Smartsheet was founded in 2005 — 7 years before Elastic, 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 Elastic.
How many employees does Elastic have compared to Smartsheet?
Elastic employs approximately 4,019 people, while Smartsheet employs approximately 3,300. Elastic has the larger workforce at 4,019 employees, compared to Smartsheet's 3,300. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Elastic and Smartsheet headquartered?
Both Elastic and Smartsheet are headquartered in United States. Their local rules and tax obligations may still differ.
Who founded Elastic and Smartsheet?
Elastic was founded by Shay Banon, Steven Schuurman, Uri Boness, Simon Willnauer. Smartsheet was founded by Brent Frei, Mark Mader, Eric Browne, John Creason.
Which company has a longer operating history — Elastic or Smartsheet?
Smartsheet has been operating for approximately 21 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Elastic 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 Elastic vs Smartsheet overview