Dropbox
Dropbox is a file hosting service operated by the American company Dropbox, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, U.S. that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud, and client software. Dropbox was founded in 2007 by MIT students Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi as a startup company, with initial funding from seed accelerator Y Combinator.[13]
For other uses, see Dropbox (disambiguation).Formerly
Evenflow, Inc. (2007–2009)
May 2007
San Francisco, California, U.S.
US$2.50 billion (2023)
US$539 million (2023)
US$454 million (2023)
US$2.98 billion (2023)
US$−166 million (2023)
2,693 (2023)
Dropbox, Inc.
September 2008
192.4.4605 / February 8, 2024[2]
192.4.4605 / February 8, 2024[2]
5.0 / March 27, 2017[3]
362.2.2 / February 6, 2024[4]
362.7 / February 6, 2024[5]
193.3.5459 / February 6, 2024[6]
193.3.5459 / February 6, 2024[6]
364.1.2 / February 6, 2024[7]
22 languages
Dropbox has experienced criticism and generated controversy for issues including security breaches and privacy concerns.[14]
Concept[edit]
Dropbox brings files together in one central place by creating a special folder on the user's computer.[15] The contents of these folders are synchronized to Dropbox's servers and to other computers and devices where the user has installed Dropbox, keeping the same files up-to-date on all devices. Dropbox uses a freemium business model, where users are offered a free account with set storage size, with paid subscriptions available that offer more capacity and additional features. Dropbox Basic users are given two gigabytes of free storage space.[16] Dropbox offers computer apps for Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, and Linux computers, and mobile apps for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone smartphones and tablets.[17] In March 2013, the company acquired Mailbox, a popular email app, and in April 2014, the company introduced Dropbox Carousel, a photo and video gallery app. Both Mailbox and Carousel were shut down in December 2015, with key features from both apps implemented into the regular Dropbox service.[18] In October 2015, it officially announced Dropbox Paper, its collaborative document editor.[19]
Dropbox founder Drew Houston
Dropbox founder Arash Ferdowsi
Platforms[edit]
Dropbox has computer apps for Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, and Linux computers,[54] and mobile apps for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone smartphones and tablets.[55] It also offers a website interface.[56] As part of its partnership with Microsoft, Dropbox announced a universal Windows 10 app in January 2016.[57][58]
Dropbox's apps offer an automatic photo uploading feature, allowing users to automatically upload photos or videos from cameras, tablets, SD cards, or smartphones to a dedicated "Camera Uploads" folder in their Dropbox. Users are given 500 megabytes of extra space for uploading their first photo, and are given up to 3 gigabytes of extra space if users continue using the method for more photos.[59]
In July 2014, Dropbox introduced "streaming sync" for its computer apps. Streaming sync was described as a new "supercharged"[60] synchronization speed for large files that improves the upload or download time by up to 2 times.[61]
In August 2015, Dropbox announced the availability of "Universal 2nd Factor" USB security keys, providing two-factor authentication for logging into its services.[62][63]
Financials[edit]
Dropbox received initial funding from seed accelerator Y Combinator.[13] Dropbox also raised US$1.2 million in Series A funding from Sequoia Capital in 2007, that "along with interest (on that amount) converted to equity as part of the Series A investment, which included a fresh slug of US$6 million", bringing the total amount to US$7.25 million, with the round closed in 2008 and documents filed in 2009.[26]
A May 2010 report in The Wall Street Journal said that "since [founder Drew Houston] started reading Eric Ries' Lean startup blog about a year ago, the company has started trickling out new features when they are ready instead of waiting to launch a fully featured product. That helps test customer appetite, he says, dubbing the practice "minimum viable product".[64]
TechCrunch reported in July 2011 that Dropbox had been looking to raise between US$200 and US$300 million, and had a valuation "to end up in the $5 billion to $10 billion range. [...] quite a step up from its previous funding rounds which have totalled a tiny $7.2 million".[65] As noted in a Forbes article, Dropbox had "revenue on track to hit $240 million in 2011".[27]
In April 2012, Dropbox announced that Bono and The Edge, two members of the Irish rock band U2, were individual investors in the company.[66]
In 2014 Dropbox raised financing from BlackRock Inc. and others that values the company at $10 billion.
[67]
In March 2017, Bloomberg reported that Dropbox had secured a US$600 million credit line, with the company expected to file for its initial public offering (IPO) "as soon as this year".[68][69][70]
In February 2018, Dropbox filed an IPO to be listed on the Nasdaq. The company's initial intent was to raise $500 million.[71] Dropbox's stock rose 42 percent to $29.89 in its first day of trading on March 23, 2018.[72]
As of February 2021, Dropbox had been profitable in the last three quarters, whilst also having no debt.[73]
User-created projects[edit]
Users have devised a number of uses for and mashups of the technology that expand Dropbox's functionality. These include: sending files to a Dropbox via Gmail; using Dropbox to sync instant messaging chat logs; BitTorrent management; password management; remote application launching and system monitoring; and as a free web hosting service.[131]
Offices[edit]
The Dropbox headquarters, located in San Francisco, were originally on Market Street, until its expansion to the China Basin Landing building in July 2011, allowing for a significant space increase.[160] As the number of employees grew, the company again needed expansion,[161] and in February 2014, it signed a lease for two buildings on Brannan Street.[162] Not needing the substantial amounts of space after all, the company started shopping the remaining available space to other companies for sublease in November 2015.[163]
In December 2012, Dropbox set up an office in Dublin, Ireland,[164] its first office outside the United States.[165]
Dropbox expanded into its second U.S. office in Austin, Texas, in February 2014. The State of Texas and City of Austin provided a $1.7 million performance-based incentives package to Dropbox in exchange for locating their office in Austin.[166] In April, of the same year, Dropbox opened an office in Sydney, Australia.[167]