Y
Yola
Professional website creator
About Yola
Yola Inc. operates as a website builder and hosting company, providing a platform for individuals and small businesses to create a professional online presence without needing technical or design skills. Founded in March 2007 in Cape Town, South Africa, by Vinny Lingham and Brent Viljoen, the company was initially named SynthaSite. Lingham, a South African entrepreneur with a background in e-commerce and digital marketing, founded companies like Clicks2Customers and incuBeta before launching Yola. The company, now headquartered in San Francisco, rebranded to Yola in March 2009 to better reflect its global market ambitions.
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The core of Yola's offering is a user-friendly, drag-and-drop website editor that allows users to build and customize their sites. The platform operates on a freemium model, providing free website building and hosting with the option to upgrade for more advanced features. Revenue is generated primarily through tiered subscription plans (Bronze, Silver, and Gold) which unlock capabilities such as custom domain names, removal of Yola branding, and expanded page limits. Additional income streams include the direct sale of custom domains, a professional email service called Yola Mail, and partnership programs. The company also offers a comprehensive e-commerce solution as a paid add-on. This feature, powered by an integration with Ecwid, provides a full online store with a shopping cart, various payment gateways, inventory management, and the ability to sell physical and digital products, as well as subscriptions.
Initially targeting users with no coding knowledge, Yola has expanded to allow for more advanced customization through HTML and CSS editing for premium members. The platform provides users with customizable templates, design automation tools, and ready-to-use content blocks to streamline the creation process. It supports clients globally, with its product translated into six languages and a user base spanning 190 countries. Milestones include raising $5 million in Series A funding in November 2007 and a $20 million Series B round in February 2009. Vinny Lingham stepped down as CEO in March 2012 to start a new venture but remained on the board. Yola was later acquired by NetNation. Keywords: website builder, web hosting, freemium model, drag and drop editor, small business websites, e-commerce platform, custom domains, online store builder, Vinny Lingham, SynthaSite, Yola Mail, Ecwid integration, code-free website, digital presence, subscription plans, website templates, online payments, inventory management, digital products, subscription sales, website monetization, NetNation, Brent Viljoen, web development platform
Latest news
Press, funding announcements and product moves mentioning Yola.
Funding history
Company financing events and reported valuations.
| Deal type | Date | Amount | Valuation | Investors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACQUISITION✓Exit | May 2025 | $0 | — | NetNation | ↗ |
| GROWTH EQUITY VC✓Equity / VC | Jul 2019 | $10M | — | Mekong Capital | — |
Growth signals
Latest recorded traffic for Yola is 190K monthly website visits, down 13.6% over the last three months. Yola's team declined 1.6% over the past year.
Similar companies
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Investors
From Dealroom's funding and investor records, grouped by the round each investor first entered.
Series A2 investors entered at this stage
- CCColumbus Venture Capital
- RSReinet Investments S.C.A.
Series B and later1 investor entered at this stage
Mekong Capital
Other known investors2 additional known investors
NetNation- TBTom Van den Berckt
Source: Dealroom Talent Intelligence.
Global footprint
team presence
Market sentiment
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