WeTransfer: Case Study, Company Profile, Founding Team, and many more

Introduction:

The cloud-based platform of WeTransfer offers a straightforward method for sending files throughout the world. The company was established in 2009 in response to a demand for a simple, sign-up-free platform for sending large files. Currently, 1 billion files are transferred each month by 40 million active users from around the globe.

The two sources of money used by WeTransfer are advertising and paid memberships. Users may transfer files up to 2 GB in size using it, which is a free service. Customers may transport files up to 20 GB, save files up to 100 GB, and customize the look of their profiles with bespoke branding with WeTransfer Plus, the company’s premium service.

Company Highlights:

Company Name	WeTransfer
Headquarter	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Industry	Internet-based computer file transfer service company
Founded	2009
Founder	Rinke Visser, Bas Beerens and Nalden
Website	https://wetransfer.com/

Case Study:

The easiest way to share large files internationally was why WeTransfer was created in 2009. We have evolved into a whole suite of productivity tools that handle other challenging aspects of the creative process while also doing our part to protect the environment. Creativity stays at the core of what WeTransfer does as it develops.

Because even if every concept has the potential to alter the world, every idea that does so must first be conceived. We’re dedicated to a better internet and a better world for everyone, and we accomplish this by advocating for topics like mental health and climate change and by donating 30% of our advertising space to do so.

Industry:

It offers more than just a mobile platform for online file sharing. To set the platform apart from the competition, they adhere to a crucial premise. They provide artists and charitable organizations with 30% of the platform’s ad space. By doing this, they pledge to provide a venue for the emergence of fresh concepts. They swear allegiance to this idea and pledge to help bring about positive change in the world.

Founder & Team:

A program called WeTransfer allows users to share and receive big files. The business was started in 2009 by Rinke Visser, Bas Beerens, and Nalden. The platform’s founders gave it the moniker “Collect by WeTransfer.” Co-founder Damian Bradfield joined the business in 2010. Bradfield serves as Chief Creative Officer at WeTransfer at the moment.

The fact that a user is not required to register makes this program the finest. Up to 2GB of data may be sent without any problems with files. It doesn’t require a lot of data, though. There are many people that utilize the service for free, but paying and subscribing is also an option. Using the email service, you may send a specific file to a single user or a group of users.

From 2009 through 2011, the WeTransfer platform collaborated with a small service provider. Scalability and rising traffic caused issues as the user base grew. They switched to Amazon web services to better meet their demands. Then, it began utilizing both Amazon CloudFront and Amazon Simple Storage Service.

Startup Story:

In 2009, Rinke Visser, Bas Beerens, and Ronald Hans (Nalden) launched WeTransfer in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was developed to make it possible to share huge files (up to 2GB) for no cost.

A new “Plus” service with capability for substantially bigger file transfers (up to 5GB) and storage (50GB) as well as the ability to transmit files to as many as 100 recipients for a fee was announced by WeTransfer in 2012.

WeTransfer achieved profitability in 2013. It introduced “creative-class.tv,” an ongoing video series, in 2014. Through a joint venture with Central Saint Martins, the firm established its first bursaries in that year. Two international students were given these bursaries to help them with their full-time study.

Highland Capital Partners Europe led a US$25 million Series A investment round for WeTransfer in 2015. Troy Carter, a venture capitalist, was also named to the board. As of September 2021, the maximum file size for PRO subscribers on WeTransfer is 200GB.

Mission & Vision:

WeTransfer sought to enhance its fragmented brand in two ways: by making each of its products easier for customers to use and by enhancing the security of user data. When sharing work with customers via WeTransfer, creatives must do so safely.

Therefore, we created multi-factor authentication (MFA) in WeTransfer.com from scratch approximately a year and a half ago. But in order to extend it to our other products, we would have had to implement it from scratch a second and third time, as well as make an effort to keep three distinct systems up to date.

WeTransfer thought about developing an internal centralized identity management solution. It felt, however, that its development resources would be better used on the technology that sets them apart from its rivals after experience working with technology providers like AWS for its cloud infrastructure.

Name & Logo:

WeTransfer, a top supplier of solutions for creative productivity, today unveiled its brand’s new worldwide campaign, “Together We Make.” With a little assistance from it, the campaign shares the experiences of creatives from all around the world as they bring their concepts to reality.

It’s biggest advertising campaign to date was developed in collaboration with media agency Noble People, production firm Partizan, and lead creative agency Preacher.

Business Model:

For their goods, Wetransfer employs an innovative marketing approach. They launched a fresh campaign to enlist additional creatives to push the platform up for a boost on a worldwide scale. The platform has “Doubt. Create. Repeat” posted as a campaign. It tries to advertise the company’s other items.

The business is known in the creative sector for promoting the work of artists and their concepts. This new campaign highlights the ability to doubt to create new ideas. The business works to provide a mobile workspace platform with all the tools necessary for creatives. The freshly upgraded tools provide creatives with complete freedom.

The firm’s objective is to provide a platform that allows creative professionals to work without constraints in the existing home-based working environment. It promotes the value the platform offers to creatives across the world by downplaying the relevance of technology and putting more emphasis on people and their ideas.

Revenue Model:

WeTransfer uses both advertising and premium (“pro”) memberships as its two main sources of income. Instead of banner adverts, It shows full-screen ads when transferring. The business distributes 30% of its advertising inventory to artists and humanitarian organizations.

Every month, the platform sees more than 25 million active users. Numerous significant multinational firms are also on the customer list. WeTransfer competes with its well-established competitors despite having fewer users. The platform’s USP is the usage of an artistic interface that promotes ideas. Data transmission without registration and the user-friendliness of the UI are both important.

It has a long number of illustrious clients, although it is a small business. However, there is absolutely no doubt about the company’s potential to generate income. The platform generates two major streams of income for the business.

The first technique comes from the app’s free edition. About 40% of the product’s overall income is generated through it. The program uses full-screen advertisements in a unique way. As a result, people are less disturbed by commercials and are more aware of them. Users feel more at ease using the site because there are no banner adverts. Additionally, the network provides 30% of its ad space to artists and concepts that support creatives.

The premium edition of the WeTransfer platform is another source of income. This $11 monthly membership offers consumers a number of extra perks. The user of the WeTransfer app may also use a personalized URL. Through password protection, the premium subscription gives the supplied files additional security. Google Chrome, Adobe Shutter Stock, and other prominent sponsors are just a few.

Products & Services:

WeTransfer’s platform is used by creatives in 190 countries to send and share almost two billion files each month. But it is more than simply a platform for creatives to distribute files. It gained popularity for its rapid and easy file-sharing capabilities, and it has since developed into an end-to-end digital solution package with more than 70 million active users each month across 190 countries.

The tools provided by WeTransfer are specially made to help creative workers get ideas, create, share, and distribute their work. WeTransfer was aware that it needed to reconsider its approach to authentication if it wanted to boost the uptake of its products because each of its products managed user IDs on its own systems.

Funding & Investors:

• Over the course of two rounds, WeTransfer has raised $63.8M in investment. On August 19, 2019, they received their most recent fundraising from a Secondary Market round.
• Two investors have backed WeTransfer. The most recent investors are HPE Growth and Highland Europe.
• WeTransfer has purchased 2 businesses. FiftyThree was their most recent purchase as of August 21, 2018.

Employees:

• There are 18 active employee profiles on WeTransfer, including Damian Bradfield, chief creative officer.
• Tony Zappala is one of the four board members and advisers for WeTransfer.

Challenges Faced:

It is elegant in its simplicity. Customers do not need to register or log in in order to utilize the service. They just visit the WeTransfer webpage, upload the files they wish to transmit, and input their own email address as well as the recipients. According to Martijn Vermaat, vice president of engineering, it’s all a part of WeTransfer’s mission to provide users with a simple experience.

It needs an IT infrastructure with high availability and reliable performance to do this. Additionally, it must scale with little management. According to Vermaat, we have extremely distinct demand patterns. In general, consumption is higher during office hours and lower at night. This makes it simple for us to anticipate when it will be necessary to ramp up computing power.

When WeTransfer discovered that its current hosting provider couldn’t deliver the quick scalability the file-transfer business required, it made the move to Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2011. It also makes use of Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS), which is used by WeTransfer and is set up with multiple read replicas across many availability zones.

It employs Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and the Amazon CloudFront content delivery network, which forms the foundation of its infrastructure, to store and distribute data. It can handle high traffic volumes with the aid of auto-scaling using Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). It may use Amazon EC2 Reserved Instances.

Acquisitions:

Award-winning creative applications Paper® and Paste are now part of WeTransfer. 21st of August 2018 Today, WeTransfer said that it had purchased Paste and Paper, two well-known programs for drawing in real-time (a presentation tool for fast-moving teams).

Growth:

• According to G2 Stack, it employs 38 different software and hardware products, including HTML5, jQuery, and Google Analytics.
• According to BuiltWith, WeTransfer actively utilizes 15 technologies on its website. These consist of Apple Mobile Web Clips Icon, Viewport Meta, and iPhone / Mobile Compatible.

Partners:

• Allbound.
• AWS.
• Crossbeam.
• Dynamics 365.
• Impartner.
• Kiflo.
• PartnerStack.
• Reveal.

Competitors:

The platform WeTransfer has only been in operation for around ten years. This indicates that different businesses compete to offer the same services. These platforms all have a similar fundamental purpose. The platform’s storage capacity, tools, and user interface are where the main differences lie.

The top WeTransfer alternatives are as follows:

• Google Drive: Drive, one of a number of Google products, is mostly utilized by the Gsuite applications. Many find it to be the most user-friendly platform because Google’s other products integrate well with it. Google Drive’s permissions management is equally user-friendly and straightforward. It now poses a serious threat to WeTransfer.
• Dropbox: Dropbox provides customers with 2GB of basic storage and a straightforward user interface. As it is simple to exchange material, this platform is ideal for online collaboration and working. Dropbox’s superior permission management is another asset.
• Smash: Smash functions by allowing shared files on the platform to have infinite sizes. The platform keeps its users’ fees low while keeping the restrictions to a minimum. The free version’s only restriction is a 14-day storage period for files. It works well for companies that regularly handle large amounts of data.

Awards & Achievements:

• WeTransfer has been announced as a four-time winner at the 26th Annual Webby Awards.
• Becoming a certified B Corporation in 2020.

Future Plan:

WeTransfer makes use of its resources to support innovation and impact. It is establishing itself as a vital partner in helping individuals “bring ideas to life” by enabling people to effortlessly communicate their creative concepts.

FAQs :

What does WeTransfer do?

The Netherlands-based company it provides online computer file transfer services. To send and receive huge files, utilize WeTransfer.

When was WeTransfer founded?

It was founded in 2009.

Who is the founder of WeTransfer Corporation?

It was founded by Rinke Visser, Bas Beerens and Nalden.

Who is the CEO of WeTransfer Corporation?

Alexandar Vassilev is the Chief Executive Officer of WeTransfer, a position he took up in May.

Who are the main competitors of WeTransfer?

The top three of it’s competitors in the File Sharing category are G Suite with 67.66%, Slack with 9.02%, and Google Drive with 7.18% market share.

What are the limitations of WeTransfer?

When you create a WeTransfer Account, the max is 10 recipients per transfer. You can even go one step further and create a WeTransfer Pro or WeTransfer Premium subscription, where you can send files to up to 50 recipients per email transfer! Learn more about what a WeTransfer subscription offers right here.

How many times can you use WeTransfer for free?

That’s right, with a WeTransfer Account, you can send an email transfer to up to 10 different email recipients versus the standard free offer, which limits you to 3 recipients per transfer.

Does WeTransfer maintain quality?

Sometimes when uploading files to it, the file size appears to be smaller than it is on your computer. As we learned as children, however, things are not always as they seem! The truth is, it uses lossless compression, and the size of your transferred files never decreases or diminishes.

Is WeTransfer safe for private files?

From the moment you type wetransfer.com into your browser, your security is our responsibility. As soon as you hit enter, we create an encrypted connection, which means no-one can eavesdrop on what you do on our website.

How does WeTransfer storage work?

Using WeTransfer is very easy — all you need to do is upload your files, enter your email address, the email of the recipient, and the WeTransfer verification code, and your files will be sent. The recipient will receive an email message with a link that will allow them to download the files you’ve sent.

Conclusion:

WeTransfer is embracing each stage of the creative process since it has a strong connection to the creative community. Paste, Paper, and Collect are three programs that support artists in thriving in the present era of remote working, with greater attention on building tools for assisting creatives in each step of the process.

It’s most recent advertising campaign, “Doubt. Create. Repeat.,” significantly advances its objective to draw in creative people from all around the world to develop ideas that will change the world.