Over 13 million people use Smallpdf every month globally. With this new record in September 2017, the online PDF software has climbed to the TOP 900 most visited websites on the planet according to Alexa. Smallpdf simplifies work with PDFs and has increased its user base by over 800% since 2014. Most customers come from large markets, such as: Brazil, India, the United States, Indonesia and Russia. With this in mind, it is not surprising that home users from Switzerland only account for 1% of the total share.
“As we started our business in 2013, we saw big potentials in the product. However, we did not even dream of achieving this magnitude of success. The figures of the last month show that this growth will continue to sustain”, commented Manuel Stofer, the founder and director of Smallpdf.
The company simplifies work with PDFs through its 16 tools on top of a clear and friendly design, true to its vision: “We make PDF easy”. With the software, users are able to compress, edit, e-sign PDFs and convert to different formats like Word or Excel. The best part: you can use the service free of charge. This is why its users adore Smallpdf. The online software converts over 1 million documents on a daily basis, with 80% of users asserting that they would recommend it to their friends.
Bootstrapped instead of investments: The success of the young startup is quite remarkable. Instead of taking venture capital, the three founders financed the company completely on their own. Initially, operation costs were covered from paid advertisements on the site as well as user donations. Meanwhile, Smallpdf offers a paid Pro-subscription for frequent users. This source of income has since overtaken the advertising revenue.
A Desktop version will also be launched in the near future. Nonetheless, success does not deter the 10 person team. A few weeks ago they launched their first offline product – the PDF Reader. This new software offers essential functionalities to read and print PDF documents. Additionally, users have access to Smallpdf useful and free online tools directly from the software. This further simplifies access to the online product and enhances user experience. As the next step Smallpdf will integrate its tools within the Reader.
