HubSpot

HubSpot is an American developer of software products for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service. It was founded in 2006 by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, two engineers and marketers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company offers a cloud-based customer relationship management platform and a suite of tools designed to help businesses attract visitors, convert leads, close deals, and delight customers.

HubSpot's core offerings include Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub, and Operations Hub. These tools are built around a central free CRM and are sold in tiered subscriptions. The platform emphasizes an inbound methodology—attracting customers with relevant content and experiences, using automation and analytics to convert and engage, and leveraging feedback to improve retention. HubSpot also maintains an app marketplace with integrations to extend functionality and connect with external systems.

Business model and approach: HubSpot operates as a software-as-a-service company with a freemium CRM and paid subscription tiers. The company promotes a holistic approach to customer experience across marketing, sales, and service, and advocates a flywheel-based growth model rather than a traditional linear funnel.

History and status: HubSpot went public on the Nasdaq stock market in 2014 under the ticker HUBS. It serves customers globally across various industries and company sizes, from small businesses to mid-market and enterprise organizations. The company has expanded its product line through internal development and select acquisitions to broaden data integration and automation capabilities, such as PieSync in 2019 to enhance contact data synchronization.