Yola

Yola is a website builder and website hosting company headquartered in San Francisco. However, it was founded in Cape Town, South Africa. People without programming and graphic design skills can make web sites using Yola. Its drag and drop system allows users to incorporate widgets without knowing HTML. Yola also integrates e-commerce and blog software and acts as a domain registrar. It competes with other web hosting and creation such as Wix, Weebly, Jimdo and Webs. Corporate history The business started out under the name SynthaSite, founded by Vinny Lingham in March 2007. In November 2007, the company raised a $5 million round of financing from Columbus Venture Capital and launched the beta version of the product. In February 2009, SynthaSite announced $20 million in Series B funding from Reinet fund. The company was renamed Yola on March 26, 2009. Lingham said the rename was in anticipation of the company's future direction, and further that "the name SynthaSite has brought us to where we are today, but it won't take us where we want to go. We're reaching a global market and need a name that is easy to say, resonates in any language, and captures the creativity and excitement that our users bring to their Websites." According to Yola's management, together with the Synthasite users, in January 2009 there were more than a million users of the tools, including small businesses, individuals and groups.