The Continued Relevance of Spreadsheet Software

Spreadsheet software, prominently featuring applications like Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and Apple Numbers, remains a highly utilized category within business applications. Excel, specifically, boasts over a billion users on its Android platform alone.

Rows: A Low-Code Platform Built on Spreadsheet Ubiquity

Recognizing this widespread use, the startup Rows has developed a low-code platform. It empowers users to create and analyze web applications directly through familiar spreadsheet interfaces. The company is now announcing new funding and the launch of an open beta for its expanded service.

Series B Funding and Platform Expansion

The Berlin-based startup, formerly known as dashdash, secured $16 million in Series B funding. These funds will be allocated to further platform development, as well as bolstering sales and marketing efforts.

This move to an open beta introduces over 50 new integrations with platforms such as LinkedIn and Instagram. Additionally, users gain access to 200 new features, leveraging established spreadsheet shortcuts.

Key Investors and Advisory Board

Lakestar led the funding round, with participation from existing investors Accel and Cherry Ventures. Notably, Christian Reber, a veteran in the productivity software space, also invested.

Reber, co-founder and CEO of Pitch and former CEO/founder of Wunderlist (acquired by Microsoft), will also join Rows’ Advisory Board, bringing valuable expertise to the team.

Timing of the Funding Round

CEO Humberto Ayres Pereira, based in Porto, Portugal, revealed that the Series B round was actually finalized over a year ago, in January 2020. This occurred shortly before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent global lockdowns.

The company strategically chose to announce the funding now, coinciding with the addition of new features and the launch of the open beta.

Pricing and Tiered Access

The open beta offers a free tier with limitations. This tier supports up to 10 users and restricted integration usage. Paid subscriptions, accommodating larger teams and up to 100,000 integration tasks, begin at $59 per month.

Early Traction and Future Goals

The enduring popularity of spreadsheets and Rows’ initial success demonstrate strong market interest. While in invite-only mode, the platform attracted 10,000 users from its waitlist and secured hundreds of companies as customers.

Currently, the majority of users are utilizing the free version. However, Rows aims to acquire 1,000 paying companies within the next 12 months.

Ayres Pereira stated that the company is currently in the early stages of converting free users to paid subscriptions, with paying customers numbering in the “dozens”. He also highlighted the company’s financial stability, possessing a two-year runway with its current funding.

The Expanding Realm of Low-Code Solutions

In recent years, no-code and low-code software solutions have experienced considerable growth in popularity. These platforms empower individuals to design and interact with applications and digital content without requiring extensive coding expertise.

This trend is easily explained: while many employees lack formal coding skills, they are increasingly proficient in understanding service functionality and potential application capabilities.

No-code and low-code platforms enable greater user involvement in customizing and building the tools necessary for daily tasks, reducing the time and resources needed to engage software engineers.

Ayres Pereira observes that individuals “desire the ability to construct their own tools,” emphasizing the need for understanding, testing, and iterative improvement. He notes that the majority of Rows’ user base is currently located in North America, with common applications including marketing and sales teams, and utilizing Rows spreadsheets for dynamic logistics and operational management.

Stephen Nundy, a partner at Lakestar, characterizes the growing user base of no-code tools as “citizen developers.”

Rows exemplifies the low-code trend. It leverages familiarity with spreadsheet tools – such as the hundreds of functions available in Excel – to facilitate integrations with other applications. Users can then employ Rows spreadsheets to analyze data from various sources and simultaneously update those sources.

Consider the benefits of viewing Twitter content within Rows versus directly on Twitter. A Rows document could enable a user to search for Tweets based on specific keywords and then organize the results according to metrics like the number of “likes” received.

Alternatively, responses to a promotional call to action on Instagram could be compared against a company’s customer database to identify overlaps and potential new leads.

A question arises: why haven’t existing spreadsheet programs already incorporated such functionality?

Interestingly, Microsoft previously explored linking Excel with basic computing functions through Visual Basic for Applications. However, this initiative earned the unfortunate distinction of being ranked among developers’ “most dreaded” languages for two consecutive years, ultimately leading to its decline.

This does, however, highlight an opportunity for established companies to challenge emerging disruptors.

Beyond these major competitors, numerous startups are developing similar no-code and low-code solutions.

Gyana concentrates on data science, Tray.io offers a visual interface for app integration, Zapier and Notion provide simplified interfaces for connecting apps and APIs, and Airtable presents a reimagined spreadsheet interface. Currently, Ayres Pereira views these as collaborators rather than rivals.

“We do overlap with services like Zapier and Notion,” he acknowledges, “but I would characterize our relationship as friendly. We are collectively raising awareness about empowering individuals to achieve more without being constrained by outdated tools. This isn’t a zero-sum competition for us.”

Two years ago, when we initially covered Rows’ Series A funding, the startup had created a platform allowing spreadsheet-proficient users to build and populate web app content. While extensible, it primarily catered to those willing to invest effort in establishing those connections.

Since then, the platform has expanded, with the spreadsheet remaining central. Ayres Pereira, alongside co-founder Torben Schulz, reports the addition of approximately 50 new integrations, including support for analyzing and updating content on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, CrunchBase, Salesforce, Slack, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Furthermore, the platform has received around 200 new features.

While data can be imported from Google Sheets, Excel support is currently unavailable. Pereira explains this is due to the prevalence of desktop Excel usage, which lacks accessible APIs.

Rows also provides templates to guide users through common tasks, such as LinkedIn profile or email lookups, and social media metric tracking.

However, a fundamental spreadsheet feature remains absent: the interface currently operates with rows and columns but lacks graphical tools for data visualization, such as pie charts or graphs commonly found in traditional spreadsheet programs.

This is why Rows remains in beta. Pereira admits this feature is frequently requested, describing it as “the final frontier.” He anticipates its release by Q3 of this year, at which point Rows will transition to a general “1.0” release.

“Humberto and Torben have consistently impressed us with their ambition to revolutionize the market with a novel spreadsheet paradigm that addresses the significant limitations of current solutions,” states Nundy at Lakestar. “Data integrations are seamless, the collaborative experience is exceptional, and the ability to share and publish work as an application is unique, fostering the emergence of more ‘Citizen developers.’ This is crucial to meeting the evolving needs of today’s technologically adept workforce. The substantial interest they’ve garnered during their private beta demonstrates the desirability of platforms like Rows, and we are pleased to support them through their public beta launch and beyond with this investment.” Nundy will also be joining Rows’ board as part of this funding round.