With over 2 billion websites currently online, alongside millions of applications and an expanding number of digital displays, individuals and businesses are continuously sharing diverse information. However, this abundance of opportunity presents a challenge: how can one effectively communicate their message precisely as intended, without encountering numerous technical obstacles?

Sanity, a developing company, has created a platform designed to simplify this process for businesses and their teams. Their SaaS platform empowers developers to build code and systems for efficient content management. Having already gained 25,000 customers – ranging from established publishers such as Conde Nast and National Geographic to innovative companies like Sonos, Brex, Figma, Cloudflare, Mux, Remarkable, Kleiner Perkins, Tablet Magazine, MIT, Universal Health Services, Eurostar and Nike – Sanity has recently secured $9.3 million in funding to support its continued expansion.

This funding round, a Series A, is spearheaded by Threshold Ventures (formerly known as Draper Fisher Jurvetson, which rebranded in 2019 following changes in firm leadership), and includes participation from a diverse group of investors.

Among these investors are Ev Williams (a prominent figure in the content space as the co-founder of Blogger, Twitter, and Medium); Adam Gross, the former CEO of Heroku; Guillermo Rauch, the creator of NextJS and CEO/co-founder of Vercel; Stephanie Friedman (previously with Xamarin and Microsoft); and Monochrome Capital, a new venture launched by Ben Metcalfe (also a co-founder of WP Engine, among other endeavors).

Heavybit and Alliance Venture, who led the company’s initial seed funding round of $2.4 million last year, also contributed to this round. Additional existing investors include Mathias Biilman and Chris Bach, co-founders of Netlify; Jon Dahl, CEO and co-founder of Mux; and Edvard Engesæth, co-founder of NURX.

Sanity defines itself as a “content platform,” and the broad scope of this definition is central to the company’s core mission.

Under the leadership of co-founder and CEO Magnus Hillestad, Sanity has developed a suite of tools to assist developers in structuring the creation, input, and presentation of content. Their target audience includes any organization or individual building digital experiences with content that is frequently updated and not static in nature.

Hillestad explained that viewing content as a distinct and dynamic element within digital experiences signifies a “paradigm shift” in the evolution of the web and related content platforms. He envisions organizations being “unconstrained by limitations and possessing the code to create the components they require.” He likened this to the advancements made by “Twilio with its APIs for communication, and Figma with its collaborative design concept.”

While traditionally favored by e-commerce businesses – utilizing such platforms to design and manage the user interface, alongside services like Shopify for backend commerce – Sanity’s framework has proven applicable to a wide array of applications.

These applications encompass e-commerce experiences, interactive tools for customers to visualize and customize products (such as lighting fixtures), conventional publishing services, and the creation of tailored materials for emergency medical training.

In today’s digital landscape, the medium itself shapes the message, and “publishing” has evolved beyond its traditional association with printed materials like books, magazines, and newspapers. It now encompasses any content designed for the web or other digital platforms, content that may be not only consumed but also manipulated and regularly updated by its creators. This dynamic nature of content presents both opportunities and management challenges.

Sanity’s origins are noteworthy, reflecting its longstanding commitment to prioritizing content. The platform was initially developed by an agency in Oslo, Norway, as part of a project to redesign the website for OMA, the architecture firm co-founded by renowned Dutch designer Rem Koolhaas.

The resulting information matrix and content management system proved robust enough for the agency to utilize in building additional websites, ultimately leading to the spin-off of Sanity as an independent company, founded by Even Westvang, Hillestad, Oyvind Rostad and Simen Svale Skogsrud.

A portion of the team, including Hillestad, relocated to the Bay Area to further develop the startup, integrate it within the region’s broader tech ecosystem, and implement a SaaS business model, while other team members remained in Oslo.

Since its expansion into the U.S. market, Sanity has capitalized on the increasing demand for services that empower web-reliant businesses to operate more creatively and dynamically.

“Ten years ago, I co-founded WP Engine to bring the power of WordPress to enterprise and small business users,” stated Metcalfe. “We are moving beyond monolithic codebases to API-driven services, and our approach to content is evolving; we now create content once and expect it to appear across web, apps, and even IoT devices. Sanity has reimagined the headless CMS, positioning content closer to the developer and establishing it as the definitive content system of record throughout an organization. Given my background with CMS, I am thrilled that Sanity is Monochrome Capital’s first investment.”

Sanity is not alone in attracting attention within this evolving market. Last week, Shogun – focused exclusively on e-commerce and front-end design – raised $35 million. Other notable companies in the space include Commercetools, Commerce Layer, Strapi, Contentful and ContentStack. Sanity differentiates itself by maintaining a broader focus than e-commerce and deliberately avoiding the terms “content” or “commerce” in its branding.

“We are witnessing a significant surge in companies transforming and digitizing all facets of their operations, but the tools they employ often hinder their progress,” said Josh Stein, partner at Threshold Ventures. “Sanity’s content platform empowers content and content creators by enabling a truly collaborative and customizable experience, while treating content as data to accelerate content delivery across all customer touchpoints. We are excited to support the Sanity team and their innovative developer-focused content management platform.”

Stein and Jesse Robbins, a partner at Heavybit, will both be joining Sanity’s board of directors as part of this funding round.