Behind the Site

Buffer

buffer.com

Buffer is a social media management platform for scheduling, analyzing, and engaging across social networks.

  • Social media management software
  • active
  • Founded 2010
  • Researched Sep 2026
Confirmed
Age16 yearsDomain registered 1996
Unverified
Based inCalifornia, United StatesAlso Birmingham, United Kingdom
Confirmed
Employees70-80Company shareholder update stating a 73-person team, January 2025
Confirmed
Funding$3.9M raisedSeed/Angel $400K · Series A $3.5M
Confirmed
PlatformsWeb, iPhone, Android, API
Confirmed
Founders2 foundersJoel Gascoigne, Leo Widrich

The story

Buffer was started by UK expats Joel Gascoigne and Leo Widrich as a simple Twitter-scheduling tool, moved to San Francisco in 2011, and grew into a broader social media toolkit through acquisitions (Respondly) and feature expansions (Pablo, Daily). After a 2017 split with co-founder Leo Widrich and its CTO, Joel Gascoigne refocused Buffer as a fully remote, founder-controlled company, later buying out most of its Series A investors. It remains an independent, profitable, small team serving individuals, creators and small businesses.

Timeline

  1. FoundedOct 2010

    Buffer development begins

    Joel Gascoigne starts building Buffer in Birmingham, UK

  2. LaunchNov 2010

    First version launches

    Launched as bfffr.com with limited scheduling features

  3. MilestoneJul 2011

    Moves to San Francisco

    Team relocates, incorporates, joins AngelPad accelerator

  4. FundingDec 2014

    Series A raised

    $3.5 million raised, bringing total funding to $3.95 million

  5. MilestoneMar 2015

    Buys buffer.com domain

    Pays $600,000 to acquire its current domain name

  6. MilestoneDec 2015

    Acquires Respondly

    Buys social customer-service tool, later rebrands it Reply

  7. MilestoneFeb 2017

    Co-founder and CTO depart

    Leo Widrich and CTO Sunil Sadasivan leave; company recommits to remote-first model

  8. FundingJul 2018

    Buys out Series A investors

    Spends $3.3 million buying back most Series A investor stakes

  9. Milestone2024

    Returns to profitability

    Posts $202,459 net profit after two years of losses

  10. MilestoneJan 2025

    73-person team update

    Shareholder letter reports 73 team members and profit share bonus

Founders

  • Joel Gascoigne

    Founder and CEO

    UK web developer; started Buffer idea in 2010, still CEO as of latest updates

    linkedin.com

  • Leo Widrich

    Co-founder (departed 2017); non-executive board member and advisor

    Co-founded Buffer 2010, left operational role in 2017, retains large equity stake

    twitter.com

8 sourcesEvery fact above links back to these.
  1. Buffer homepage and JSON-LD organization databuffer.com
  2. RDAP domain registry record for buffer.com (pre-gathered evidence)
  3. Buffer (application) - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
  4. Buffer co-founder Leo Widrich to headline Dublin's SaaStocktech.eu
  5. Change at Buffer: The Next Phase, and Why Our Co-Founder and Our CTO are Moving Onbuffer.com
  6. We Spent $3.3M Buying Out Investors: Why and How We Did Itbuffer.com
  7. January 2025 Shareholder Update - Bufferbuffer.com
  8. Returning to Profitability: Buffer's 2024 Profit Share & Formulabuffer.com
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