Behind the Site

Vercel

vercel.com

San Francisco cloud company behind Next.js, providing hosting and now agentic/AI developer infrastructure.

  • Cloud infrastructure / developer tools
  • active
  • Founded 2015
  • Researched Sep 2026
Confirmed
Age11 yearsDomain registered 1999
Confirmed
Based inSan Francisco, USAlso Covina, California, US
Likely
Employees500-600Wikipedia infobox employee count
Confirmed
FundingVenture fundedSeries C $102M · Series E $250M · Series F $300M
Likely
PlatformsWeb, iPhone, API
Confirmed
FoundersGuillermo RauchFounder and CEO

The story

Vercel was founded by Guillermo Rauch in 2015 as ZEIT, a serverless deployment company, and rebranded to Vercel in April 2020 alongside its rise as maker of the Next.js framework. It grew through multiple funding rounds and acquisitions (Turborepo, Splitbee, Tremor, NuxtLabs, Better Auth) into a frontend/AI cloud platform valued at $9.3 billion after its 2025 Series F. It remains active, led by Rauch as CEO, though in 2025-2026 it faced a customer boycott tied to a CEO controversy and a disclosed security breach.

Timeline

  1. Founded2015

    Founded as ZEIT

    Guillermo Rauch founds serverless deployment startup ZEIT

  2. RenamedApr 2020

    ZEIT renamed Vercel

    Company rebranded from ZEIT to Vercel, kept triangular logo

  3. FundingJun 2021

    $102M Series C

    Raised $102 million Series C funding round

  4. MilestoneDec 2021

    Acquired Turborepo

    Acquired build-system startup Turborepo

  5. MilestoneOct 2022

    Acquired Splitbee

    Acquired analytics firm Splitbee alongside Next.js 13 launch

  6. Launch2023

    Launched v0 AI tool

    Released v0, an AI tool that builds web apps from prompts

  7. FundingMay 2024

    $250M Series E

    Raised $250 million at a $3.25 billion valuation

  8. MilestoneJan 2025

    Acquired Tremor

    Acquired open-source React components maker Tremor

  9. MilestoneJul 2025

    Acquired NuxtLabs

    Nuxt framework's commercial arm joined Vercel

  10. FundingSep 2025

    $300M Series F

    Raised $300 million co-led by Accel and GIC, $9.3B valuation

  11. MilestoneSep 2025

    CEO controversy sparks boycott

    CEO's photo with Netanyahu triggered a customer boycott of Vercel

  12. MilestoneMar 2026

    Hashimoto joins board

    HashiCorp co-founder Mitchell Hashimoto appointed to board

  13. MilestoneApr 2026

    Security breach disclosed

    Internal systems accessed after a third-party AI tool compromise

Founders

  • Guillermo Rauch

    Founder and CEO

    Previously created Socket.IO and the Next.js framework

    x.com

9 sourcesEvery fact above links back to these.
  1. Vercel - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
  2. Vercel homepage (Organization JSON-LD)vercel.com
  3. v0 by Vercel - App Store listingapps.apple.com
  4. RDAP registration record for vercel.com
  5. AI coding startup Vercel raises $300 million, valued at $9.3 billionreuters.com
  6. Vercel completes $250 mln Series E round at $3.25 bln valuationreuters.com
  7. Vercel acquires Tremorvercel.com
  8. Cloud development platform Vercel was hackedtheverge.com
  9. Vercel Appoints Mitchell Hashimoto to Board of Directorsmorningstar.com
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