Squarespace scoops up website building service Brace.io

Steven Loeb · November 17, 2014 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/3a72

Brace will be shutting down services in January, but customers will get a free year of Squarespace

The stated goal of website publishing platform Squarespace is to provide tools and templates that make it easy for businesses, even those without any technical knowledge, to build their own websites. The idea being that any business, no matter how small, should be able to have good-looking website to attract customers.

The company is now looking to further enhance those tools through the purchase of website building service Brace.io, a company that offers similar services as Squarespace. The deal was announced on Monday, but no financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

Founded in 2013, Brace helps developers design workflows for shipping code, allows them to collaborate on website designs, and integrate forms, data and charts. The company is powered by cloud tools, such as Dropbox and Amazon Web Services.

The two companies both spoke of a shared vision for making website development as easy, and unencumbered, as possible,

"Over the last few months, we’ve been watching Brace.io, a company that shares our passion for simplicity and delightful developer experiences," Squarespace wrote. "We’ll be working together to enhance our own developer workflow, and to create other beautifully simple experiences within the Squarespace platform."

Conversely, Brace said that Squarespace is a company that it has long "looked up to and were inspired by from the start."

"They share our passion for design and simplicity. We both want to unlock creativity on the web, and make web development accessible to a wider community," Cole Krumbholz, Founder of Brace.io, wrote. "And, it turns out, some of the tools we’ve built were already on the Squarespace roadmap. So we’ve decided to team up."

This was an acqui-hire, so now that Brace has been acquired, it will be shutting down in two months. The company is already no longer accepting new users, and existing users have until January 19th of next year before it shuts down completely.

All is not lost for Brace users, though. As a reward for their loyalty to the company they will have the ability to use Squarespace Unlimited free for a year, and they will also be receiving a coupon for three months of service on web hosting service Site44.

Founded in 2004, Squarespace's tools and features include template designs, custom domains, social integrations, SEO management, analytics, hosting, Dropbox integration, podcast support, pricing tools, and the ability to add a store to their site. The company only added this in February, with the release of Squarespace Commerce

The company has raised a total of $78.5 million, including a $40 million round in April. 

Vator has reached out to Squarespace for further comment on this purchase. We will update if  we learn anything more.

(Image source: squarespace.com)

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