Since we founded Gather, our mission has been simple but ambitious: remove physical barriers from opportunity and connection. We’ve worked toward this vision by introducing the first “virtual office” that’s transformed how remote teams collaborate. We’re serving thousands of companies and creating meaningful connections for distributed teams around the world.
Today, we’re sharing an important update about Gather’s future.
Our remote work product is profitable and growing, and we’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built with our customers. But over time, we’ve reached a difficult conclusion: while the product we’ve created is valuable and sustainable, it isn’t positioned for venture-scale growth in the way we originally envisioned. At the same time, we know how important this product is – both to our customers and to shaping what’s possible for remote collaboration.
We’re taking two steps to ensure Gather’s mission continues:
First, we’re spinning out Gather as an independent, non-venture-backed business. Like many of the customers we serve, Gather will become a focused, profitable SMB. This allows us to be laser-focused on serving our customers and building the features they actually want, without the pressure to chase billion-dollar outcomes that might pull us away from what matters most for our core customer base. Many tenured Gather team members will continue building this product, and we’re excited about what this focused approach will unlock. (Yes, that means office pets will be back!)
Second, our AI team is joining Figma. Over the past year, several team members have been exploring new ideas to make work more pleasant and productive, especially for people designing and building software. As we developed these concepts, we had the opportunity to meet the Figma team, and discovered a remarkable alignment in vision and values. We’re thrilled to announce that this group has entered an agreement to join Figma, where they’ll continue pursuing this important work.
For our customers: Nothing changes. We’re grateful for your trust, and we’re excited to keep building with you. You can expect the thoughtful innovation that’s defined Gather from the start, and those longstanding feature requests that we’re finally free to build.
We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished together, grateful to the team members embarking on this new adventure with Figma, and energized about Gather’s future as an independent business focused on what it does best.
Thank you for being part of this journey.