DocuSign

DocuSign, Inc. is an American company headquartered in San Francisco, California, that allows organizations to manage electronic agreements. As part of the DocuSign Agreement Cloud, DocuSign offers eSignature, a way to sign electronically on different devices. DocuSign has over 1 million customers and hundreds of millions of users in more than 180 countries. Signatures processed by DocuSign are compliant with the US ESIGN ActELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL AND NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT
''Federal Trade Commission'' June 2001 and the European Union's eIDAS regulation, including EU Advanced and EU, Qualified Signatures.

In April 2018, DocuSign filed for an initial public offering. At the time of the IPO, the largest shareholders were venture investment firms Sigma Partners, Ignition Partners, Frazier Technology Ventures, and former CEO Keith Krach was the largest individual shareholder. None of the original founders are major shareholders. The company went public on the NASDAQ on April 27, 2018.

History

DocuSign was founded in 2003 by Court Lorenzini, Tom Gonser, and Eric Ranft. Tom Gonser came up with the idea when he was at NetUpdate, a company he founded in 1998, and where he served as CEO. Through its history, NetUpdate had acquired several companies, including an e-signature start-up in Seattle called DocuTouch that had been funded by Timberline Venture Partners, Bill Kallman and Jeff Tung with $4M. Timberline invested another $1 M in the merger into Netupdate.Online Signatures: DocuTouch Introduces DocuSign
''Internet News'' July 11, 2000
''National Mortgage News'' August 22, 2001 DocuTouch held patents on Web-based digital signatures and collaboration. With internal support from Gonser, Lorenzini negotiated the purchase of certain DocuTouch assets from NetUpdate and started DocuSign. Gonser then left the NetUpdate Board to focus on DocuSign full-time.

The firm began sales in 2005 when zipForm, now zipLogix, integrated DocuSign into its virtual real estate forms. Mock trials featuring licensed attorneys and real judges highlighted the admissibility of DocuSign contracts in court based on encrypted audit logs of signature events, as well as the impossibility of changing contracts.Work Smarter with a Tool Your Mom Can Use
Bui, An ''DocuSign'' July 10, 2009

In January 2007, Court Lorenzini stepped down as CEO and Chairman of the Board and took on the role of Executive Vice President of Business Development. He was replaced as CEO by Matthew Schiltz, who served in that role until January 2010. Steven King replaced Schultz as CEO and moved the corporate headquarters from Seattle to San Francisco. Keith Krach became DocuSign's chairman of the board in January 2010 and its CEO in August 2011.

In June 2010, DocuSign added support for iPhone, iPad and phone-based user authentication.Docusign launches new tools to entice greater e-signature adoption
Diaz, Sam ''ZDNet''June 30, 2010 DocuSign also began referring to its service as “eSignature Transaction Management”. By the end of 2010, the company handled 73 percent of the Saas-based electronic signature market with 80 million signatures processed.DocuSign Releases Updated Version of E-Signature Software
Hachman, Mark ''PC Magazine'' June 30, 2010 Scale Venture Partners led an investment round of $27 million in December 2010.Washington Startups See Spike in Investing Dollars in December
Kutz, Erin ''Xconomy'' January 28, 2011

DocuSign opened an office in London, England, in September 2011. In the same year, DocuSign opened an office in San Francisco that now functions as its global headquarters.

DocuSign signed an agreement with PayPal in April 2012 that allowed users to capture signatures and payments in a single transaction with DocuSign Payment.PayPal partners with DocuSign to help businesses collect signatures for online payments
Brian, Matt ''The Next Web'' April 11, 2012 Similar partnerships with Salesforce.com,DocuSigns Delivers Close it in the Cloud! Integrated ESIGN Solutions to Salesforce
''Reuters'' November 5, 2009 and Google DriveGoogle Drive Kicks Off with DocuSign Integration
King, Rachel ''ZDNet'' April 24, 2012 preceded the PayPal agreement.

In July 2012, ''Business Insider'' reported that about 90% of Fortune 500 companies had signed up to use DocuSign.At DocuSign, Keith Krach Continues His Epic 16-Year Quest To Reinvent The Business World
Huspeni, Andrea ''Business Insider'' July 13, 2012

On January 10, 2013, DocuSign and Equifax announced a partnership to simplify electronic delivery of the Requests for Transcript of Tax Return Form 4506-T to the United States Internal Revenue Service. Under the partnership, Equifax allows lenders to use DocuSign to securely send requests to loan applicants. DocuSign and Equifax were among 14 firms that participated in a nine-month feasibility study of electronic signatures for 4506-T forms in 2011.Equifax and Docusign Help the IRS Accelerate Forms Processing With eSignature
PR Newswire ''Daily Markets'' January 10, 2013

In October 2015, Keith Krach announced he would step down as CEO once a search for a new CEO was completed . In 2016, DocuSign was ranked #3 on the Forbes Cloud 100 list.

In January 2017, veteran software executive Daniel Springer was named as the new CEO. Also in 2017, DocuSign was ranked #4 on the Forbes Cloud 100 list.

In July 2018, DocuSign acquired SpringCM for $220 million.

In March 2019, DocuSign announced the DocuSign Agreement Cloud, a suite of products and integrations for automating and connecting the entire agreement process digitally. This marked the company's transition from their former position in digital transaction management.

In February 2020, DocuSign acquired Seal Software for $188 million.

DocuSign ranked number 6 on Fast Company's Most Innovative Enterprise Tech Companies of 2022.

On June 21, 2022, DocuSign announced that Daniel Springer had agreed to step aside as Chief Executive Officer. Effective immediately, Chairman of the Board Mary Agnes "Maggie" Wilderotter was appointed interim CEO to help the senior executive team drive improved execution in all phases of the company's business.

DocuSign announced on September 22, 2022, that Allan Thygesen as its new CEO. Prior to his tenure, Thygesen was an executive at Google. Thygesen assumed office on October 10.

Funding

In 2004, DocuSign raised $4.6 million in a Series A financing from Ignition Partners and Frazier Technology Ventures.Digital signature firm raises $4.6 million
Cook, John ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' June 14, 2004 In 2006, Sigma Partners led Series A1 and Series B financings, becoming the largest shareholder, a position it held at the time of the IPO, with returns over $700 million."Twelve Years Later, DocuSign’s Big Believer Gets His Glory" Chapman, Lizette 'Bloomberg'
/ref> Between 2006 and 2009 DocuSign raised $30 million that allowed the firm to add corporate clients and process 48 million signatures.DocuSign Scores $5M More
Huang, Gregory ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' May 7, 2009

In July 2012, DocuSign raised $47.5 million in venture funding from investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; the round later grew closer to $56 million.E-Signature Company DocuSign Raises $47.5M Led by Kleiner Perkins
Ha, Anthony ''TechCrunch '' July 12, 2012 In March 2014, the company announced it had raised $85 million in a new funding round. Though unconfirmed, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported the round was based on a company valuation of $1.6 billion.

In May 2015, the company announced it had raised $233 million in a new funding round, with some estimating a $3 billion company valuation.

In 2018, the company announced plans for an initial public offering on the NASDAQ, with the goal of raising up to $543 million when the company goes public. Neither the original founders nor current CEO Daniel Springer were major shareholders at that time. Former CEO Keith Krach was the largest individual shareholder at 5.5%, about 8.5 million shares at the time of the IPO. Venture capital firms Sigma Partners, Ignition Partners, and now-defunct company Frazier Technology Ventures were the largest shareholders.

Products and structure

DocuSign's services are offered either by subscription or free of charge as a mobile device app. Signatures and documents are uploaded, then encrypted and a unique hash created. If a signed document is later changed, the hash will not match the information stored by DocuSign if a document has been tampered with or compromised. By 2018, more than 20 billion pieces of paper and 608,000 barrels of oil had been saved by the company through avoidance of wasted printouts for signatures.

DocuSign Professional emails recipients an electronically signed document requesting review of a document after it is uploaded. Each party must agree to complete business electronically, review the document, and apply a signature. Signatures may be added from a stored copy of a signature or generated automatically by the software. Phone confirmation and background checks are offered as premium services.DocuSign Pro
''PC Magazine'' September 28, 2011

DocuSign released its mobile app DocuSign Ink in November 2011.
West, Angela ''PC Magazine'' January 23, 2012 It is available free of charge, and runs on Apple iOS, Google Android and Windows Phone operating systems. DocuSign Ink allows users to sign and annotate documents by attaching a stored signature, which may be created in graphic design software, captured from an image of a paper document or selected from a variety of prefabricated signatures based on the user's legal name.DocuSign Ink App Enables Electronic Signatures on Android Devices
''Android Mag'' January 26, 2012 The saved signature can be applied to PDFs, word processing documents and images. To complete a document, participants apply their signatures and send completed documents to cloud storage for review.CES: Another Death Knell for the Fax Machine
Grant, Kelli ''SmartMoney'' January 12, 2012

DocuSign IMPACT Foundation

On 15 March 2015, CEO Keith Krach announced the formation of the $30 million DocuSign IMPACT Foundation to give to charities and transform lives through DocuSign technology.

See also

* Adobe Sign
* Electronic signature
* Handwriting recognition
* Title 21 CFR Part 11
* Uniform Electronic Transactions Act
* PandaDoc
* HelloSign

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:DocuSign
Business software companies
Electronic signature providers
Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
Companies based in San Francisco
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
2003 establishments in California
Software companies established in 2003
2018 initial public offerings
Software companies of the United States
American companies established in 2003