The Knot Worldwide

Last updated
The Knot Worldwide
PredecessorXO Group, WeddingWire, The Knot Inc.
FoundedMay 1996;28 years ago (1996-05) (as The Knot Inc.)
FounderDavid Liu
Carley Roney
Tim Chi
Headquarters
2 Wisconsin Circle, 3rd Floor, Chevy Chase, Maryland
,
U.S.
Key people
Tim Chi (CEO)
Jenny Lewis (CMO)
Andy Ivanovich (CFO)
Felicity Chaban (CLO)
Angel Llull Mancas (CRO)
Emily Markmann (CHRO)
Zohar Yardeni (CPO)
BrandsThe Knot
WeddingWire
WeddingPro
Bodas.net
Hitched
The Bump
The Bash
Matrimonio.com
Mariages.net
Casamentos.pt
ServicesOnline vendor marketplace
Invitations
Registry services
Personalized wedding websites
Digital content and print magazine
Advertising
eCommerce
Number of employees
2,000+ (2024)
Website www.theknotww.com

The Knot Worldwide, formerly XO Group, The Knot Inc, and WeddingWire, Inc, is a global technology company that provides content, tools, products and services for couples who are planning weddings, organizing a celebration, and navigating pregnancy and parenting. In 2019, The Knot Worldwide was created by a merger between predecessors XO Group Inc. (formerly The Knot Inc.) and WeddingWire, Inc.

Contents

The company operates in 16 countries and includes the following brands: The Knot, WeddingWire, Bodas.net, Hitched, The Bump, The Bash, WeddingPro, Matrimonio.com and others. As of August 2023, The Knot Worldwide has a user base of 35 million monthly visitors and its global wedding vendor marketplace connects approximately 4 million engaged couples annually with 850,000 vendors. [1] [2]

History

David Liu, his wife Carley Roney and their business partners, Rob Fassino, and Michael Wolfson founded The Knot Inc. in 1996. [3] They found that the internet could facilitate and reduce anxiety in the process of wedding planning between couples. [3] The startup received seed financing from AOL, the partners launched The Knot brand as a portal on AOL. [4] In 1997, TheKnot.com launched on the internet. [5]

The company launched an online gift registry in partnership with QVC and published its first book, The Knot Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World. [6] In December 1999, the company raised $35 million in an initial public offering. [7]

On December 2, 2000, the company launched its own bridal magazine and went public. The Knot Weddings Magazine is published four times a year and is sold on newsstands. [8]

In 2004, the company launched a television series, Real Weddings from The Knot, on the Oxygen Network. [9]

While The Knot was growing, Tim Chi founded WeddingWire in 2005 to create a technology-based marketplace for weddings. Alongside his co-founders, Chi started the business in his living room in Chevy Chase, MD. [10]

The Nest brand launched in 2005 with a website aimed at newly married or cohabiting couples creating their new home. A magazine followed in 2006. [11]

In 2006, the company acquired WeddingChannel.com which included its registry platform and helped to consolidate the bridal media industry. [12]

In 2008, the company launched TheBump.com to serve expectant and new parents. [13]

WeddingWire raised a $5.5 million Series A investment from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2008. [14]

In June 2011, the company transferred its common stock listing to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the symbol "XOXO". [15]

In September 2012, WeddingWire raised an additional $25 million in Series B funding from Spectrum Equity. [16]

Mike Steib joined XO Group as president in July 2013 and assumed the role of CEO in March 2014. [17]

In October 2015, XO Group announced the acquisition of GigMasters, an online marketplace for event vendors, and a partnership with Jetaport, the discounted hotel room block booking service. [18] In the same year, WeddingWire completed the acquisition of Bodas.net, an online directory of Spain-based wedding vendors. Through the merger, WeddingWire expanded to 12 countries. [19]

In September 2018, XO Group announced that it would merge with competing wedding planning firm WeddingWire and become a privately held company under the control of WeddingWire investors Permira Funds and Spectrum Equity. [20] The merger became official in March 2019 and the new parent company was renamed to The Knot Worldwide. [21]

In February 2020, The Knot Worldwide announced it acquired Hitched, a U.K.-based wedding brand. [22] In response to COVID-19, the company launched a $10 million assistance program for wedding vendors in need of support and introduced a campaign called Love is Essential covering the cost of dream marriage proposals for essential workers. [23] [24]

In 2020, The Knot Worldwide launched The Knot Registry Store. [25] The company also launched The Knot Invitations and later partnered with Vera Wang, JoJo Fletcher, Jordan Rodgers, and Jenna Dewan to introduce limited-edition collections. [26] [27] [28]

The Knot Worldwide launched Fellowship for Change in 2021, an annual program to support underserved wedding professionals in their first five years of business through education, mentorship and funding in the form of free advertising. [29]

The Bump and the National Medical Association partnered in 2021 to launch The Black Maternal Health Hub, designed to reduce Black maternal mortality rates. [30]

The Knot rebranded in 2023 and launched its biggest integrated marketing campaign, which aims to reach Gen Z couples and highlight vendors on its marketplace. [31]

In 2023, The Knot Worldwide acquired Zankyou Ventures, a Spanish-based global wedding company, and Weven, a CRM/ERP SaaS wedding planning platform. [32] [33]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acer Inc.</span> Taiwanese multinational electronics corporation

Acer Inc. is a Taiwanese multinational company that produces computer hardware and electronics, headquartered in Xizhi District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Its products include desktop PCs, laptop PCs, tablets, servers, storage devices, virtual reality devices, displays, smartphones, televisions and peripherals, as well as gaming PCs and accessories under its Predator brand. As of 2024, Acer is the world's sixth-largest personal computer vendor by unit sales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rakuten</span> Japanese e-commerce company

Rakuten Group, Inc. is a Japanese technology conglomerate based in Tokyo, founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997. Centered around the online retail marketplace Rakuten Ichiba, its businesses include financial services utilizing Fintech, digital content and communications services such as the messaging app Viber, e-book distributor Kobo, and Japan's fourth-most used mobile carrier, Rakuten Mobile. Rakuten has more than 28,000 employees worldwide, operating in 30 countries and regions, and its revenues totalling US $12.8 billion as of 2021. Rakuten was the official sponsor of the Spanish football club FC Barcelona from 2017 until 2022, and the Golden State Warriors of the NBA as of 2022. It is sometimes referred to as the "Amazon of Japan".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon China</span> Chinese shopping website

Amazon China, formerly known as Joyo.com, is an online shopping website. Joyo.com was founded in early 2000 by the Chinese entrepreneur Lei Jun in Beijing, China. The company primarily sold books and other media goods, shipping to customers nationwide. Joyo.com was renamed to “Amazon China” when sold to Amazon Inc in 2004 for US$75 Million. Amazon China closed its domestic business in China in June 2019, offering only products from sellers located overseas.

TD Cowen, is an American multinational investment bank and financial services division of TD Securities that operates through two business segments: a broker-dealer and an investment management division.

Shutterfly, LLC. is an American photography, photography products, and image sharing company, headquartered in San Jose, California. The company is mainly known for custom photo printing services, including books featuring user-provided images, framed pictures, and other objects with custom image prints, including blankets or mobile phone cases. The company has a variety of sub-brands including the main Shutterfly photo gift business, TinyPrints, SnapFish, Spoonflower, Shutterfly Business Solutions, and Lifetouch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adecco</span> Swiss multinational human resource consulting company

The Adecco Group is a Swiss–French company based in Zürich, Switzerland. It is the world's second largest human resources provider and temporary staffing firm. It is a Fortune Global 500 company and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David's Bridal</span> Bridal retailer

David's Bridal is a clothier in the United States that specializes in wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, prom and homecoming dresses, quinceañera dresses, flower girl dresses, other formal wear, and alterations. Until filing for bankruptcy in 2023, David's Bridal operated 298 stores in 49 states, Canada, and the United Kingdom, making it the largest American bridal-store chain It sold 25-30% of all wedding dresses purchased in the United States..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unit4</span> Dutch business software company

Unit4 is an Enterprise Resource Software company that designs and delivers enterprise software and ERP applications and related professional services for people in services organizations, with a special focus on the professional services, education, public services, and nonprofit sectors. It has subsidiaries and offices in 23 countries across Europe, North America, the Asia-Pacific region and Africa.

Personal wedding websites are websites that engaged couples use to aid in planning and communication for their wedding. The websites are used to communicate with guests about their wedding and inform them of the location, date, time, and gift registry. Each wedding website is different, and a couple has to pick what is best for them. The websites can be free but may sometimes cost a fee. However, most couples find that the website fee is less costly than hiring a wedding planner, as wedding planners can cost as much as 15% of the total wedding cost. Criticism of wedding websites include that invitations from websites are too informal for the occasion.

HomeAway was a vacation rental marketplace. It operated through 50 websites in 23 languages through which it offered rentals of cabins, condos, castles, villas, barns, and farmhouses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">XOJET Aviation LLC</span> Private airliner provider service

XO is a US-based private aviation company and subsidiary of Vista Global with its headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. XO, with a worldwide fleet access of more than 1,450 private aircraft, offers clients on-demand private jet charters with fixed-price membership programs as alternatives to jet cards and fractional ownership of aircraft. The company also offers the ability to purchase individual seats on pre-arranged, shared flights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ACI Worldwide</span> American payment systems company

ACI Worldwide Inc. is a payment systems company headquartered in Miami, Florida. ACI develops a broad line of software focused on facilitating real-time electronic payments. These products and services are used globally by banks, financial intermediaries such as third-party electronic payment processors, payment associations, switch interchanges, merchants, corporations, and a wide range of transaction-generating endpoints, including automated teller machines ("ATM"), merchant point of sale ("POS") terminals, bank branches, mobile phones, tablet computers, corporations, and internet commerce sites.

Tmall, formerly Taobao Mall, is a Chinese-language website for business-to-consumer (B2C) online retail, spun off from Taobao, operated in China by Alibaba Group. It is a platform for local Chinese and international businesses to sell brand-name goods to consumers in Greater China. It has over 500 million monthly active users, as of February 2018. In the last few years, it has opened its features to brands, not only for online sales but also for developing brand awareness. According to Alexa Rank, it is the third most visited website globally in 2021.

The Bash is an event services booking platform. Its headquarters are in South Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S. The Bash matches entertainers with planners of weddings, dances, parties, festivals, celebrations, and corporate events.

Geotab Inc. is a Canadian technology company headquartered in Oakville, Ontario. The company develops and markets telematics hardware and software for use with motor vehicles. The company's products are primarily used for fleet management, including on-board diagnostics, electronic logging, route optimization, accident data recording and CO2 emissions reporting.

Motorsport Network is an American media and technology company headquartered in Miami, Florida and London, UK. The company's proprietary brands, websites and OTT operations focus on motor racing and consumer automotive content serving and presenting content to audiences worldwide. The privately held business was founded in 2015 with the acquisition of Motorsport.com and now operates international digital, videogame, print, e-commerce & event businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinkoi</span> Taiwanese e-commerce platform

Pinkoi is a Taiwanese e-commerce platform focused on the sale of original design goods in East Asia and Southeast Asia, based in Taipei. It was founded by Peter Yen, Mike Lee and Maibelle Lin in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zola (company)</span> American online wedding registry

Zola is an online wedding registry, wedding planner, and retailer. It is a female-led e-commerce company that allows couples to register for gifts, experiences, and cash funds as well as add gifts from other stores. Zola has also expanded into wedding planning with free wedding websites, invitations, and items for the wedding day. There is no cost or fee to register with Zola, with the company generating revenue by selling wedding gifts and wedding-related items.

References

  1. ↑ Dee-ann Durbin (January 8, 2024). "Insider Q&A: How wedding planners are adjusting for Gen Z nuptials". Quartz.
  2. ↑ "Global Wedding Business Says 'I Do' to Google Duet AI". UC Today. August 29, 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Carley Roney and David Liu - Photo Essays". TIME. 2007-11-15. Archived from the original on November 17, 2007. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
  4. ↑ "Corner Office: David Liu and Carley Roney Tie the Knot | SUCCESS Magazine | What Achievers Read". SUCCESS Magazine. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
  5. ↑ Roney, Carley (2007-11-15). "Something Old, Something New". TIME. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
  6. ↑ "The Knot: Here Come The Brides". Businessweek.com. 2005-04-11. Archived from the original on January 4, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
  7. ↑ Hass, Nancy (1999-12-05). "A NIGHT OUT WITH - Carley Roney - At the .com Wedding". The New York Times . Retrieved 2010-03-25.
  8. ↑ "The Knot, Inc. Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on The Knot, Inc". www.referenceforbusiness.com. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
  9. ↑ Tedeschi, Bob (2005-03-14). "Web Sites Try Offering TV Shows". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Ali Donaldson (November 27, 2023). "How a Summer of Wedding Hell Launched WeddingWire". Inc.
  11. ↑ "The Nest - 50 Best Websites 2008". TIME. 2008-06-17. Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
  12. ↑ "The Knot And WeddingChannel: Just Married". Businessweek.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
  13. ↑ "About us". The Bump. Retrieved 2015-01-14.
  14. ↑ Joseph Weisenthal (March 17, 2008). "10-K Watch: Martha Stewart: $5 Million For WeddingWire Stake; $11.8 Million Online Ad Revs". CBS.
  15. ↑ "The Knot Inc. Highlights Expanded Footprint with New Corporate Name, XO Group Inc". XO Group Inc. June 28, 2011. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  16. ↑ David Benoit (September 25, 2012). "WeddingWire Gets $25 Million Investment From Spectrum Equity". Wall Street Journal.
  17. ↑ Internet Retailer, Rueter, Thad. E-retailer XO Group hires a president from the U.S. arm of Vente-Privee, "Internet Retailer", 1 July 2013. Retrieved on 12 November 2015
  18. ↑ Geomarketing.com. Chamberlain, Lauryn. "XO Group Expands Wedding Marketplace, Acquiring GigMasters" "Geomarketing.com" 6 October 2015. Retrieved on 30 November 2015.
  19. ↑ "WeddingWire Announces Acquisition of Wedding Planner". The Luxonomist. February 27, 2015.
  20. ↑ Nypost.com. Reuters. "WeddingWire to merge with XO Group in $933M deal" "nypost.com" 25 September 2018. Retrieved on 9 April 2019.
  21. ↑ businesswire.com. "The Knot and WeddingWire Announce New Combined Company—The Knot Worldwide—the Global Leader in the Wedding Industry" "businesswire.com" 14 March 2019. Retrieved on 9 April 2019.
  22. ↑ "BREAKING NEWS: THE KNOT WORLDWIDE ACQUIRES HITCHED AND YOU & YOUR WEDDING". Wedding Trader. February 4, 2020.
  23. ↑ Stacey Leasca (February 19, 2021). "The Knot Wants to Help 21 Deserving Essential Workers Plan and Pay for Their Dream Proposal". Travel and Leisure.
  24. ↑ Drew Neisser (March 30, 2021). "HOW THE KNOT WORLDWIDE COUNSELED THE WEDDING INDUSTRY THROUGH PANDEMIC". AdAge.
  25. ↑ Ann Schmidt (August 5, 2020). "The Knot launches new wedding registry in competition with Zola". Fox Business.
  26. ↑ Samantha Grindell (May 23, 2022). "Vera Wang thinks brides are drawn to 'sexier' wedding gowns because they're often more comfortable than traditional dresses". Business Insider.
  27. ↑ Dana Rose Faclone (April 28, 2022). "Jordan Rodgers Jokes His Wedding to JoJo Fletcher 'Snuck Up on Us' After 2 Postponements". People.
  28. ↑ Nicholas Rice; Benjamin VanHoose (September 28, 2021). "Jenna Dewan Says She's Still 'Figuring Out the Ins and Outs' of Her Upcoming Wedding to Steve Kazee". People.
  29. ↑ Rosemary Feitelberg (January 25, 2021). "The Knot Worldwide Aims to Support Underrepresented Businesses". WWD.
  30. ↑ "The Bump's 'Black Maternal Health' Hub Works to Reduce Black Maternal Mortality". Cheddar. December 16, 2021.
  31. ↑ Sabrina Sanchez (July 31, 2023). "The Knot launches refreshed look and brand platform for Gen Z couples". Campaign.
  32. ↑ "The Knot Worldwide Strengthens Global Wedding Vendor Marketplace Business With New Senior Leadership and Key Investments". Yahoo Finance. March 15, 2023.
  33. ↑ "The Knot Worldwide Acquires Zankyou". Finsmes. February 3, 2023.

Official website

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.