Rows

Rows delivers a modern spreadsheet platform that combines traditional grid functionality with powerful built-in integrations and a unique sharing experience. It allows users to connect directly to services like Salesforce and LinkedIn, or custom APIs, enabling data retrieval and actions within cells. The platform also transforms spreadsheets into interactive, shareable web applications, streamlining data presentation and collaboration for teams.

The company was co-founded by Humberto Ayres Pereira and Torben Schulz, both emerging from backgrounds in management consulting at firms like McKinsey. Their founding insight stemmed from observing the pervasive use of spreadsheets and their inherent limitations in an increasingly connected world. Starting around 2016, they envisioned a "spreadsheet OS" that would evolve this essential tool into a more collaborative and integrated solution for the era of APIs.

Rows primarily serves sales, marketing, and operations professionals, who leverage its capabilities for tasks such as lead generation, CRM integration, and custom dashboard creation. The company's vision is to provide a superior home for spreadsheets, where each "row" dynamically represents and contributes to business growth. It aims to foster a strong community by enabling users to easily share sophisticated, interactive data views without exposing complex underlying formulas.

High-Level Overview

Rows is a Berlin-based SaaS company building an AI-powered spreadsheet platform that combines traditional spreadsheet functionality with no-code integrations, AI analytics, and collaborative features. It targets business professionals frustrated by legacy tools like Excel and Google Sheets, enabling them to import data from sources like Google Analytics, Instagram, and custom APIs, analyze it via the world's first AI Analyst, and create presentation-ready visuals without coding.[1][2][3] Serving hundreds of thousands of users including AWS, Hewlett-Packard, and Mercado Libre, Rows solves data silos and slow workflows by offering seamless imports, AI-driven insights, and sharing capabilities, driving growth through €8 million in recent funding and expansion across the US, UK, and Europe.[3][4]

Origin Story

Founded in 2016 (with some sources noting 2017) by Torben Schulz and Humberto Ayres Pereira, Rows originated from dashdash, a prior entity focused on innovative spreadsheet enhancements.[1][2][3][4] The founders recognized that business users wanted to build powerful tools using familiar spreadsheet interfaces but without coding, especially as data shifted to the cloud.[1][3] Early traction came from rebranding to Rows with a bold identity emphasizing low-code/no-code disruption in an industry stagnant since 2006, leading to game-changing integrations and features that positioned it against giants like Excel.[2] Pivotal moments include rapid product launches timed to market waves like AI, multiple Product Hunt successes, and building a team of 50-90+ across offices in Porto, Berlin, and beyond.[1][3][4][5]

Core Differentiators

• AI-Powered Insights: Features the world's first AI Analyst for extracting learnings from any data table via a simple interface, setting it apart from traditional spreadsheets.[1][3]
• Native Integrations: Connects to 50+ sources like Notion, Facebook Ads, TikTok, LinkedIn, Google Analytics, and custom APIs, enabling fastest data import and real-time updates.[1][3]
• Superior User Experience: Sleek, aesthetically pleasing design with stunning charts, collaborative sharing, and presentation-ready outputs embeddable in Notion or websites.[2][3]
• No-Code Accessibility: Empowers non-coders—especially business and marketing pros—to build tools with spreadsheet skills, bridging computation and beautiful interfaces.[1][2]
• Speed and Momentum: Proven launch velocity (e.g., new data systems, OpenAI integrations in a quarter) and robust Excel/Sheets compatibility with innovative layout.[3][5]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Rows rides the no-code/low-code wave and AI democratization in data tools, transforming spreadsheets from static relics into dynamic, cloud-native platforms amid exploding data volumes from social, analytics, and APIs.[2][3][7] Timing is ideal post-ChatGPT, as AI co-pilots like its Analyst make complex analysis intuitive, addressing productivity roadblocks in a market where legacy tools remain siloed and unchanged since 2006.[1][2][3] Favorable forces include remote collaboration demands, business users' aversion to coding, and investor interest (e.g., €8M round), fueling global expansion.[3][4] Rows influences the ecosystem by inspiring "spreadsheet facelifts," enabling 1B+ users to create shareable apps and setting benchmarks for integrated, AI-enhanced data workflows.[1][3]

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Rows is primed to capture more market share by doubling down on AI expansions, new integrations, and US/UK growth, leveraging its funding to scale the team beyond 90 and refine speed-to-market launches.[3][4][5] Trends like agentic AI, multimodal data, and enterprise no-code adoption will propel it, potentially challenging incumbents through wizardry-like UX and collaborative magic.[1][2][7] Its influence may evolve from disruptor to standard-setter, empowering the next 1B app creators and redefining spreadsheets as the ultimate business OS—turning "0 to magic fast" into everyday reality.[1][3]