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Small business document sharing platform, Docstoc was purchased today by Intuit for about $50 million. According to a press release “Docstoc’s team of 50 employees will maintain operations in Santa Monica and will continue to be led by Docstoc’s CEO and co-founder, Jason Nazar.”
Nazar started the company in 2007 and since then Docstoc has grown to 40 million registered members and 16 million unique monthly visitors. The platform has been used to share over 20 million documents, as well as articles, expert videos and productivity tools for small businesses.
Intuit’s focus on small businesses makes their purchase of Docstoc an ideal complement to their accounting software and other recent purchases including marketing software-as-a-service platform, Demandforce, and online appointment scheduling company, Full Slate.
“As we strive to be the operating system behind small business success, we are looking for solutions and teams that best serve small businesses, and Docstoc stood out as a clear leader,” said Alex Chriss, vice president and general manager of Intuit’s small business division.
Doctstoc’s revenues prove it to be a smart undertaking for Intuit as it has been profitable since its first year and will be able boast 50 percent revenue growth by the end of this year. In August, Docstoc actually made an acquisition of its own by purchasing business software recommendation website BestVendor.com. Docstoc also runs website Lincense123.com, which calls itself “the largest database of business licenses and permits in the United States.”
Docstoc has taken $4 million in funding, including $750,000 from Angel investors Scott Walchek, Brett Brewer, Robin Richards and Matt Coffin and the rest from a 2008 Series B round from Rustic Canyon Partners.
Even under the realm of a large company like Intuit, Nazar will likely continue to be a relentless cheerleader for the Los Angeles tech ecosystem (check out Startups Uncensored, the monthly fireside interview series with prominent tech entrepreneurs that he hosts).
Docstoc will be key to Intuit’s new “solo-preneurs, self-employed professionals, and independent contractors” division, an area that Intuit has yet to gain traction. With Inuit’s resources and Docstoc’s startup culture, both companies hope this marriage will produce innovative products soon.
