Madrid-based Frontity raises €1 million from Automattic, WooCommerce and Tumblr for open-source framework

Madrid-based startup Frontity, creator of an open-source framework for developing WordPress themes, has raised €1 million in seed funding. The round was led by Automattic, WordPress.com’s parent company, WooCommerce, Tumblr, and K Fund. A group of Spanish angel investors also participated.

The Spanish startup has been developing an open-source JavaScript framework for WordPress, the CMS behind about 35 percent of all websites on the internet. By connecting both technologies, React and WordPress, with built-in queries, Frontity’s service allows developers to “focus on building their website instead of all the tooling and configuration.” “We’ll see a big transition towards decoupled architectures in the coming years, and React will play a key role in WordPress to build better user experiences,” says CEO and co-founder Pablo Postigo. The seed investments from other site publishers, WooCommerce and Tumblr, suggest the framework will eventually include other platforms. The startup (formerly called Worona) was founded in 2015 by Postigo and Luis Herranz as a mobile app builder for WordPress blogs. The entrepreneurs initially built the React framework for their customers, who were WordPress publishers. That’s when the company changed course. In 2018, the startup participated in Madrid’s SeedRocket accelerator program and received some funding to keep developing in React. Finally in 2019, Frontity decided to open source the framework and was selected to join the Google for Startups Residency program in Spain. Now the plan is to grow. The fresh seed funding will go to developing the framework, adding new features and building its developer community.

Photo: Frontity co-founders, Pablo Postigo and Luis Herranz