The productivity of generative AI has improved significantly across multiple fields, particularly website development. There are several tools available today that let users create web designs by just answering questions, such as well-known platforms like Wix and firms that were funded with only their own money, like Relume. Armenian startup 10Web is joining the competition and thinks it has an advantage.
10Web users may easily create websites with WordPress using text prompts. WordPress is a popular website management system. It is quite challenging for beginners to use. Since WordPress is open-source, as opposed to Wix and Squarespace, it requires more extensive web design knowledge to use many of its capabilities out of the box. Furthermore, users have to deal with additional backend responsibilities since hosting is not included.
According to estimations of w3techs, WordPress still runs about 40% of all websites on the globe because of its customization features. As direct-to-consumer e-commerce surged, Shopify appeared as the runner-up. Rather than relying solely on Amazon, sellers collaborated with the Canadian upstart to launch their online businesses.
The Yerevan-based engineering team at 10Web has included generative artificial intelligence models in WordPress, such as Llama 2, GPT-4, and Stable Diffusion, to make it easy for users. According to Arto Minasyan, co-founder of 10Web, developing an interface for WordPress is difficult architecturally; therefore, creating such a tool takes a lot of work. He is also the founder of Krisp, a firm that uses machine learning to eliminate background noise from audio.
He stated that it takes a very good hosting infrastructure. You need a managed service if you want WordPress security, backups, and uptime to be supported. All of those things are quite challenging as every webpage is effectively an instance. However, if you are using an enclosed source platform like Wix or Squarespace for your development, each website will require a single backend and a few pages.
Minasyan is optimistic that concentrating on improving WordPress’s usability will eventually pay off due to the platform’s enormous two million developer open-source community. 10Web, which was established in 2017, presently has positive cash inflows. Approximately twenty thousand of its customers are paying users. Minasyan pointed out that some SMB clients may have hundreds of websites. With 10Web, more than 1.5 million websites have been created in total.
10Web offers two revenue streams:
- fees for each website
- by Traffic
It intends to include a payment mechanism that will let users bill their clients, with 10Web deducting commission fees from the charges.
By the end of the next year, the company hopes to have grown its annual recurring revenue (ARR) from $5 million to $25 million, according to Minasyan. The company’s rise, according to the founder, was partially due to Armenia’s advantageous position. Armenia, like other former Soviet states, has a wealth of reasonably priced engineering skills.
Our AI talent is likely four times more affordable in Armenia than it is in the United States. The founder added that we have access to the top AI talent here. It is challenging to attract the greatest personnel, though, if you are a California-based site builder and have to compete with companies like Google, Amazon, and OpenAI.
Armenia’s first unicorn, Picsart, was born out of the country’s emerging tech industry in the capital, Yerevan, and serves as a model for other entrepreneurs to imitate. Due to Armenia’s tiny economy, its businesspeople have always gone abroad, mostly aiming for the United States. To capitalize on the digital expertise in Armenia, they hire engineers there, and 10Web’s 70-person crew shares this strategy when it comes to recruiting advertising and company growth headcounts in the United States. Having a presence in the United States can help with fundraising.
According to the creator, the US market is the focus of 99% of Armenian entrepreneurs. He further added that you can go to Armenian Venture Capitalists if you’re looking to raise a million dollars or less. Still, you have to relocate to the United States if you wish to raise millions of dollars for Series A or a few million for startup funding.
