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Vercel

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Vercel Inc.
FormerlyZEIT (2015–2020)
TypePrivate
Industry
Founded2015; 11 years ago (2015)
FounderGuillermo Rauch
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key peopleGuillermo Rauch (CEO)
Number of employees
550 (2025)[1]
Websitevercel.com

Vercel Inc. is an American cloud application company. The company created and maintains the Next.js web development framework.[2]

Vercel provides developer tools, frameworks, and cloud infrastructure to build and maintain websites.[3] It is the maker of v0, an AI tool for developing websites,[4] and AI SDK. [5] In September 2025, Vercel raised $300 million in a Series F funding round co-led by Accel and GIC, valuing the company at $9.3 billion.[6] The company maintains a free and open-source library for building AI-generated products.[7] According to W3Techs, Vercel is used as hosting provider by 1.9% of all websites.[8]

History

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Vercel was founded by Guillermo Rauch in 2015 as ZEIT.[9][10] Rauch had previously created the realtime event-driven communication library Socket.IO[11] and Next.js, the open source framework that Vercel optimized for their platform.[2] ZEIT was rebranded to Vercel in April 2020, although it retained the company's triangular logo.[9][12]

In June 2021, Vercel raised $102 million in a Series C funding round.[13] In 2023, Vercel released an AI web development tool called v0 that creates web applications with natural language prompts;[4] it won a 2025 Webby Award for developer tools.[14] In 2023, Vercel released a software development kit called AI SDK[15] designed to allow developers to build conversational streaming interfaces in JavaScript and TypeScript.[16] In May 2024, Vercel raised $250 million in a funding round which valued the company at $3.25 billion.[4] Later, in September 2025, the company raised a $300 million Series F, receiving a valuation of $9.3 billion.[17]

In March 2026, Vercel appointed Mitchell Hashimoto, co-founder of HashiCorp and creator of Terraform, Vagrant, and Ghostty, a performant terminal emulator, to its board of directors.[18]

2026 breach

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On April 19, 2026, Vercel disclosed a security breach in which certain internal systems were accessed by unauthorized actors. According to the company, the breach originated from the third-party AI tool Context.ai being compromised,[19][20] which, according to cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock, originated from Lumma Stealer malware infecting an employee's computer after they tried downloading Roblox cheat scripts.[21] The attacker breached a Vercel employee's Google Workspace account, accessing "some Vercel environments and environment variables that were not marked as 'sensitive'". A threat actor claiming to be part of ShinyHunters claimed responsibility and offered stolen data for sale at $2 million on BreachForums, though the post was later deleted and the group reportedly denied involvement.[22][23]

Acquisitions

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Vercel has acquired a number of other companies:

  • in December 2021, Vercel acquired Turborepo.[24]
  • in October 2022, Vercel acquired Splitbee.[25]
  • in January 2025, Vercel acquired Tremor.[26]
  • in July 2025, Vercel acquired NuxtLabs, the creator of the popular web framework Nuxt.[27][28]
  • in July 2026, Vercel acquired Better Auth.[29]

Architecture

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Vercel's architecture is built around composable architecture, and deployments are handled through Git repositories, the Vercel CLI, or the Vercel REST API. Vercel is a member of the MACH Alliance.

Deployments through Vercel are handled through Git repositories, with support for GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket repositories.[b 1] Deployments are, by default, automatically given a subdomain under the vercel.app domain,[30] although Vercel offers support for custom domains for deployments.[b 1]

Vercel's infrastructure uses Amazon Web Services.

In 2025, Vercel introduced a web application infrastructure model named "Fluid" that enables an instance in a local region to handle multiple requests concurrently, similar to a traditional server, while also maintaining the elasticity of serverless systems.[31]

Controversy and boycott

[edit]

In September 2025, Vercel's CEO, Guillermo Rauch, posted on X a selfie with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at a private tech meeting in New York, where they discussed artificial intelligence and its application in Israel's economy and defense.[32][33] With the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the widespread backlash against Vercel led to the boycott of Vercel.[34][35]

Many developers and users deleted their Vercel accounts and switched to alternatives.[34][33] Tech for Palestine endorses the Vercel boycott and supports the migration to Netlify.[36] Amjad Masad offered companies help and discounts when switching to Replit.[37]

References

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Bibliography

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  1. 1 2 So, Preston (September 9, 2021). Gatsby: The Definitive Guide. O'Reilly Media. p. 367. ISBN 9781492087489.

Citations

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  1. ↑ Garfinkle, Allie (January 25, 2025). "For startups, remote work versus return-to-office is a balance—and an experiment". Fortune. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  2. 1 2 MacManus, Richard (July 20, 2020). "How Vercel Frees Frontend Developers from Backend Burden". The New Stack. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  3. ↑ Lawson, Lorraine (February 5, 2025). "Vercel Rolls Out More Cost-Effective Infrastructure Model". The New Stack. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 Tong, Anna (May 16, 2024). "Exclusive: Vercel completes $250 mln Series E round at $3.25 bln valuation". Reuters. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Vercel Introduces SDK for Building AI Apps with React and Svelte". CMS Critic. June 19, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Vercel Closes Series F at $9.3B Valuation to Scale the AI Cloud". Yahoo Finance. September 30, 2025. Retrieved May 19, 2026.
  7. ↑ MacManus, Richard (August 31, 2023). "Vercel's Next Big Thing: AI SDK and Accelerator for Devs". The New Stack. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Usage statistics of Vercel as web hosting provider". w3techs.com. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
  9. 1 2 Pimentel, Benjamin (April 21, 2022). "The 29-year-old founder of Vercel used this pitch deck to raise $21 million from investors like Accel and GitHub's CEO to build faster websites". Business Insider. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  10. ↑ Carey, Scott (February 21, 2022). "Vercel, Netlify, and the new era of serverless PaaS". InfoWorld. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  11. ↑ Krill, Paul (June 2, 2014). "Socket.IO JavaScript framework ready for real-time apps". InfoWorld. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  12. ↑ Anderson, Tim (April 22, 2020). "News sure to ex-Zeit: Next.js company reborn as Vercel". The Register. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  13. ↑ Lardinois, Frederic (June 23, 2021). "Vercel raises $102M Series C for its front-end development platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Webby Winner, v0 from Vercel". WebbyAwards.com. Retrieved May 10, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Vercel Introduces SDK for Building AI Apps with React and Svelte". CMS Critic. June 19, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  16. ↑ MacManus, Richard (August 31, 2023). "Vercel's Next Big Thing: AI SDK and Accelerator for Devs". The New Stack. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  17. ↑ "AI coding startup Vercel raises $300 million, valued at $9.3 billion". Reuters. September 30, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Vercel Appoints Mitchell Hashimoto, Co-Founder of HashiCorp and Creator of Terraform, to Board of Directors". Morningstar. March 18, 2026. Retrieved May 19, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Vercel April 2026 security incident". vercel.com. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  20. ↑ "Vercel Breach Tied to Context AI Hack Exposes Limited Customer Credentials". The Hacker News. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  21. ↑ James, Luke (April 20, 2026). "AI cloud company Vercel breached after employee grants AI tool unrestricted access to Google Workspace — hacker seeking $2 million for stolen data". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved April 24, 2026.
  22. ↑ O'Brien, Terrence (April 19, 2026). "Cloud development platform Vercel was hacked". The Verge. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  23. ↑ Kovacs, Eduard (April 20, 2026). "Next.js Creator Vercel Hacked". SecurityWeek. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  24. ↑ Lardinois, Frederic (December 9, 2021). "Vercel acquires Turborepo". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  25. ↑ Dee, Katie (October 25, 2022). "Vercel announces Next.js 13 along with the acquisition of Splitbee". SD Times. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  26. ↑ Occhino, Tom (January 22, 2025). "Vercel acquires Tremor to invest in open source React components". Vercel. Archived from the original on March 19, 2025. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  27. ↑ Chopin, Sébastien (July 8, 2025). "NuxtLabs is joining Vercel". NuxtLabs. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
  28. ↑ "NuxtLabs joins Vercel". Vercel. July 8, 2025. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
  29. ↑ "Better Auth is joining Vercel". Better Auth. September 23, 2024. Retrieved July 29, 2026.
  30. ↑ Tyson, Matthew (April 21, 2022). "Go serverless with Vercel, SvelteKit, and MongoDB". InfoWorld. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  31. ↑ Lawson, Lorraine (February 5, 2025). "Vercel Rolls Out More Cost-Effective Infrastructure Model". The New Stack. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
  32. ↑ "Netanyahu holds quiet AI talks with U.S. tech executives in New York". ctech. September 30, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  33. 1 2 Lyon, Jacob (September 30, 2025). "Vercel faces user exodus after CEO picture with Benjamin Netanyahu". Protos. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  34. 1 2 "Developers drop Vercel, call for boycott after CEO posts selfie with Netanyahu". Middle East Eye. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
  35. ↑ "Vercel faces boycott after founder poses with Netanyahu".
  36. ↑ "Vercel's Alignment with Genocide". Tech for Palestine. Retrieved August 30, 2026.
  37. ↑ "Developers drop Vercel, call for boycott after CEO posts selfie with Netanyahu". Middle East Eye. Retrieved August 30, 2026.

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