Avast! - History

History

AVAST Software timeline:

• 2012 - As of Q2, Avast! had more than 150 million active users and over 211 million user registrations – with just over 200 employees. New product launches included a new version of Avast! Free Antivirus for Mac; the Avast! Endpoint Protection business security line; and the Avast! 7.0 series, with innovations that included FileRep (a cloud-based file reputation warning system), streaming updates (also cloud-based), and Remote Assistance capabilities.
• 2011 – By midyear, Avast! had more than 135 million active users and over 165 million user registrations – with just over 150 employees. New product launches included Avast! Business Protection line (with a simplified central administration console); Avast! 6.0 series, with new innovations that included: WebRep (a website reputation ratings tool), SafeZone™ (a built-in browser, using the Chromium source code, for safety with sensitive online transactions), and AutoSandbox (the first automatic virtualization feature offered within a free antivirus).
• 2010 – Summit Partners invested $100 million for a minority share of the company. Said Han Sikkens, a Principal in Summit Partners, “it is rare to find a company such as AVAST that redefines how an industry does business. We are very excited about the growth prospects of this exceptional company." As well, ALWIL Software changed its name to AVAST Software, to more closely align the company with the brand, and Avast! reached 130 million registered users. New product launches included Avast! 5.0 series, with a new antivirus engine and an optional silent firewall and virtualization sandbox.
• 2009 – To strengthen the team, ALWIL hired Vincent Steckler (formerly of Symantec) as CEO. The Avast! registered-user base jumped from 68 million to over 100 million, and the company reached 100 employees. New product launches included the 5.0 series of Avast! Free Antivirus, Avast! Pro Antivirus, and Avast! Internet Security.
• 2008 – ALWIL put major focus on acquiring a multinational sales and support team and localizing Avast! antivirus and Avast.com into more languages. The company reached 50 million registered users and 60 employees. New product launches included Avast! 4.8.
• 2007 – The company reached 40 million registered Avast! users with only 38 employees, for a ratio of one million users per employee. ALWIL Software transformed into a joint stock company. New product launches included Avast! Mac Edition and Avast! Windows Home Server Edition.
• 2006 – The Avast! user base doubled twice, first to 10 million and then to 20 million by year’s end, in large part due to the availability of more language versions and a number of industry awards for quality. Avast! swept the SC Awards categories with Best Antivirus, as well as Anti-Malware (European) and Readers' Choice (USA). New product launches included Avast! Linux Home Edition.
• 2005 – As a way for Avast! to reach new users at a time when the internet did not have such high penetration, ALWIL began cooperation with SanDisk. Thanks to this partnership, Avast! needed language localization for all SanDisk markets. Thus, ALWIL hired the first people for in-house localization and support, which was the first step toward Avast! supporting a wide range of languages. New product launches included Avast! U3 Edition (for SanDisk) and Avast! 4.6.
• 2004 – Only 30 months after its first user registration, the free version of Avast! reached one million users. Until this time, management remained uncertain as to whether giving for free what others sell would work, but reaching one million users confirmed a successful increase in visibility for the company. ALWIL also implemented an international reseller channel for its paid-for security solutions. New product launches included Avast! Linux version, Avast! 4.5 Home/Professional edition, Avast! Distributed Network Manager (ADNM), and Avast! BART CD 2.0.
• 2003 – The growing free Avast! user base generated a need to offer other paid-for solutions effectively online. Thus, ALWIL turned to Digital River’s online sales distribution share-it! New product launches included Avast! Bootable Antivirus & Recovery Tool (BART) CD and the (free) Avast! 4 Home Edition (under Ondrej Vlček's R&D supervision).
• 2001 – Co-founder Eduard Kučera implemented a user-community growth strategy based on the principle that all computer users deserve protection from harmful threats, and that computer safety should not be a luxury some cannot afford. Thus, on June 1, ALWIL Software launched a free antivirus solution for home (non-commercial) use. Six months later (January, 2002), a new registration system saw the very first user registration of free Avast! antivirus Home Edition.
• 1997 – ALWIL Software provided the Avast! antivirus engine to McAfee, which licensed it for use in its own line of McAfee antivirus products with the "Powered by Avast! engine" logo on the McAfee VirusScan boxes. Also, ALWIL hired its first tech-support specialist, Pavel Mourek.
• 1996 – Avast! antivirus was one of the first three antivirus programs globally to win Virus Bulletin’s VB100 awards in all testing categories.
• 1995 – A young Ondrej Vlček (current AVAST CTO) joined ALWIL while completing his university studies. He wrote the first antivirus program for Windows 95.
• 1991 – Founders Pavel Baudiš and Eduard Kučera, free from the socioeconomic constraints of the former regime, transformed ALWIL Software from a ‘cooperative’ into a joint partnership ‘company’.
• 1988 – Pavel Baudiš, then a researcher at Prague’s Mathematical Machines Research Institute, encountered a sample of the Vienna Virus and, intrigued by it, wrote a program able to remove it. He then showed it to colleague Eduard Kučera and, together, they started ALWIL Software cooperative, which released the first Avast! antivirus. Due to the oppressive regime, however, they were unable to form a ‘company’ at that time.