About Sweetwater
Sweetwater is a company based in Fort Wayne (United States) founded in 1979 by Chuck Surack. Retailer of musical instruments, pro audio equipment, and accessories. The company has 1,936 employees. Sweetwater was last valued at $1 billion in June 2021. Its chief executive, as recorded, is Chuck Surack. Its website sweetwater.com draws about 14 million monthly visits.
Company details
Sweetwater was founded in 1979 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, as a retailer in the music and audio sector. Operations focus on an online catalog offering guitars, basses, amplifiers, effects pedals, and related items, with detailed product specifications provided. Customer support is maintained through dedicated services for musicians and audio professionals. Online purchasing is facilitated, alongside a system for handling inquiries and returns.
- Headquarters Fort Wayne, United States
- Employees 1,936
- Founders Chuck Surack
- Website category Arts and Entertainment · Music
- Phone•••• ••••
- Website sweetwater.com
- Social LinkedIn Facebook
- Investors
- Employee Count1,936
Funding Insights of Sweetwater
- Total Rounds 1
- Investors Count 1
All 1 funding rounds of Sweetwater with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2021 | Private Equity Round | $1B | – |
| Date | Valuation | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 2021 | $1B | •••••••• |
Last known valuation $1B (Jun 2021). 1 investors in total: 1 institutional.
Investors in Sweetwater
Sweetwater has secured backing from 1 investor, including venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Providence Equity.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Private equity investments in media, communications, education, and technology sectors. | provequity.com |
Investor details for Sweetwater
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of Sweetwater
24 people are tracked at Sweetwater (12 in leadership, 12 in team); the tracked headcount is 1,936.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Chuck Surack | Founder & CEO | Leadership |
Jason Johnson | Chief Information Officer | Leadership |
Joseph Eagleson | Vice President Of IT | Leadership |
Jeremy Duddy | Director Of Software Engineering (web Applications) | Leadership |
Karis Schwab | Director, HRBP | Leadership |
Ethan Campbell | Director Of Software Engineering | Leadership |
Jeff Ostermann | Chief People & Culture Officer | Leadership |
Joshua Gustin | Senior Vice President, Business Operations | Leadership |
Greg Clark | Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer | Leadership |
Matthew Sutherland | Director Of Ecommerce - Sweetwater | Leadership |
Marc Baumann | Vice President Of Finance | Leadership |
Jordan Applegate | Vice President Of Talent Acquisition & HRBP | Leadership |
Joe Strahm | Senior Software Engineer - Tech Lead | Team |
Jared Haagen | Software Engineering Manager | Team |
Griffin Knipscheer | Software Engineer | Team |
Joel Levy | Software Engineering Manager | Team |
Ashley Stove | Software Engineering Manager | Team |
Dimitri Wijesinghe | Senior Software Engineer Technical Lead | Team |
Tyler K. | Senior Software Engineer | Team |
Kelli Roach | Executive Human Resources Generalist | Team |
4 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for Sweetwater
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
- Board tenure
- Professional contacts
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Sweetwater
3 dated milestones of Sweetwater across 42 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Sweetwater is founded.
- Funding First funding round.
- Milestone Reaches Unicorn status.
Web traffic of Sweetwater
The website of Sweetwater (sweetwater.com) receives about 14M visits a month and ranks #3,371 among all websites worldwide, #341 in Music.
- Monthly visits14M
▼ 1.9% vs previous month
- Unique visitors4.3M
per month
- Global rank#3,371
among all websites
- Category rank#341
Arts and Entertainment · Music
- Bounce rate44%
- Pages per visit4.6
- Average visit4 min 25 sec
- DevicesDesktop 49% · Mobile 51%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Sweetwater. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
musiciansfriend.com | musiciansfriend.com | 100% | #24,323 | – | |
zzounds.com | zzounds.com | 93% | #25,500 | – | |
| reverb.com | 90% | 15.4M | #2,806 | View details | |
americanmusical.com | americanmusical.com | 82% | #42,358 | – | |
| fender.com | 77% | 4.8M | #13,430 | View details | |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 40 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Sweetwater
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- 40 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
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Related news about Sweetwater
Complete news archive for Sweetwater
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Frequently Asked Questions about Sweetwater
Sweetwater was founded in 1979 and raised its 1st funding round 42 years after it was founded.
Sweetwater is headquartered in Fort Wayne, United States. It is registered at Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States.
Chuck Surack is the CEO of Sweetwater, as recorded in our data. They have also founded this company.
Sweetwater has 1,936 employees.
Sweetwater was founded in 1979 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, as a retailer in the music and audio sector. Operations focus on an online catalog offering guitars, basses, amplifiers, effects pedals, and related items, with detailed product specifications provided. Customer support is maintained through dedicated services for musicians and audio professionals. Online purchasing is facilitated, alongside a system for handling inquiries and returns.
Sweetwater has 1 investor. Key investors include Providence Equity.
The valuation of Sweetwater is $1B as of Jun 2021.
The website of Sweetwater receives about 14 million visits a month and ranks #3,371 among all websites worldwide.