WebAssembly
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersCambridge, United States
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
WebAssembly firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- WebAssembly
- Legal name
- WebAssembly Community Group
- Website
- https://webassembly.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where WebAssembly is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cambridge
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
WebAssembly business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
WebAssembly product offering
Product offeringCore offering
WebAssembly (Wasm) is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine designed as a portable compilation target for programming languages, enabling deployment on the web for client and server applications. The standard defines the core instruction set, a JavaScript API for host integration, a Web API for browser-specific behavior, and the WASI system interface for non-web embeddings such as servers, IoT devices, and mobile/desktop applications.
Product overview
WebAssembly is an open standard specification defining a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine, designed as a portable compilation target for programming languages. The ecosystem comprises the core WebAssembly Core Specification (currently at version 3.0) with its formal semantics, the JavaScript API for browser/runtime integration, the Web API for web platform specifics, and WASI for non-web embeddings. Supporting tooling includes the WAT text format for debugging, a comprehensive tooling ecosystem (compilers, debuggers, sanitizers), and the wasm-compat custom element for feature compatibility display. The specification is developed by W3C Community Group and Working Group with representatives from all major browser vendors.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- WebAssembly Core Specification
- WebAssembly JavaScript Interface
- WebAssembly Web API
- WASI (WebAssembly System Interface)
- wasm-compat Custom Element
Quantifiable outcome
- Machine-verified soundness proof ensures no undefined behavior and no runtime type errors
Companies that use WebAssembly
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
WebAssembly technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
WebAssembly partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
WebAssembly competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Wasmer: Wasmer is a standalone WebAssembly runtime and platform for running Wasm modules server-side and at the edge. It is directly comparable as it implements the same WASI standards WebAssembly depends on and serves the same developer ecosystem building portable compute solutions.
- Wasmtime: Wasmtime is a standalone WebAssembly runtime developed by the Bytecode Alliance for WASI-compliant server and edge execution. It is directly comparable as it implements the core WebAssembly specification and WASI that the WebAssembly standard defines, serving developers targeting non-browser embeddings.
- Bytecode Alliance: The Bytecode Alliance is a nonprofit organization developing WebAssembly tooling including Wasmtime, WASI proposals, and the Component Model. It is directly comparable as it shapes the runtime ecosystem and WASI specifications that extend the WebAssembly standard beyond browsers.
Broad incumbents
- Cloudflare Workers: Cloudflare Workers is a serverless edge compute platform that natively supports WebAssembly modules via Workers. It is a broad incumbent offering Wasm execution as part of a much larger CDN and edge services portfolio, comparable because it targets the same WASI/server-side Wasm workloads.
- Fastly Compute@Edge: Fastly Compute@Edge supports WebAssembly as a compilation target for edge functions alongside other language runtimes. It is a broad incumbent in the edge compute space that overlaps with Wasm's non-web embedding use cases.
- Mozilla Foundation (SpiderMonkey): Mozilla Foundation contributes the SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine, which embeds WebAssembly as a first-class runtime alongside JavaScript. It is comparable as a Working Group participant that ships Wasm in Firefox and influences the standard's direction through its contributors (e.g., Ryan Hunt as JS API editor).
- Oracle (Java/JVM): Oracle maintains the Java Virtual Machine and Java ecosystem, which competes with WebAssembly as a portable runtime and compilation target. It is comparable as an established incumbent portable runtime that addresses similar 'write once, run anywhere' use cases that Wasm targets via WASI.
Emerging players
- Fermyon: Fermyon is a serverless platform built around WebAssembly and Spin (its open-source framework), targeting cloud and edge deployments. It is an emerging player that builds directly on the WebAssembly/WASI ecosystem WebAssembly defines.
- Cosmonic: Cosmonic provides a WebAssembly-based application platform leveraging wasmCloud and the Wasm component model. It is an emerging player in the same Wasm-native application deployment space that WebAssembly's WASI and Component Model aim to enable.
- Deno Deploy: Deno Deploy is an edge compute platform built on the Deno runtime, which executes both JavaScript/TypeScript and WebAssembly modules. It is comparable as it implements WebAssembly alongside its primary JS/TS focus, targeting the same server-side and edge Wasm execution workloads.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
WebAssembly social profiles
Digital presenceWebAssembly financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
WebAssembly leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
WebAssembly funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
WebAssembly M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about WebAssembly
What does WebAssembly do?
WebAssembly (Wasm) is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine designed as a portable compilation target for programming languages, enabling deployment on the web for client and server applications. The standard defines the core instruction set, a JavaScript API for host integration, a Web API for browser-specific behavior, and the WASI system interface for non-web embeddings such as servers, IoT devices, and mobile/desktop applications.
Is WebAssembly a public or private company?
WebAssembly is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was WebAssembly founded?
WebAssembly was founded in 2017.
Where is WebAssembly based?
WebAssembly is headquartered in Cambridge, United States, in the North America region.
Who are WebAssembly's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Wasmer, Wasmtime and Bytecode Alliance. Broad incumbents are Cloudflare Workers, Fastly Compute@Edge, Mozilla Foundation (SpiderMonkey) and Oracle (Java/JVM). Emerging players are Fermyon, Cosmonic and Deno Deploy.
Does WebAssembly have an API?
Yes. WebAssembly JavaScript API provides explicit JavaScript interface for interacting with WebAssembly. Includes: compile, instantiate, validate methods for compiling and instantiating WebAssembly modules; Module class for representing compiled modules with exports(), imports(), customSections() static methods; Instance class for instantiated modules; Memory class for linear memory management with grow(), toFixedLengthBuffer(), toResizableBuffer() methods; Table class for table management; Global class for global variables; Tag and Exception classes for exception handling; built-in String functions for JS string manipulation (cast, test, fromCharCodeArray, intoCharCodeArray, charCodeAt, codePointAt, length, concat, substring, equals, compare). Editors: Ms2ger (Igalia), Ryan Hunt (Mozilla Foundation). Developer documentation is at webassembly.github.io/spec/js-api/index.html.