Formation, IPO, and name changes

In September 1997, Mark Pincus, Scott Dale, and Cadir Lee launched Replicase Inc., a software company in Redwood City, California.^[2][3][4] SoftBank invested $2.5 million in the company.^[2] In October 1998, Replicase was renamed Tioga Systems, Inc., coinciding with the relocation of the corporate headquarters to Palo Alto, California.^[5] The company's focus moved to self-healing software, the idea that Windows applications could automatically fix any problems they encountered.^[6] In December 1999, the company changed its corporate name to Support.com, then headquartered in Redwood City.^[7][8] Its focus shifted to providing support software for enterprise companies.^[9]

The company went public with an IPO on July 19, 2000, backed by Credit Suisse First Boston.^[10][11][12]

On March 28, 2002, Support.com was renamed SupportSoft, Inc.^[4][13] On June 23, 2009, the enterprise technology of SupportSoft was acquired by Consona Corporation,^[9] and the company name was changed back to Support.com.^[14] Support.com acquired Core Networks in 2004; YourTechOnline in 2008; and Sammsoft in 2009.^[15] In 2011, the company acquired SUPERAntiSpyware.^[16] In 2012, the company acquired RightHand IT.^[15]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Support.com announced a free month of tech support to support consumers working or learning from home.^[17] In March 2020, the company hired over 100 additional remote customer support agents to keep up with a higher demand for their services, bringing their total number of employees to 1,200,^[18][19] and stated that it planned on hiring an "unlimited number of remote support agent roles to support demand for virtual call centers and remote tech support."^[20]

On September 15, 2021, cryptocurrency mining and power generation company Greenridge Generation Holdings acquired Support.com in a reverse takeover.^[21]

In 2023, SuperAntiSpyware was sold to RealDefense SE.^[22]

Executive history

In August 1999, Radha Basu, coming from Hewlett-Packard, was appointed president and CEO, with Pincus moving to chairman.^[23][24] With the appointment, Basu became one of the few female Indian CEOs in the US.^[25] Pincus remained with the company until 2003, when he left to start Tribe Networks.^[4] In April 2006, Basu stepped down,^[25] and Josh Pickus was named CEO, coming from CA Technologies. He aimed to bring the business back to profitability by focusing on direct customer support, as opposed to primarily licensing software to large service providers.^[26] On April 1, 2014, Pickus resigned from his position as president and CEO.^[27] In May 2014, Elizabeth Cholawsky, formerly of Citrix Systems, was announced as Support.com's new CEO.^[28] In October 2016, Richard Bloom was appointed interim president and CEO, with the interim tag later being removed.^[29] On August 10, 2020, Support.com announced that Lance Rosenzweig would succeed Bloom as president and CEO.^[30]