History of the Vanilla forums
History
Mark O'Sullivan created an early version of Vanilla to support his own online graphic design and programming community.[18] Between 2002 and 2005, this alpha version of the forum went through many revisions, and the core theming and plugin engines were built, culminating in the release of Vanilla OSS.[19]
Vanilla increased in popularity and was invited to TechStars 2009 in Boulder.[20] At the start of 2010 Vanilla received 500,000 CAD in series A funding.[21] In July 2010, Vanilla Cloud was released, which was a complete rewrite of Vanilla OSS.[22]
Acquisition by Higher Logic
In May 2021, Vanilla was acquired by Higher Logic, a customer engagement company based in Arlington, Virginia. The acquisition expanded Higher Logic’s capabilities in online communities and support forums. Since the acquisition, Vanilla has been integrated into the Higher Logic Vanilla product line.[23][24]