Asana was founded in 2008 by Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein. Moskovitz was a co-founder of Facebook and its first CTO; Rosenstein was an engineering lead at Facebook and Google. The two met at Facebook and shared a frustration with the inefficiency of workplace coordination, particularly the reliance on email for project management.
The founders left Facebook to start Asana, which they named after a yoga term for a posture or pose, reflecting their vision of a platform that helps teams work in harmony. The company operated in stealth mode for several years, developing its platform before launching commercially in April 2012.
Asana raised successive funding rounds as it grew: $28 million in Series B (2012), $50 million in Series C (2014), $75 million in Series D (2016), and $75 million in Series E (2018). The company reached a $1.5 billion valuation in 2018.
Asana went public through a direct listing on NASDAQ in September 2020, achieving a valuation of approximately $5.5 billion on its first day of trading. Unlike a traditional IPO, a direct listing does not raise new capital; existing shareholders sell their shares directly to the public.
Following its public listing, Asana continued to grow its revenue and customer base. The company expanded its platform with new features including Asana Goals (for strategic goal management), Asana Portfolios (for multi-project management), and Asana Automation.
In 2024, Dustin Moskovitz transitioned from CEO to Executive Chair, with the company appointing a new CEO to lead day-to-day operations. Moskovitz retained his significant ownership stake and continued to be involved in the company's strategic direction.
Asana has also been notable for Moskovitz's philanthropic commitments. Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna are signatories of the Giving What We Can pledge and have committed to giving the majority of their wealth to effective altruism causes.