Dropbox celebrates half a billion users

Dropbox is celebrating reaching 500 million users, with 3.3 billion connections made between users.

"It's exciting to see Dropbox connecting people around the world with everything that's important to them. But this milestone hints at something much bigger—how much our users are working together," the company says in a blog post.

The company says they are seeing more and more companies across industries make Dropbox part of their increasingly cloud-centric workflows, including in the film industry, mining and media outlets.

"Since we started, Dropbox users have created 3.3 billion connections by sharing with each other. That's a 51% jump in just the last year,"Dropbox says.

"And as new people join, they're bringing friends, family, and co-workers along. 44% of new accounts were opened when existing users introduced people to Dropbox.

"That's making for an even more creative and collaborative community.

While based in the U.S., Dropbox's last 100 million users have come from all over the globe, according to the company. It says companies around the world are using Dropbox to bridge gaps with colleagues in different countries.

Dropbox launched in 2008, followed by the launch of Dropbox Pro in 2012 and Dropbox Business in 2013. Dropbox Enterprise was launched in 2015. More than 90 product updates were released in the last year.

The company says Dropbox Business delivers a 9x return in productivity and collaboration benefits over five years.

"Whether our users are building machinery parts, making movies, or bottling vodka, we're proud to play a part," Dropbox says.

"Thanks to all the talented people and inspiring companies that make Dropbox part of their everyday. We can't wait to see where the next 500 million take us.