Kong is a leading cloud-native API management platform that helps organizations secure, manage and orchestrate APIs and microservices. Founded in 2017, Kong has quickly grown to become one of the most widely adopted API gateways, powering trillions of API transactions for major companies across industries. The company offers both open-source and enterprise solutions for API lifecycle management.
Kong was founded in 2017 by Augusto Marietti, Marco Palladino, and Michele Zonca. It evolved from Mashape, an API marketplace the founders had previously created. Kong saw rapid adoption of its open-source API gateway and has experienced strong year-over-year growth since its founding. The company now has over 400 employees globally.
$100 million Series D in February 2021 at a $1.4 billion valuation.
$43 million Series C in March 2019.
Kong Gateway: Open-source API gateway for managing, securing and monitoring APIs
Kong Enterprise: Full-featured API platform with advanced security, analytics and developer portal
Kong Konnect: SaaS API lifecycle management platform
AI-powered API management capabilities
Enhanced security features like mutual TLS and OPA integration
Improved developer experience with Kong Portal 2.0
Kong emphasizes a culture of innovation, collaboration, and customer focus. The company values transparency, diversity, and work-life balance. Kong has been recognized as a great place to work and maintains a strong focus on employee growth and development.
Kong boasts a large and active user community, with over 54,000 stars on GitHub for its open-source gateway. The platform is used by major enterprises across various industries, including finance, retail, healthcare, and technology. Notable customers include Cisco, Papa John's, Expedia, and GlaxoSmithKline. Kong's annual Kong Summit event brings together thousands of API professionals and developers.
