PullRequest Raises $8 Million Series A Led by Google’s Gradient Ventures

PullRequest, a platform for code review as a service, has raised $8 million in a Series A financing led by Google’s Gradient Ventures, with participation from existing investors Y Combinator, Fika Ventures, Lynett Capital, and Defy Partners.

The Austin, Texas-based startup combines software automation with a network of on-demand reviewers to improve and simplify the code review process.

Previously, PullRequest raised $2.3 million in a seed round in December 2017, with $10.3 million raised to date.

Code review is the process where one or more developers review another developer’s work before it is released into production.

PullRequest augments the code review process by combining AI, professional reviewers, and tooling. Doing so helps companies increase their velocity, reduce bugs and technical debt, and, over time, reduce product development lifecycle costs.

Canadian-born CEO Lyal Avery built the company with a broad set of problems in mind. “From one-person startups to Fortune 500 teams, our core objective is to help developers produce high quality code. So long as we’re making developers’ lives easier and letting engineering managers sleep better, we know we’re on the right track,” Avery told Techvibes.

“While code review can’t catch every bug or issue, it remains the most important tool in the development lifecycle. We’re making it a better, faster, more efficient process by layering on AI-driven automation in conjunction with a network of professional reviewers.”

Additionally, Avery felt there was a gap in on-demand work opportunities for developers with deep experience sets. “We want to create high value paid opportunities for skilled people of different backgrounds. There are lots of people with deep knowledge about development who may require flexibility in their day-to-day – for example, new parents.”

By offering remote gigs with flexible scheduling, PullRequest is allowing talented engineers to provide value, regardless of how much time they have, where they live, or who they are.

“PullRequest is working at the intersection of better code and the future of work – leveraging AI to make code reviews more accessible, so that enterprises, of all scales, can adopt this methodology,” said Anna Patterson, managing director of Google’s Gradient Ventures.

“We’re very excited to be doubling down on PullRequest in such a short time frame and are thrilled with the team’s progress and traction!”  Ben Lynett, Managing Director of Lynett capital added, “we believe code quality and access to on demand, skilled jobs are two critical drivers for the economy’s successful transition to a tech enabled era.”

According to Avery the round will be used to accelerate product and team growth.  The company is also announcing the creation of an alpha program for an on-premise offering of their product, where companies can host the software to access their on-demand reviewers within their own data centers.