About Kong: Powering API and AI Connectivity Worldwide | Kong Inc.

We're Entering the Age of AI Connectivity

Products & Agents:

THE AI CONNECTIVITY COMPANY

From Gartner to G2, Kong is recognized as a leader by builders and businesses.

OUR STORY

A true story of grit, tuna noodles, and holy water

2009 An idea takes shape

The story of Kong begins in Milan, way back in 2009. Schoolmates Augusto “Aghi” Marietti and Marco Palladino had a wild idea to start a business. They rented a garage and started making a tool for building applications without code.

Augusto Marietti

CEO & Co-founder

2010

Marco and Aghi got accepted into a TechCrunch pitch competition. They were hungry and shared a bed while living in California on a budget. They needed three months of funds but made it through with tenacity.

2010 - 2011

They went to any networking event they could get invited to and secured $101,000 in their first angel round, allowing them to grow the business. Miracle funding came when Aghi scored $1.5 million in seed funding.

2015 - 2017

As the API marketplace grew into a monolith, they built an API gateway to power a new architecture, realizing customers faced similar hurdles.

2017 - 2019

Kong was open-sourced and the business began to thrive, growing the team to over 100.

2019 - 2020

Kong Gateway became the most adopted API gateway, acquiring Kuma to launch the first universal service mesh. They also acquired Insomnia, integrating it into their workflow.

2021

Kong Konnect debuted, achieving a $100 million Series D at a $1.4 billion valuation and entering unicorn status.

2023 - 2025

Kong celebrated surpassing $100 million in annual recurring revenue and launched Kong AI Gateway after raising $175 million in Series E financing. They also acquired OpenMeter.

2026

The world is shifting to connecting intelligence. Kong addresses how to manage AI-driven traffic efficiently.

Address Locations

Investing in AI. Investing in Kong.

OUR LEADERSHIP

Meet our leadership team.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS