# We're Entering the Age of AI Connectivity

Products & Agents:

- [Kong AI Gateway](/content/products/kong-ai-gateway/index.html)
- [Kong API Gateway](/content/products/kong-gateway/index.html)
- [Kong Event Gateway](/content/products/event-gateway/index.html)
- [Kong Metering & Billing](/content/products/kong-konnect/features/usage-based-metering-and-billing/index.html)
- [Kong Insomnia](/content/products/kong-insomnia/index.html)
- [Kong Konnect](/content/products/kong-konnect/index.html)
- [Documentation](https://developer.konghq.com)
- [Book Demo](/content/contact-sales/index.html)

**THE AI CONNECTIVITY COMPANY**

From [Gartner](/content/resources/reports/gartner-magic-quadrant-full-lifecycle-api-management/index.html) to [G2](/content/blog/news/g2-leader-top-api-management-tools/index.html), 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
- **San Francisco**: 44 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA, United States
- **Chicago**: 445 N Wells St., Suite 301, Chicago, IL, United States
- **Beijing**: 6th Floor, 56 East 4th Ring Road Middle Chaoyang, Beijing, China
- **Shanghai**: Room 1001-10/F, Tower A 838 S. Huangpi Road, Shanghai, China
- **Tokyo**: 18F Midtown Tower, 9-7-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
- **Milan**: Piazza Citta di Lombardia 1, 20124, Milan, Italy
- **Bangalore**: TS Towers Camelia, 7th Floor, Plot No. 6 Devasandra Industrial Area, Bangalore, India
- **Pune**: 12th Floor, Panchshil Avenue, Survey N0.210, Plot no. 71, Kalyani Nagar Wadgaon Sheri Road, Pune, India
- **Budapest**: 1061 Budapest, Kiraly utca 26 - District VI, Budapest, Hungary
- **Paris**: 179 Av. Charles de Gaulle, Suite 501, 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, France
- **London**: 10 Lower Thames St. 4th Floor, London, United Kingdom
- **Singapore**: 5 Temasek Boulevard, Floor 17, Unit 139, Singapore
- **Sydney**: The Commons, 388 George St, Level 3, Sydney, Australia

### Investing in AI. Investing in Kong.

# OUR LEADERSHIP

Meet our leadership team.

### BOARD OF DIRECTORS

- **Augusto Marietti**: Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder, Kong
- **Marco Palladino**: Chief Technology Officer & Co-founder, Kong  
- **Devdutt Yellurkar**: CRV
- **Mike Volpi**: Index Ventures
- **Martin Casado**: Andreessen Horowitz
- **Rana Yared**: Balderton