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Retool

Category: AI Developer Tools

A development platform that enables engineers to build custom internal business applications, automated workflows, and autonomous AI agents significantly faster than traditional coding. Retool was founded in 2017. The company is led by David Hsu. Based in San Francisco, USA. Team size: 500+. Total funding raised: ~$141M total. Latest round: Series C ($45M, Jul 2022) at ~$2.9B valuation - Low-code internal tools platform. Key investors include ["Sequoia Capital","Y Combinator","Elad Gil","Nat Friedman","Patrick Collison","John Collison"].

Founded
2017
Headquarters
San Francisco, USA
Team size
500+
Total funding
~$141M total

Value proposition

Accelerates internal tool development by up to 10x by providing a drag-and-drop UI builder and pre-built integrations while allowing developers to write custom JavaScript and SQL for full flexibility.

Products and solutions

["Retool Apps (Web-based internal tool builder)","Retool Workflows (Backend automation and cron jobs)","Retool AI & Agents (Autonomous AI-powered enterprise workflows)","Retool Database (Managed PostgreSQL storage)","Retool Mobile (Native iOS and Android app development)","Retool Portals (External-facing applications for partners/customers)"]

Unique value

Pioneered the 'low-code for developers' category, focusing on extensibility through code (JS/SQL) rather than the restrictive 'no-code' approach used by competitors.

Target customer

Software engineers, IT departments, and product teams at startups and large enterprises (e.g., Amazon, DoorDash, Peloton).

Industries served

["Technology & Software","Financial Services & Fintech","E-commerce & Retail","Logistics & Operations","Healthcare & Life Sciences"]

Technology advantage

Features a highly flexible 'pluggable' architecture that connects to any database or API (REST, GraphQL, gRPC) and a robust component library that handles complex state management and UI logic out-of-the-box.

How they differentiate

Retool differentiates by being 'developer-first' rather than 'no-code.' While competitors often target non-technical business users, Retool allows developers to write custom JavaScript and SQL anywhere in the application, providing much higher extensibility and integration depth for complex enterprise workflows.

Main competitors

["Appsmith","Superblocks","Microsoft Power Apps"]

Key partnerships

["Cloud Infrastructure: AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure","Data & AI: OpenAI, Anthropic, Snowflake, and MongoDB","Venture Partners: Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, and Elad Gil"]

Notable customers

["Amazon","DoorDash","Peloton","Pinterest","Coinbase","Brex"]

Major milestones

["Accepted into Y Combinator Summer 2017 batch","Raised $25M Series A led by Sequoia Capital in 2020","Achieved 'Unicorn' status with Series C funding in 2021","Reached $3.2B valuation following Series C extension in 2022","Launched Retool AI and Retool Vectors in 2023","Launched Retool Agents for autonomous enterprise workflows in 2024"]

Growth metrics

Reached a $3.2 billion valuation in 2022; Estimated ARR exceeds $100M; Serves over 25% of the Fortune 500.

Market positioning

Market leader in the developer-centric internal tool builder category, positioned as the premium enterprise-grade solution for engineering teams.

Geographic focus

Global, with a primary focus on North America and Europe, and growing adoption in the Asia-Pacific region.

Patents and IP

No specific public patents disclosed; relies on proprietary software architecture and trade secrets.

About David Hsu

David Hsu is the founder and CEO of Retool. Before founding Retool in 2017, he founded Cashew, a mobile payments startup that was part of the Y Combinator Summer 2015 batch. He is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where he studied Philosophy and Computer Science. Under his leadership, Retool has pioneered the 'low-code for developers' space, reaching a multi-billion dollar valuation and serving thousands of enterprise customers including Amazon, DoorDash, and Peloton.

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