From bootstrapped to breakout: Gravitee’s journey to Series C
By Paul Lehair, Partner
Posted
Gravitee announced its $60m Series C last week — a major milestone that prompted us to reflect on the company’s remarkable journey so far. We first partnered with Gravitee in 2021, becoming their first institutional investor, and we are proud to have backed the team five times over the past four years. We wanted to share a few reflections on what makes Gravitee so special — and why we continue to believe they are building something truly category-defining.
Bootstrapped origins
Gravitee was originally founded in Lille in northern France by a team who saw a clear gap in the API management landscape: the need for a versatile, open source, enterprise-grade platform.
When we first met the team in early 2021, they were still a small, bootstrapped startup — but already punching well above their weight. We were impressed by their differentiated positioning, customers love and ability to displace large incumbents despite limited resources. We saw this as a powerful signal of the strength and passion of the founding team. Led by Rory (CEO), David (CTO), and Nicolas (CCO), the five co-founders brought a rare combination of technical depth, market insight, and operational grit.
It was clear to us that Gravitee had the potential to become a category-defining platform in API management. That’s why we were thrilled to co-lead their $11m Series A round alongside Oxx — a partnership that has since taken us on a fantastic ride (more on why we invested at the time).
Category-leading vision & innovation
We have been consistently impressed by the team’s unique vision from day one. Their original mission — to simplify and unify API management, making it easier to control the entire API ecosystem — immediately resonated with us. Since then, it has been inspiring to watch Gravitee stay at the forefront of innovation by pioneering an event-native API management platform that seamlessly supports both synchronous and modern asynchronous APIs and protocols.
That leadership has not gone unnoticed: in 2024, just one year after being included in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for API Management for the first time, Gravitee was named a Leader — a remarkable achievement and validation of their market position.
Today, Gravitee continues to push the boundaries as an Agentic API and Event Management company, tackling the growing complexity and fragmentation of modern digital systems. By unifying security and governance across APIs, real-time events, and AI agents, Gravitee empowers organizations to future-proof their architecture and regain control over an increasingly dynamic and distributed ecosystem.
“Modern companies are integrating AI agents, streaming data, APIs and hybrid systems faster than ever, but legacy tools can’t keep up”. Rory Blundell, CEO of Gravitee
Data-driven mindset
Gravitee is, at its core, a data-driven organization. Each function operates with clear, quantifiable targets that cascade from the company’s annual objectives. Performance is tracked in real time through detailed dashboards, with every goal assigned a RAG (Red/Amber/Green) status — a framework championed by Rory (CEO), who refers to this approach as “RAG-ifying” nearly everything. It is a powerful way to maintain visibility into live performance and enable rapid course correction when needed.
Beyond operational discipline, Gravitee has developed an impressively sophisticated forecasting model for its entire funnel and go-to-market engine — the kind of system we rarely encounter, even in much later-stage companies. It is robust enough to probably be a standalone product in its own right! This level of precision across both R&D and GTM execution is a key reason why Gravitee continues to operate at an exceptional level.
International expansion
Following the establishment of its European headquarters in London, Gravitee quickly set its sights on the US market. When we first invested, the company had already begun building early momentum with US-based customers and showed strong intent to deepen its presence. Early moves like appointing a US-based Chair and bringing on key executives in-market helped focus efforts on this critical geography.
Gravitee’s expansion was further validated when Riverside Acceleration Capital, a US growth fund, led the Series B round. We are now excited to welcome Sixth Street as the lead investor in the Series C — a clear vote of confidence in Gravitee’s global opportunity. It has been fantastic to witness the company’s growth in the US, and yet, it genuinely feels like we have only scratched the surface.
More broadly, Gravitee now serves customers in dozens of countries across a wide range of industries. This global reach translates into a highly diversified customer base, strengthening the company’s resilience.
High-performance culture
Gravitee’s focus on performance is one of its true superpowers. Rory (CEO) is an exceptional leader — a force of nature whose work ethic and pace of execution continue to inspire us. He leads from the front, setting a high bar through action and intensity, which has been instrumental in shaping Gravitee’s performance-driven culture.
He is supported by an equally outstanding leadership team. David (CTO) brings deep technical brilliance; Linus (CPO) drives product vision with unique insights; Nicolas (CCO) embodies customer-centricity; and Garrett (COO) ensures operational excellence with a steady hand; and Sanjay (CFO) adds financial control with business acumen. Together, they have built a team that combines ambition, discipline, and a relentless focus on delivering value.
It has been a privilege to work alongside the Gravitee team over the past four years. We are excited for the journey ahead and look forward to many more years of partnership as Gravitee continues to hold nothing back in defining the future of next-generation API management.
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