Gremlin
Gremlin sells chaos engineering software that deliberately breaks systems to test reliability.
On the record
Checkpoint: Next funding round or acquisition signal after 7 years without new capital since the 2018 Series B
The call
Gremlin has real customers and real revenue but is shrinking while AWS, Azure, and free tools like Chaos Mesh close in from every side.
Gremlin helps companies run controlled experiments to find weak spots in their cloud systems before real outages happen. It is getting harder to stick with because Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and other big platforms now offer similar testing built into their own products at no extra cost, plus free open-source options exist. The company's shrinking team and no new funding for years suggest it is stuck, and if Datadog, New Relic, or Splunk add these testing features to their own tools, Gremlin loses one of its last reasons to exist as a standalone product.
Why
01
AI pressure: AI SRE agents that auto-design and interpret failure experiments. AI agents could design and read chaos experiments themselves, cutting into why anyone pays Gremlin for the workflow layer. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: AWS Fault Injection Service and Microsoft Azure Chaos Studio. Both clouds now bundle free, native chaos testing directly into their platforms, undercutting a standalone tool's reason to exist. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Multi-cloud neutrality plus production-safety guardrails and early DORA-compliance features that regulated customers lean on.
What would change this call
Gremlin announces a new funding round or valuation change. Shows whether investors believe its AI-guardrails repositioning is working.
Headcount drops further below the current 62-65 range. Would indicate continued contraction rather than stabilization.
Datadog, New Relic, or Splunk ship native chaos/reliability-testing features. Would show observability incumbents absorbing Gremlin's niche directly.
Headcount drops further below the current 62-65 range. Would indicate continued contraction rather than stabilization.
Datadog, New Relic, or Splunk ship native chaos/reliability-testing features. Would show observability incumbents absorbing Gremlin's niche directly.
Key numbers
- Estimated $35M ARR in 2024
- Headcount fell from 102 to 62-65
- No new funding since $18M Series B
Named risks
- No disclosed funding round since 2018 Series B despite continued product launches.
- Core chaos-injection mechanic commoditized by free CNCF tools like LitmusChaos and Chaos Mesh.
- Headcount decline from 102 in 2020 to about 62 in 2026 signals stalled growth.
- AI SRE agents could automate the expert-guided experiment design that is Gremlin's core value.
- Native hyperscaler tools (AWS FIS, Azure Chaos Studio) already ship for free within cloud budgets.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| AWS Fault Injection Service | gaining on | Native, bundled AWS alternative cited as shipped competitor as of June 2026 |
| Microsoft Azure Chaos Studio | gaining on | Native, bundled Azure alternative cited as shipped competitor as of June 2026 |
| Steadybit and Harness Chaos Engineering | contesting | Funded direct commercial rivals active in chaos-engineering market as of June 2026 |
| LitmusChaos and Chaos Mesh (CNCF) | losing to | Free open-source tools undercut core chaos-injection mechanic as of June 2026 |
Questions people ask
- Is Gremlin profitable in 2026?
- Gremlin has not disclosed profitability. Third-party estimates put 2024 revenue near $35M ARR, but the company has raised no new funding since its $18M Series B in September 2018, which could indicate either self-sufficiency or a prolonged capital drought.
- Who owns Gremlin?
- Gremlin is privately held and venture-backed, founded in 2016 by Kolton Andrus and Matthew Fornaciari. No acquisition or IPO has occurred as of 2026, and its last disclosed funding round was an $18M Series B in September 2018 led by Redpoint Ventures.
- Could AI replace Gremlin's chaos engineering service?
- Partially. AI SRE agents could automate experiment design and result interpretation, core to Gremlin's value. Gremlin responded by launching 'Reliability Intelligence' in August 2025 and repositioning itself as an 'AI guardrails' layer for AI-agent-written code as of May 2026.
- Is Gremlin shrinking or growing its workforce?
- Headcount has declined from a peak of about 102 employees in June 2020 to roughly 62 as of PitchBook's 2026 profile, a gentle multi-year contraction consistent with a mature but not rapidly scaling private SaaS company.
- Who is Gremlin's biggest competitor?
- AWS Fault Injection Service and Azure Chaos Studio are native, bundled hyperscaler alternatives as of a June 2026 buyer's guide, while free CNCF tools like LitmusChaos and Chaos Mesh undercut Gremlin's core chaos-injection mechanic entirely.
- Has Gremlin raised any new funding recently?
- No new funding round has been publicly disclosed since Gremlin's $18M Series B in September 2018, led by Redpoint Ventures with Index Ventures and Amplify Partners, making it roughly seven years without a fresh capital raise as of 2026.
Timeline
- 2026-02-13CEO Andrus publicly rebrands company from 'chaos' to 'reliability testing'
- 2026-02-03Launched Disaster Recovery Testing feature aligned with DORA compliance
- 2026Partnered with Carahsoft to sell into US public sector via procurement
- 2025-08-11Launched 'Reliability Intelligence' AI-driven diagnosis feature
- 2018-09-28Closed $18M Series B led by Redpoint Ventures
- 2017Closed Series A of $7.5M to $8.8M led by Index Ventures and Amplify Partners
- 2016-02Closed seed round of about $1.25M to $1.3M led by Amplify Partners
- 2016Founded by Kolton Andrus and Matthew Fornaciari, ex-Netflix and Amazon
Revision history
21 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Gremlin Venture Capital and Private Equity Financings (2018-09-30)
- How Much Did Gremlin Raise? Funding & Key Investors (2026-05-25)
- Orchestrating Chaos (2023-12-12)
- Chaos engineering service Gremlin raises $18M (2018-09-28)
- $35M Est. ARR, $24.2M Valuation (2025-04-09)
- Management and Employees List
- $1M • 2016 Seed Round (2025-04-09)
- Gremlin 2026 Company Profile
- Chaos Engineering Pioneer Gremlin Launches AI-Driven Features (2025-08-11)
- Gremlin Launches Disaster Recovery Testing (2026-02-03)
- Employee Data and Trends for Gremlin
- Buyer's Guide: Chaos Engineering & Resilience Testing (2026-06-24)