About StepZen
StepZen is a Technology company based in San Jose (United States) founded in 2016 by Sridhar Rajagopalan and Helen Whelan, and was acquired by IBM in February 2023. StepZen has raised $8 million across 1 funding round from investors including IBM, Neotribe and Wing Venture Capital. StepZen offers products and services including GraphQL-as-a-Service and IBM API Connect Essentials. Its focus areas include Enterprise Infrastructure, API Management, API Tools and Development. Its competitors include ReadMe, StrongLoop and Speakeasy; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Cloud-based API development solution provider. The features of the product include configurable backend data sources, infrastructure management, data connection across multiple backends, customization, project and schema management, etc.
- Headquarters San Jose, United States
- Founders Sridhar Rajagopalan, Helen Whelan
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsTechnology
- Emailβ’β’β’β’β’β’β’β’
- Website stepzen.com
- Social LinkedIn X
- Acquired by IBM (Feb 2023)
Products & Services of StepZen
StepZen offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including GraphQL-as-a-Service and IBM API Connect Essentials.
Enables quick building and scaling of GraphQL APIs.
Provides tools for optimizing and scaling APIs via IBM.
Funding Insights of StepZen
StepZen has successfully raised a total of $8M through 1 strategic funding round. The most recent funding activity was a Seed round of $8 million completed in December 2020. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $8M
- Total Rounds 1
- Last Round Seed β $8M
- First Round $8M
(Dec 2020)
- Investors Count 2
All 1 funding rounds of StepZen with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2020 | $8M | Seed | β | Neotribe, Wing Venture Capital | β |
3 investors in total: 3 institutional.
Investors in StepZen
StepZen has secured backing from 3 investors, including venture fund and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include IBM, Neotribe and Wing Venture Capital.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital firm focused on tech sectors | neotribe.vc | Menlo Park, United States | ||
Venture capital fund and fund of funds focused on early-stage startups | wing.vc | Palo Alto, United States | ||
Hybrid cloud and DevOps automation are delivered to enterprises. | 1911 | ibm.com | United States |
Investor details for StepZen
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
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People of StepZen
9 people are tracked at StepZen (2 in leadership, 4 in board & advisors, 3 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Sridhar Rajagopalan | Co-Founder & CTO | Leadership |
Helen Whelan | Co-Founder | Leadership |
Swaroop Kolluri | Board Member | Board & advisors |
Peter Wagner | Board Member | Board & advisors |
Alex Salazar | Advisor | Board & advisors |
Chet Kapoor | Board Member | Board & advisors |
Carlos Eberhardt | Software Engineer | Team |
Herman Camarena | Software Engineer | Team |
Viktor Lukashov | Developer | Team |
Complete people profiles for StepZen
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
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Competitors of StepZen
StepZen has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include ReadMe, StrongLoop and Speakeasy.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| readme.com | 2015 | San Francisco, United States | $9M | Documentation and digital transactions are managed via API-integrated software. | ||
| strongloop.com | 2013 | San Mateo, United States | $9M | API development platform with mBaaS and Node.js tools is offered. | ||
| speakeasyapi.dev | 2022 | San Francisco, United States | $14.87M | 28 | Speakeasy is focused on API development and integration tools. |
Detailed competitors of StepZen
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
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Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of StepZen
The website of StepZen (stepzen.com) receives about 3.9K visits a month.
- Monthly visits3.9K
▼ 16.3% vs previous month
Websites whose visitors overlap most with StepZen. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
graphql-js.org | graphql-js.org | 100% | #2,011,211 | β | |
graphql.org | graphql.org | 78% | #165,543 | β | |
| hasura.io | 78% | 193.7K | #167,077 | View details | |
| clouddevs.com | 47% | 680.7K | #536,533 | View details | |
| apollographql.com | 47% | 412.7K | #112,504 | View details |
Top companies in API Management
3 companies that operate in the same segment as StepZen (API Management) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
API management software is provided for lifecycle development and monitoring. | 2004 | Alameda, California, United States | USD 45 M | |||
Cloud-based API management and integration solutions are offered. | 2006 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 259.35 M | 1,053 | ||
Cloud-based API security is delivered via distributed tracing and analytics. | 2018 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 110.25 M |
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Related news about Stepzen
Complete news archive for StepZen
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Frequently Asked Questions about StepZen
StepZen was founded in 2016 and raised its 1st funding round 4 years after it was founded.
StepZen is headquartered in San Jose, United States. It is registered at San Jose, California, United States.
StepZen is a funded company, having raised a total of $8M across 1 funding round to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $8M, raised on Dec 2020.
Cloud-based API development solution provider. The features of the product include configurable backend data sources, infrastructure management, data connection across multiple backends, customization, project and schema management, etc.
StepZen's top competitors include ReadMe, Speakeasy and StrongLoop.
StepZen offers GraphQL-as-a-Service and IBM API Connect Essentials.
StepZen has 3 investors. Key investors include IBM, Neotribe, and Wing Venture Capital.
Yes. StepZen was acquired by IBM in February 2023.

