Press release

Apollo Raises $22 Million to Give a GraphQL-based Data Graph to Every App Developer

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Sponsored by Businesswire

Apollo, the leader in GraphQL API technology, today announced $22
million in growth funding co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Matrix
Partners, with participation from existing investors Trinity Ventures
and Webb Investment Network. Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Peter
Levine will join the Apollo Board of Directors.

GraphQL, a query-language-based API technology, has emerged as a true
developer megatrend, replacing decades-old API technologies such as SOAP
and REST. The point-to-point nature of these legacy technologies has
created tight coupling between backend and front-end developers, holding
them back just when businesses are under ever-increasing competitive
pressure to ship high-quality, consistent digital experiences across all
the platforms their customers use. GraphQL makes app development
radically faster by eliminating that tight coupling.

Just as SQL is the standard language for querying a database, GraphQL is
the standard language for querying a data graph. The data graph is the
“missing layer of the stack” required to enable efficient, secure app
development in today’s multi-device, multi-cloud world. It is a system
that gives an organization a single, always-accurate map of all of its
data and digital services, and then allows a query to be made that
crosses multiple data types and services.

“We need to do more to support and empower app developers,” said Geoff
Schmidt, co-founder and CEO of Apollo. “Today, technologies like REST
force app developers to spend as much as half of their time not building
nice things for users, but writing data-fetching glue code. That’s why
it’s gratifying to see companies like Airbnb and Expedia creating
company-wide GraphQL-based data graphs using Apollo technology. Our goal
is for every company in the world to run on a data graph so that app
developers can spend their time building great things for the rest of
us.”

Apollo’s Data Graph Platform is the industry-standard data graph
technology with over 33 million downloads in just the past three years.
It allows app developers to build a data graph on top of their company’s
existing APIs and services to accelerate development. It provides the
tools companies need to secure, protect, and monitor their data graph.
Apollo’s platform limits data graph queries to only those that have been
authorized, works with Continuous Integration systems to protect the
graph from breaking changes, and continuously monitors the performance
of graph queries to ensure a highly responsive experience for end users.
The new Apollo Federation technology allows hundreds of developers to
work together on creating one distributed, but seamless, data graph for
a large enterprise.

“We’re proud to partner with Apollo as they build a unified platform
that makes it easy for app developers to get the right data from a
myriad of cloud services into the apps and devices that power today’s
leading businesses. We see this is an enormous opportunity since every
company will need a data graph to help them build world-class digital
experiences for their customers,” said Peter Levine, General Partner at
a16z.

This round of growth funding will be used to support Apollo’s mission of
bringing a GraphQL-based data graph to every app developer, including
investments in both the open source and commercial elements of the
Apollo Data Graph Platform.

“We are big believers that GraphQL is emerging as an important new layer
in the app development stack,” said David Skok, General Partner at
Matrix. “Every company that has apps needs a data graph. By providing
companies with a single, centrally managed marketplace for all of their
digital capabilities, Apollo’s Data Graph Platform helps development
teams build high-quality apps quickly, across an ever-increasing number
of platforms and on top of an ever-increasing number of backend systems
and cloud data sources.”

About Apollo

Apollo, the most widespread implementation of GraphQL, is focused on
making application development easier, better, and faster. Apollo builds
open source tools and commercial services used by thousands of
developers in production and has cultivated a strong community around
GraphQL. With the Apollo Data Graph Platform, customers like Expedia,
Airbnb, Audi, SurveyMonkey, and others rapidly implement GraphQL,
consistent with industry best practices, providing their customers with
the high-quality, personalized digital experiences they expect—on all of
their devices. Based in San Francisco, Apollo is backed by Andreessen
Horowitz, Matrix Partners, and Trinity Ventures.