Orkes, a startup that provides an enterprise-grade microservices platform, has raised a $20 million Series A funding round, building on its earlier $9.3 million seed round in 2022. The funding was led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors Battery Ventures and Vertex Ventures US.
Key Takeaway
Orkes, led by the creators of Conductor, secures $20 million in Series A funding to support its enterprise-grade microservices platform, following the discontinuation of Conductor’s maintenance by Netflix.
Background
Back in 2016, Netflix open sourced Conductor, its microservices orchestration platform, which gained popularity within the company. However, in December, Netflix announced that it would discontinue maintaining Conductor. The creators of Conductor then left Netflix to launch Orkes, taking over the maintenance of the open source project.
Support for Conductor
Orkes CEO Jeu George highlighted the demand for “a layer above the cloud” to help companies focus less on infrastructure and orchestration challenges and more on building applications. Notable companies such as Tesla, United Wholesale Mortgage, and Foxtel rely on Conductor to manage their tech stack.
Future Plans
Orkes has launched a Conductor Working Group and aims to establish a Conductor Foundation. The company offers Conductor as a fully managed platform on the customer’s cloud of choice, as well as a Conductor-based AI orchestration platform.
Enterprise Services
Orkes follows the path of other open-source business companies, offering premium enterprise services around a popular project. The company is recognized for its modern approach to application building and operation for the entire enterprise.
