Generative artificial intelligence code revenue startup CodeRabbit Inc. has set its sights on becoming an essential part of every developer’s toolkit after closing on $16 million in early-stage funding.

Today’s Series A round was led by CRV and saw participation from Flex Capital, Engineering Capital and a number of angel investors, the most prominent of whom is Datadog Inc. Chief Executive Olivier Pomel, whose own company was also backed by CRV.

CodeRabbit has created a generative AI-powered code review tool that works much like a human colleague for developers, automatically reviewing the code they create, as it is written. It does this in order to provide context-aware feedback on pull requests within minutes. According to the startup, its tool can integrate with both GitHub and GitLab, providing continuous, incremental reviews of user’s code, reducing the amount of time and effort that would otherwise go into reviewing code manually.

The tool relies on machine learning algorithms that analyze each piece of code, work out the intent of that code through its context, identify any potential issues with it, and finally suggest improvements based on best practices and coding standards.

The startup claims that it’s far superior to the static analysis tools and linters that have traditionally been used for code review. Those tools are less flexible and reliable because they’re rules-based, the company explains, so they often deliver high false-positive rates.

Meanwhile, peer reviews are both time-consuming and subjective, and therefore not always reliable. In contrast, CodeRabbit reckons it’s more accurate and can improve code quality while saving time on the manual effort involved in checking new code.

CodeRabbit co-founder and CEO Harjot Gill has a ton of pedigree, having previously co-founded startups such as Netsil Inc., which was later acquired by Nutanix Inc., and FluxNinja Inc. Meanwhile his co-founder Gur Singh is said to be a “seasoned engineering leader,” who most recently led the engineering and product teams at Alegeus Technologies LLC.

Gill said he’s excited to gain the support of such distinguished investors. “This investment will enable us to accelerate our product development and expand our market presence, bringing our revolutionary AI-powered code review platform to more developers and organizations worldwide,” he added.

CodeRabbit already lays claim to being one of the most installed AI apps on both GitHub and GitLab, with strong mainstream adoption in the developer community, especially in open-source projects. It says it initially gained traction in the small and medium-sized enterprise and midmarket segments, growing its paying customer base to more than 600 within its first year. It now wants to tap the large enterprise market, and is currently conducting proof-of-concept trials with a number of Fortune 500 companies.

But the startup has no intention of resting on its laurels. The funds from today’s round will support the expansion of its product offering and integrations. In particular, the team is working on introducing more advanced security and vulnerability detection capabilities, it said. They’re also working to integrate the tool with platforms such as Jira and Slack, which are widely used by developers for collaboration. Other plans on the horizon include “advanced AI automation for dependency management, code refactoring, unit test generation and document generation.”

CRV General Partner Reid Christian said he was quick to recognize the potential of CodeRabbit’s novel code analysis tool. “CodeRabbit is setting a new standard for code reviews with its AI platform,” he explained. “Its technology is a game-changer, improving both the efficiency and reliability of code reviews across the software development industry.”

CodeRabbit will also invest in its go-to-market teams to accelerate customer acquisition and revenue growth, with plans to expand both its sales and marketing teams and its developer relations outreach.

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