Anthropic backed AI powered code review platform Graphite raises cash

A Promising Journey from Mobile Tools to AI-Driven Code Review

Founded in 2020 by Tomas Reimers, Greg Foster, and Merrill Lutsky, Graphite began its journey as a mobile development tooling company. With a founding team boasting credentials from industry giants such as Facebook, Airbnb, and Google, the startup quickly pivoted to address a more pressing need in the developer community: the code review process.

The breakthrough came when the team realized that their internal solution for automating code reviews had significant potential beyond their own projects. “Graphite started as an internal tool we built to solve our own pain around code review,” explained Lutsky in a recent statement. As word spread among the developer community, especially within circles familiar with high engineering standards, demand grew rapidly.

Today, Graphite’s platform leverages advanced AI models from Anthropic and OpenAI. It not only flags potential errors and oversights, but it also suggests code changes based on developer comments, summarizes complex codebases, and even generates fixes for code failures. Always looking ahead, the startup is launching Diamond—its standalone product dedicated to automatically catching coding bugs and errors.

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Significant Funding and Industry Confidence

Sensing the opportunity in the surge of AI-assisted programming, venture capital firms are channeling investments into startups that promise to modernize code review and software quality assurance. Graphite recently raised $52 million in a Series B round led by Accel, with participation from several high-profile investors, including Anthropic’s Anthology Fund, Menlo Ventures, Shopify Ventures, Figma Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and The General Partnership.

This funding round not only fuels Graphite’s product development but also supports the expansion of its New York-based team. Overall, Graphite has secured around $81 million in venture capital, positioning the company for aggressive growth as it scales its cutting-edge code review solution.

Key Features and Market Differentiators

One aspect that sets Graphite apart from its competitors is its emphasis on addressing reliability risks often associated with AI-powered coding tools. While some coding assistants have struggled with ensuring data security and platform consistency, Graphite has built a system where customers can:

• Define unique codebase patterns applicable only to their projects.
• Establish filters to block sensitive information from being processed.
• Receive actionable feedback and suggestions tailored to their specific coding styles.

This customization helps assuage concerns around potential security vulnerabilities and reliability issues, ensuring that developers maintain full control over their code quality.

In a marketplace bustling with innovation, Graphite competes with several other AI coding assistant solutions. Notable competitors in this space include:

• GitHub Copilot
• Cursor Maker by An emerging AI startup
• Poolside
• Augment
• Magic
• Codeium
• CodeRabbit
• DeepCode

Despite the intense competition, Graphite has managed to capture a substantial niche in the industry, thanks in large part to its robust approach to security and its continuous drive to improve the code review process.

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Boosting Revenue and Scaling Operations

Graphite’s results speak volumes. The company reported a 20x growth in revenue during 2024, a testament to its rising popularity among developers. With tens of thousands of engineers at more than 500 companies actively benefiting from its platform, Graphite has established itself as a trusted solution among leading organizations such as Shopify, Snowflake, Figma, and Perplexity.

Lutsky noted, “Revenue grew 20x in 2024, and we’ve scaled to serving tens of thousands of engineers at more than 500 companies. Combined with our revenue growth, this new funding gives us many years of runway, a clear path to profitability, and the resources to invest aggressively in growth and AI.”

In a further move to make its platform more accessible, Graphite has made its core code review offering free for teams of all sizes. Previously, only small groups of 10 or fewer were eligible for the free tools. This strategic decision is designed to encourage widespread adoption while building long-term customer loyalty.

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Innovation in the Face of Competition

Given the rapidly evolving landscape of AI-powered programming tools, startups are continuously pushing the envelope of what code review platforms can deliver. For instance, while other companies focus on generating code from various inputs or providing integrated editing tools, Graphite remains laser-focused on refining code review.

The startup’s upcoming product, Diamond, encapsulates this vision perfectly. As a dedicated AI tool programmed to automatically detect and flag coding bugs, Diamond is set to complement Graphite’s existing suite of features. This product spin-off illustrates Graphite’s commitment to evolving alongside the demands of modern software development.

The strategic focus on reliability and customer-centric customization has helped Graphite distinguish itself amidst a crowded market. With its emphasis on secure, effective, and intuitive results, Graphite is setting new benchmarks in the AI coding assistant arena.

What This Funding Means for the Future

The infusion of capital comes at a time when the developer community is increasingly reliant on AI tools for day-to-day tasks. The reported growth and external funding signal a broader trend: as AI evolves, so too does the need for smart, secure, and efficient code review technologies—an area where Anthropic is making a significant impact.

With over $81 million raised to date, Graphite—supported by Anthropic—is poised to invest heavily in both product development and market expansion. This increased investment is expected to shorten development cycles, introduce richer features, and drive the adoption of AI-powered code reviews across industries, further leveraging Anthropic’s cutting-edge advancements.

Looking forward, Graphite plans to further solidify its market position by deepening its integration with major AI models, including those from Anthropic, optimizing its platform for even greater efficiency, and expanding its customer base well into enterprise-level organizations.

Conclusion

Graphite’s journey from an internal tool to an industry-leading AI code review platform exemplifies the transformative potential of integrating AI with software development. By successfully addressing the complexities of code security and error detection, this Anthropic-supported AI code review startup has not only captured investor interest but also laid down a marker for future innovation in the field.

As AI-powered tools continue to gain traction, Anthropic’s influence on Graphite’s evolution represents a broader shift toward smarter, more reliable programming practices. With significant funding, an expanding product suite, and a clear focus on customer needs, the company—bolstered by Anthropic’s advancements—is well-positioned to lead the next generation of code review innovation.

For developers and tech enthusiasts looking to stay ahead in the AI revolution, keeping an eye on Anthropic’s contributions to Graphite’s progress might offer valuable insights into the future of code development and review.

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