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Gitter is a technology company.
Gitter offers a communication platform for development communities, supporting both public and private chat. It provides free public chat rooms for GitHub-hosted open-source projects and secure channels for internal teams. Featuring rich-text with code syntax highlighting, the platform integrates GitHub issues and activity, connecting with tools like Trello and Jenkins.
Founded in 2012 by Mike Bartlett, Gitter originated from the insight that software creators needed superior communication tools. Bartlett, a product specialist, recognized technical community's collaborative needs. This understanding shaped the platform’s initial design to streamline developer interactions.
Gitter serves the developer ecosystem, including open-source contributors and engineering teams. Its mission is to enhance software professional collaboration, providing an environment for technical discussions and project coordination. It continually evolves its offerings to meet its user base's changing demands.
Gitter has raised $2.0M across 1 funding round.
Gitter has raised $2.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Gitter has raised $2.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Gitter's investors include AME Cloud Ventures, Hardware Club, IVP, Scale Venture Partners, Scheinman Angel Fund, Sierra Ventures, Adam Wiggins, Bill Tai, Anand Babu Periasamy, Faber Ventures, Index Ventures, Kima Ventures.
Gitter is a chat and networking platform designed for developers to manage, grow, and connect communities through messaging, content, and discovery, with a mission to help developers form deep relationships with each other and the technologies they use.[1][3][4] It serves over 50,000 public chat communities, including those from Microsoft, Google, Amazon AWS, and W3C, connecting nearly 600,000 developers via powerful features like code sharing with syntax highlighting and integrations with developer tools.[1] Originally a standalone SaaS tool, Gitter was acquired by GitLab in 2017 and then by Element (formerly New Vector) in 2020, migrating its 1.7 million users to the open, decentralized Matrix protocol while remaining free, open-source, and uncapped for public or private communities.[2][3]
Gitter was founded in 2014 as a developer-centric messaging platform with seamless GitHub integration, quickly becoming a hub where developers talk and collaborate.[1][2] It gained traction as the go-to chat tool for open-source projects and tech communities, leading to its acquisition by GitLab in 2017 to enhance dev services.[2] In 2020, Element acquired Gitter from GitLab to expand the Matrix ecosystem, bringing on its single "superstar" developer and migrating communities to Matrix for decentralized, end-to-end encrypted communication.[2][3] This evolution preserved Gitter's free, open-source model without monetization, emphasizing community growth over commercial editions.[2]
Gitter rides the wave of decentralized communication and open-source collaboration, aligning with trends in secure, privacy-focused alternatives to centralized platforms like Slack.[2][3] Its timing was ideal post-2014, amid GitHub's rise and the need for Git-integrated chat, evolving through acquisitions to bolster Matrix—a protocol challenging Big Tech dominance in messaging.[2] Market forces like growing developer demand for free, uncapped tools and remote work favor Gitter, influencing the ecosystem by migrating large communities (e.g., 1.7M users) to open standards, fostering interoperability and reducing vendor lock-in.[2][3]
Gitter's integration into Matrix positions it for sustained relevance in decentralized comms, with potential growth via Element's hosting (Element Matrix Services) and expanding client options.[2][3] Trends like AI-enhanced collaboration, stricter data privacy regs, and Web3 communities will shape its path, likely driving user retention through seamless migrations and new features. Its influence may evolve by deepening Matrix adoption among enterprises and open-source projects, solidifying its role as a free bridge for developer networks—echoing its origins as the place where developers come to talk.[1][3]
Gitter has raised $2.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $2.0M Seed in October 2015.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2015 | $2.0M Seed | AME Cloud Ventures, Hardware Club, IVP, Scale Venture Partners, Scheinman Angel Fund, Sierra Ventures, Adam Wiggins, Bill Tai, Anand Babu Periasamy, Faber Ventures, Index Ventures, Kima Ventures, Nexus Ventures |