Shippable

# Shippable: High-Level Overview

Shippable is a DevOps automation platform that helps software development teams accelerate release cycles by automating continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) workflows[1][3]. Founded in 2013, the company provides a continuous delivery pipeline that removes friction from software development and delivery processes, enabling organizations to ship code faster and focus on innovation[1].

The platform serves development teams across organizations of various sizes, addressing the core problem of manual, time-consuming deployment processes. Shippable's hybrid automation platform helps companies achieve continuous delivery, optimize DevOps practices, and enable continuous improvement[1]. The company had more than 400 customers at the time of its acquisition by JFrog[1], and maintains a presence in North America and Asia[1].

# Origin Story

Shippable was founded in 2013 with backing from Madrona Venture Group[1]. The company emerged during a pivotal moment in software development when organizations were increasingly recognizing the need to accelerate delivery cycles and reduce manual friction in deployment workflows. The founding team built the platform around the principle that modern DevOps requires ever-faster delivery with increasing automation[1].

The company achieved meaningful traction, growing to serve over 400 customers before being acquired by JFrog, a major player in software delivery automation[1]. This acquisition, announced in 2019, represented validation of Shippable's technology and market position, with JFrog integrating Shippable's capabilities into its broader Liquid Software platform[1].

# Core Differentiators

• Hybrid and cloud-native architecture: Shippable's platform supports both hybrid and cloud-native deployment scenarios, providing flexibility for organizations with diverse infrastructure needs[1]

• Software assembly lines: The platform unifies DevOps tools and processes into "software assembly lines" that provide complete visibility across the development pipeline[5]

• Frictionless Dockerized pipelines: Shippable emphasizes Docker integration and containerized workflows, enabling seamless continuous integration and automated functional testing[6]

• No DevOps code required: The platform abstracts away complex DevOps scripting, making it accessible to development teams without specialized DevOps expertise[6]

• Tool integration and customization: The platform integrates with GitHub and other development tools while offering customizable dashboards for team-specific workflows[6]

# Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Shippable rode the wave of DevOps transformation that accelerated throughout the 2010s. As organizations moved toward continuous delivery models and cloud-native architectures, the need for automated, reliable deployment pipelines became critical. The company positioned itself at the intersection of developer productivity and operational reliability—two forces reshaping how software gets built and shipped.

The timing of Shippable's growth coincided with broader industry trends: the rise of containerization (Docker), the adoption of microservices architectures, and the increasing pressure on companies to release software faster. By providing a unified platform that automated the entire pipeline from code to production, Shippable addressed a genuine market pain point. Its acquisition by JFrog in 2019 reflected the consolidation trend in the DevOps tooling space, where best-of-breed solutions were being integrated into comprehensive platforms[1].

# Quick Take & Future Outlook

Shippable's trajectory illustrates the evolution of DevOps tooling from point solutions toward integrated platforms. The company successfully identified and served a real market need—automating the friction-filled path from development to production—and built a customer base substantial enough to attract acquisition by a larger player.

Post-acquisition, Shippable's future is tied to JFrog's vision of creating a unified "Liquid Software" platform. Rather than operating as an independent company, Shippable's technology and expertise have been absorbed into JFrog's broader ecosystem, with integration work completed by Q3 2019[1]. This represents a common outcome in the DevOps space: successful point solutions get acquired and integrated into larger platforms that offer end-to-end coverage of the software delivery lifecycle. For organizations evaluating CI/CD solutions today, Shippable's capabilities now exist within JFrog's enterprise platform rather than as a standalone offering.