Linear

Linear (legal name Linear Orbit, Inc.) makes Linear, project management and issue tracking software used by product and engineering teams as an alternative to Jira. The company was incorporated on January 10, 2019 by Karri Saarinen (CEO), Jori Lallo (CPO) and Tuomas Artman (CTO); Saarinen had built his own Chrome extension to improve Jira while working at Airbnb. Linear is based in San Francisco and operates as a remote-first company. Its customers include OpenAI, Salesforce, Cursor, Coinbase, Ramp, Cash App and Scale AI.

Linear raised modestly relative to its scale. Before the end of 2019 it closed $4.2 million led by Sequoia Capital. On September 14, 2023 it announced a $35 million Series B led by Accel, with Miles Clements joining from Accel, and with participation from Sequoia Capital, 01 Advisors (Dick Costolo) and customers including Vercel, Supercell, The Browser Company, Descript and Mercury. On June 10, 2025 Linear announced an $82 million Series C led by Accel at a $1.25 billion valuation, with Sequoia, 01A, Designer Fund, Indie.vc and angels including Jeff Weinstein and Ilkka Paananen. On August 26, 2026 it completed a $99 million tender offer for employee equity at a $2.5 billion valuation, with existing investors Accel and 01A and new investors Salesforce Ventures and S32.

Linear says it became cash-flow positive in 2021 and has operated profitably since, with more cash on hand than the total capital it has raised. By August 2026 the company reported more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue, more than 40,000 paying customers and net revenue retention of 177%. In January 2022 it had 17 employees and more than 1,000 startup customers; by June 2025 it had about 80 employees. The company chose a secondary sale over a new primary round in 2026, with Saarinen saying more primary capital would have diluted the team without a clear reason.

For investors, Linear shows a capital-efficient software path where the founders controlled dilution. Sequoia Capital entered with the first institutional round in 2019 and Accel led both the Series B and Series C, doubling the mark from $1.25 billion to $2.5 billion in about fourteen months. Because the company is profitable, early holders have found liquidity through tender offers rather than an exit; no IPO or acquisition has occurred as of October 2026.