Retool

Retool makes a low-code platform that lets developers assemble internal tools, admin panels and operational applications on top of existing databases and APIs, instead of writing every interface by hand. The company was founded in 2017 by David Hsu, who runs it as chief executive, and it went through the Y Combinator Winter 2017 batch. It is based in San Francisco. Retool says tens of thousands of companies use the product, and its own announcements name customers such as Brex, Coinbase, Plaid, Amazon, Allbirds, Peloton, Snowflake, Checkout.com, CRED and Mercedes Benz, along with DoorDash and Ramp.

Sequoia Capital first partnered with Retool in 2019. According to the company, the same group of backers led both its Series A and Series B: Sequoia Capital alongside individual investors Elad Gil, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, and John and Patrick Collison. The amounts of those two rounds are not stated in the sources reviewed here. On December 22, 2021, Retool announced a $20 million Series C at a $1.85 billion valuation from that same investor group. On July 27, 2022, it followed with a $45 million Series C2 at a $3.2 billion valuation, again from Sequoia, Daniel Gross, Elad Gil, the Collisons and Nat Friedman, with no new institutional investor added.

Retool remains private and independent, with no IPO or acquisition announced. Its most recent publicly announced priced round is the 2022 Series C2, which set the $3.2 billion valuation. The company has broadened the product from internal tools toward external applications and AI features, and Y Combinator's directory lists a team of about 300 people. Retool has not published revenue figures in the announcements reviewed for this profile.

For investors, Retool is an example of a company that deliberately raised small amounts at below-market prices. In its Series C post the company said it chose to raise the smallest round it could, at a valuation substantially lower than most offers it received, to protect employee equity, and said it expected to reach a similar rise in valuation with about 9% dilution. The cap table reflects that choice: one institutional firm, Sequoia, entered in 2019 and has led or anchored every round since, alongside a small group of operator angels, rather than a widening syndicate of growth funds. Y Combinator holds the earliest institutional position from the 2017 batch. With no liquidity event yet, returns for these backers are unrealized.