Apollo Raises $22 Million to Give a GraphQL-Based Data Graph to Every App Developer

The Industry’s Most Widespread Implementation of GraphQL, Apollo Passes 33 Million Downloads

Apollo, the leader in GraphQL API technology, announced $22 million in growth funding co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Matrix Partners, with participation from existing investors Trinity Ventures and Webb Investment Network. Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Peter Levine will join the Apollo Board of Directors.

“We need to do more to support and empower app developers”

GraphQL, a query-language-based API technology, has emerged as a true developer megatrend, replacing decades-old API technologies such as SOAP and REST. The point-to-point nature of these legacy technologies has created tight coupling between backend and front-end developers, holding them back just when businesses are under ever-increasing competitive pressure to ship high-quality, consistent digital experiences across all the platforms their customers use. GraphQL makes app development radically faster by eliminating that tight coupling.

Just as SQL is the standard language for querying a database, GraphQL is the standard language for querying a data graph. The data graph is the “missing layer of the stack” required to enable efficient, secure app development in today’s multi-device, multi-cloud world. It is a system that gives an organization a single, always-accurate map of all of its data and digital services, and then allows a query to be made that crosses multiple data types and services.

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“We need to do more to support and empower app developers,” said Geoff Schmidt, co-founder and CEO of Apollo. “Today, technologies like REST force app developers to spend as much as half of their time not building nice things for users, but writing data-fetching glue code. That’s why it’s gratifying to see companies like Airbnb and Expedia creating company-wide GraphQL-based data graphs using Apollo technology. Our goal is for every company in the world to run on a data graph so that app developers can spend their time building great things for the rest of us.”

Apollo’s Data Graph Platform is the industry-standard data graph technology with over 33 million downloads in just the past three years. It allows app developers to build a data graph on top of their company’s existing APIs and services to accelerate development. It provides the tools companies need to secure, protect, and monitor their data graph. Apollo’s platform limits data graph queries to only those that have been authorized, works with Continuous Integration systems to protect the graph from breaking changes, and continuously monitors the performance of graph queries to ensure a highly responsive experience for end users. The new Apollo Federation technology allows hundreds of developers to work together on creating one distributed, but seamless, data graph for a large enterprise.

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“We’re proud to partner with Apollo as they build a unified platform that makes it easy for app developers to get the right data from a myriad of cloud services into the apps and devices that power today’s leading businesses. We see this is an enormous opportunity since every company will need a data graph to help them build world-class digital experiences for their customers,” said Peter Levine, General Partner at a16z.

This round of growth funding will be used to support Apollo’s mission of bringing a GraphQL-based data graph to every app developer, including investments in both the open source and commercial elements of the Apollo Data Graph Platform.

“We are big believers that GraphQL is emerging as an important new layer in the app development stack,” said David Skok, General Partner at Matrix. “Every company that has apps needs a data graph. By providing companies with a single, centrally managed marketplace for all of their digital capabilities, Apollo’s Data Graph Platform helps development teams build high-quality apps quickly, across an ever-increasing number of platforms and on top of an ever-increasing number of backend systems and cloud data sources.”

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