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Release
YC W20Los Angeles, US · Founded 2019 · 26 employees · 7 known investors
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Release creates isolated staging environments for each pull request, allowing engineering teams to test code changes in parallel rather than sharing a single shared staging instance.
Also known as Release Technologies, Inc. · TBD - Project Spacedust
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (W20)
Release was founded in 2019 by David Giffin, Erik Landerholm, and Tommy McClung.
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Erik LanderholmCo-FounderErik Landerholm is a software engineering leader with over 20 years of experience who previously founded companies and led software development and architecture at a public company. He is a two-time Y Combinator alum and has worked across hardware and SaaS, including ASIC design, embedded systems, and management of large engineering teams.
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Tommy McClungCEO/Co-founderFounder of Release, which provides isolated staging environments for parallel code testing. McClung has experience with software development in Ruby on Rails and C/C++, as well as technical sales and team management.
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Kelsey ChamnessCRO
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Jimmy BriedSales Director
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Matt CarterCMO
Investors · 7
CRV (Charles River Ventures)listed by CRV (Charles River Ventures)Bay Area · $250K – $5M
How we know: CRV (Charles River Ventures)'s portfolio page · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
Soma Capitallisted by Soma CapitalSacramento · $100K – $300K
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · somacap.com · Not right? Tell us
Y Combinatorlisted by Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K
How we know: the Y Combinator directory · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
Artisanal VenturesreportedTiburon
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
Bow CapitalreportedMenlo Park · $5M
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
Hack VCreportedPalo Alto · $3M
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
Sequoia CapitalreportedMenlo Park · $100K – $50M
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
Founder mafia
2 people who came through Release went on to found or lead other companies.
Related companies · 10
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LaunchDarklyLaunchDarkly provides a feature management platform that enables development teams to release code changes safely through feature flags, detect production issues in real time, and run experiments without redeploying applications.
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BrowserStackBrowserStack provides a cloud-based software testing platform for scaling test automation across 3,500+ browser-device combinations on a real device cloud, aimed at development and QA teams. Its offerings cover cross-browser and browser automation testing, WCAG accessibility compliance testing, AI-driven test management, and visual testing, with integrations for major frameworks and CI/CD pipelines.
Companies working in the same space as Release.
Legal entities · 1
corporate structureRelease Technologies, Inc.
In the news
Frequently asked questions
- What does Release do?
- Release creates isolated staging environments for each pull request, allowing engineering teams to test code changes in parallel rather than sharing a single shared staging instance.
- Who founded Release?
- Release was founded by David Giffin, Erik Landerholm, Tommy McClung in 2019.
- Who are Release's investors?
- Release's investors include CRV (Charles River Ventures), Soma Capital, Y Combinator, Artisanal Ventures, Bow Capital, Hack VC, Sequoia Capital.
- Where is Release headquartered?
- Release is headquartered in Los Angeles, US.