Gremlin, a startup that helps companies build resiliency by purposely breaking and overloading their systems, raised $18m to expand its app-crashing toolkit.
As big crashes become more common *cough* Facebook *cough*, Gremlin is leading the charge in the new field of “chaos engineering.”
AKA breaking things on purpose
We’ve all clicked “refresh” 437 times to get Netflix or Slack working when the rainbow wheel of death comes a knockin’.
Crashed applications are a big headache for users — but a bigger headache for the engineers responsible for getting the failed systems back online.
Founded by 2 former Netflix and Amazon engineers who have seen the sh*t hit the fan, Gremlin simulates outages and bugs in a controlled setting to help companies identify weaknesses before their real systems crash.
The business of chaos
If the future is chaos, chaos engineers should make good money, right? That’s what Gremlin is betting on, anyway.
Investors also seem optimistic: In less than a year, Gremlin has raised $25.5m and works with a number of high-profile clients — including Walmart, Expedia, and Under Armour.
Plus, with a site that serves up oxymorons this juicy — orchestrated chaos, proactive failure — how can Gremlin help but fail forward?