Developer tools

Karate Labs

Website
Founded 2021Origin source ↗Checked 2026-09-15

Overview

Karate is an open-source unified test automation platform combining API testing, API performance testing, API mocks & UI testing.

1.5 million monthly downloads, used by 500+ companies including 76 of the Fortune 500, are a testimony of Karate removing friction from the developer experience (DX). We did this by making it exceptionally simple to write tests (low code), simulating end-user workflows accurately, re-using API tests as performance tests, parallel execution, and collaboration via Git.

Staying true to Karate’s “LOCAL-FIRST” approach (user data remains within the customer's firewall, ensuring security and addressing any concerns), we launched the official Karate plugins (IntelliJ and VS Code) for frictionless onboarding, simplified installations, configuration, and maintenance. Our plugins include all Karate open-source features, including exploring of APIs, and premium features (testing for Async APIs, API documentation, API data importer and more).

Company description As recorded 2026-11-08
LinkedIn GitHub About
Developer toolsInfrastructureDevelopersDevelopersOpen source commercial

Product & workflow

The quality governance platform for AI-built software: automate what you couldn't, trust what's safe to ship, and keep it inside your control, on the open-source engine trusted by 76 of the Fortune 500.

Source-reported As recorded 2026-09-23

Founders & team

Previously Karate Labs, Karate Labs Inc.

Company history As recorded 2026-11-08

Kapil Bakshi

Founder

I closed my first sales deal at the age of 14. I knew then, all I want to do in life is make business happen through the joy of connecting with people. With 24 yrs experience holding senior sales and leadership positions at QuEST, L&T, ITC, Atos, Infosys, I have driven business growth, building high performance teams, relationships at Board/CXO level in Engineering, IT consulting & outsourcing. Authenticity is in the alignment of what one thinks, says and does. Being authentic is my core value.

LinkedIn
Founder profile As recorded 2026-09-15

Peter Thomas

Founder

Creator of the Karate test-automation framework adopted by enterprises world-wide. Previously at Intuit as Distinguished Engineer, he has had a long career with stints at Yahoo! and other top IT companies. With a track record of creating successful open-source projects, he is recognized as a visionary and expert in the field of test-automation and developer productivity.

LinkedIn X
Founder profile As recorded 2026-09-15
2team members reported
Source-reported As recorded 2026-09-15

Founded 2021 · Source

News & product activity

Sources & observations

Y Combinator

Profile depthenriched profile
Website observationwebsite reachable
Last website check2026-11-11
Location · source statedWilmington, DE, USA; Remote
Pricing evidenceA pricing page was detected
Maturity: Operating · 4 of 6 areas documented

Source-based assessment · automated evidence rules

The company website explicitly reports customer or user adoption. This is a source-based assessment of a company claim; scale and revenue are not independently verified.

Company website: home Checked 2026-09-23

Loved by developers. Trusted by enterprises.

Maturity is an evidence-based assessment, not a success rating. It may understate the current stage where evidence is limited. Coverage records documented areas, not a complete or independently audited company history.

Stage definitions
independent websitesource corroborationreachable websitedescriptive evidenceclassified market and modelsourced peoplesourced founding yearpricing page observedrecent publishing observed
startup.observe Directory coverage · Sources & method