Airtable Acquires Walrus.ai Founding Team

Airtable's Acquisition of Walrus.ai

Airtable recently announced the acquisition of Walrus.ai, a no-code software testing platform, which occurred earlier in the year.

The term “acquisition” might not fully capture the nature of the deal. It appears Walrus.ai’s website went offline several months ago, and Airtable has indicated no intention of integrating the service’s technology. An “acqui-hire” may be a more accurate description, although neither Airtable’s Chief Product Officer, Peter Deng, nor Walrus co-founder, Scott White, explicitly confirmed this.

Vision Alignment and Future Goals

“Ultimately, the desire is to contribute to projects that resonate with your overarching vision,” explained White. “Airtable represents a natural progression and an opportunity to realize the initial goals of our work on a larger scale. We view this as an evolution, allowing us to elevate our efforts.”

White, alongside co-founders Jake Marsh and Akshay Nathan, will be joining Airtable. White will assume the role of product lead for solutions, Nathan will become an engineering manager within the enterprise organization, and Marsh will contribute as a software engineer. Only the founding team members are making the transition.

Funding and Shared Philosophy

Walrus.ai had previously secured $4 million in seed funding from investors including Homebrew, Felicis Ventures, and Leadout Capital.

Both companies emphasize a strong alignment in their core philosophies. Walrus.ai focused on simplifying the creation of end-to-end software tests through the use of plain English, while Airtable aims to empower all users to become application developers.

The Deal's Genesis

“Our primary goal is to democratize software creation – to make building software accessible to everyone,” stated Deng, explaining the origins of the deal. “I was introduced to Scott and the Walrus team, and it was immediately clear that we shared a common vision.”

“Walrus envisioned making the development of high-quality software straightforward for developers. However, we asked ourselves, ‘Why not simplify software creation for everyone?’ There was an instant connection between our teams and our respective approaches, leading us to explore a collaborative partnership.”

Expanding Capabilities at Airtable

Deng and White believe that the Walrus team will be able to broaden its initial vision within Airtable, and that their expertise will be valuable in developing new products.

As White pointed out, Airtable strives to make complex tasks accessible and intuitive for its users. Furthermore, the platform is increasingly utilized to manage intricate workflows, particularly within the enterprise sector, which is Airtable’s fastest-growing segment.

Current Focus and Future Initiatives

“Our current work centers around two key areas: lowering the barrier to entry for new users to begin building on the platform, and ensuring our core infrastructure can support large-scale enterprise deployments,” White explained regarding his current role at Airtable.

Neither White nor Deng disclosed specific details about the Walrus team’s current projects, other than Deng mentioning they are “collaborating on significant initiatives” focused on resolving “end-user challenges with elegance.”