Unblocked Raises $20M to Revolutionize Codebase Understanding with AI

Understanding Codebases with AI: Unblocked's $20M Funding

Each software developer possesses a distinct coding style. Despite established company standards and comprehensive documentation, grasping another developer's code can prove challenging.

To address this issue, Dennis Pilarinos created Unblocked – an AI-powered assistant designed to provide contextual answers regarding specific lines of code.

Pilarinos' Extensive Experience

Pilarinos brings significant experience in developer tool creation to this project. He previously held a director position at both Microsoft and Amazon, contributing to Azure and Amazon Web Services respectively.

Following this, Pilarinos founded Buddybuild, a continuous integration platform for remote teams. Apple acquired Buddybuild in 2018, and Pilarinos subsequently spent approximately two years at Apple working on the Xcode Cloud platform.

“The process of developers obtaining the information they require is often frustrating and time-intensive,” Pilarinos explained to TechCrunch during an interview. “Our goal was to leverage all available data – code, and the collective knowledge from conversations – to deliver developers with readily accessible answers.”

Pilarinos also noted that the increasing integration of AI programming tools into developer workflows is likely to exacerbate these existing difficulties.

Unblocked's Integration and Features

Unblocked seamlessly integrates with popular development environments and applications, including Slack, Jira, Confluence, Google Drive, and Notion.

The tool intelligently gathers information about a company’s codebase, enabling answers to questions like “Where are user metrics defined within our system?”

Furthermore, developers can utilize the platform to identify the individual responsible for modifications to a specific module and quickly gain valuable insights from them.

Unblocked provides straightforward admin controls for easy implementation within a company’s existing systems. The startup is also actively working on integrations with platforms such as Cursor and Lovable to enhance code explainability.

Expanding Functionality

Beyond answering questions, Unblocked is developing proactive tools to assist developers with projects. Autonomous CI Triage, for example, aids in code testing across various scenarios.

Companies like Drata, AppDirect, Big Cartel, and TravelPerk currently utilize Unblocked. Pilarinos reports that Drata engineers have saved one to two hours per week using the platform.

Series A Funding

Unblocked announced on Tuesday that it secured $20 million in Series A funding led by B Capital and Radical Ventures.

This latest round brings the company’s total funding to $30 million, with contributions from investors including Amplify Partners, First Round Capital, and XYZ Capital.

The Future of AI-Generated Code

Rob Toews, a partner at Radical Ventures, believes that tools like Unblocked will become increasingly vital as AI-generated code becomes more prevalent.

“A prevailing idea is that a significant portion of future software will be created by AI,” Toews stated. “This will inevitably lead to secondary and tertiary effects, presenting new challenges. One such challenge is the potential lack of understanding regarding when, why, and how a particular piece of code was written.”

Toews draws a parallel to Glean, an AI-powered tool that helps enterprises interpret their data, suggesting Unblocked will fulfill a similar role for developers navigating complex codebases.