As 2023 gets played off and 2024 eagerly awaits its turn in the spotlight, let’s look back at the past 365-ish days in the land of Kong. It’s the year's final post, and we’re playing nothing but the hits! Read on for a recap of the biggest Kong news from 2023.
Kong Inc. surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR)
For those of us who only know “ARR” as the sound a pirate makes, why’s that a big deal? Only 4% of companies that reach $10 million ARR ever make it to $100 million ARR. This is a huge accomplishment for an idea born in a tiny garage in Italy years ago. Want to hear more about Aghi’s original vision and what’s next for Kong? Check out this interview on theCube.
Check out this post from CEO and king Konger Aghi for a little taste of what those early days were like. (Turns out it tasted a lot like tuna and noodles.)
Kong Konnect can manage services from API management, service mesh, and Ingress controllers
In 2023, we announced that Kong Konnect can now bring together all API runtimes under one, single cloud management plane. Translation: With a single pane of glass, you can now manage services from API gateway, Ingress Controllers, and service mesh. Check out Aghi’s overview of the new Kong Konnect for a deep dive.
We also announced the tech preview of Dedicated Cloud Gateways, Kong Mesh 2.5, Kong Gateway Enterprise 3.5.
Check the product updates page to peruse all the product news from the year.
Calculating the economic impact of APIs and the rising cost of API security attacks
Given you’re here, you probably know that APIs form the foundation upon which digital experiences (and Global 2000 businesses) are built. But did you know that by 2027, APIs will have a projected global economic impact of $14.2 trillion? Now you do!
In the 2023 API Impact report, we dug into the numbers around the massive impact of APIs on the economy, including how APIs will help drive economic growth through innovations like generative AI and API monetization.
We also reported on the rise (and rising cost) of API-related security attacks in exploring why APIs are now mission-critical. For more on that, check out the eBook penned by Kong CTO and Co-founder Marco Palladino, Becoming a Secure API-First Company.
We looked at how AI and APIs will shape the future
At API Summit 2023, we put a spotlight on all things API innovation. And since you can’t talk about innovation in 2023 without talking about AI, AI was a hot topic.
You can watch API Summit sessions on demand to see more. But one of our favorite sessions watching Marco chat with Martin Casado, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), about AI in the enterprise. It was a wide-ranging conversation covering everything from the "good or evil" nature of AI and why companies should avoid being like '90s orgs that banned the browser in the workplace.
Kong recognized in Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ and GigaOm® Radar for Service Mesh
In 2023, everything was coming up Kong! We had a few honors we wanted to showcase here. To the bulleted list!
Kong gets even more global with expansions in Japan, Singapore
From the start, Kong has always been a global company, but our worldwide footprint is only getting bigger.
Today, we’re announcing that Kong has acquired OpenMeter , the open source and SaaS leader for real-time usage metering and billing. OpenMeter’s capabilities will be integrated into Kong Konnect, enabling usage-based pricing, entitlements, and invo
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