We're pulling back the curtain on a project we've been working on for some time now: the next evolution of the Kong brand.
You may have noticed some changes recently to our site, swag, or socials. But today it's official: we're announcing Kong's rebrand and introducing our new mascot, Karl.
Without further ado, let's dig in. Along the way, we'll give some insight into the "why" behind it all, while looking back at how things have changed since the early days of Kong.
So much has changed since our co-founders Augusto "Aghi" Marietti and Marco Palladino first [_started_](https://konghq.com/company)_started_ building a company back in Milan in 2009.
*The new Kong logo in four different flavors.*
We *were* the API connectivity company. But today, we're the AI connectivity company
In order to make people stop and notice the change — or possibly to notice Kong for the first time — we needed to change our visual identity. We needed the brand to reflect the new Kong.
In 2015, Aghi and Marco open-sourced Kong, and it quickly became the most downloaded API gateway in the world. A decade of growth cemented our reputation as the best API company on the market. But over the last few years, Kong has become much more than an API company: Kong has truly become an AI connectivity company.
As Aghi put it in his memo on [_the Age of AI Connectivity_](https://konghq.com/blog/news/the-age-of-ai-connectivity)_the Age of AI Connectivity_:
*"Kong was born to connect. The world is shifting from connecting cloud services with apps to connecting LLMs through agents. API calls and tokens are moving in tandem; a new unit of intelligence is forming. As AI traffic explodes into hypervolumes, speed is all that matters. The same principles of performance, security, and reliability behind Kong are essential in an agentic world. A new connectivity layer for AI is born."*
*From the Sistine Chapel to the AI era: The new Kong homepage radiates with electric lime energy and includes nods to Renaissance art and touches of marble inspired by our Italian roots.*
AI Gateway adoption has exploded and now accounts for a huge portion of our net new business. Enterprises and AI-native startups alike are turning to us to build their AI control tower. There's a massive [_AI governance gap_](https://konghq.com/resources/reports/enterprise-ai-governance-gap-report)_AI governance gap_. *This* is the moment the world needs Kong most.
We were proven in the API era and built for the AI era. The businesses that win in the agentic era will be the ones that realize you shouldn't have to pick between speed and control. We needed the brand to tell this story.
Late last year, Aghi created the spark that would become a creative fire, forging the new look of Kong with one simple message to Kong's Founder Designer, Fernando "Chuca" Machuca.
*“...next yr gorilla neon?” *
The team worked tirelessly over the following months with this bold new color (we call it "electric lime") as the north star for a bold new brand.
*Unleashing a new global brand: From business cards and billboards to events and ebooks, we think the new brand communicates the energy, fluidity, speed, and excitement of the agentic era.*
Over the years at Kong, we've regularly used gorillas and apes in many forms, relying on the majestic mammals as inspiration for everything from web copy to ad creative.
Today, we introduce the furry face of Kong's new brand, our new mascot, Karl.
*Karl is a young gorilla with an electric lime backpack doing his best to live a balanced life. As Chuca puts it, "Karl trains, and Karl naps." His light gray coat is inspired by the only albino gorilla ever documented. We think it looks sharp, but it doubles as a way to ensure Karl is readable in thumbnail size.*
Keep an eye out for Karl in the coming weeks as he makes his debut on the Kong website, at events, and in other places around the world.
How did we get to Karl and the new electric lime look of Kong?
Back when Aghi and Marco open-sourced their API gateway, they decided to name it Kong, a nod to Mashape. (Mash-*ape*. Kong. Get it?)
The small team realized they needed a proper logo for Kong Gateway to make it take off in the OSS space.
Early iterations of the walking gorilla, or the "Kong Walker" we associate with Kong today, came in part from collaboration between [_designer Dave Desandro_](https://desandro.com/#logos)_designer Dave Desandro_ and Principal Software Engineer Thibault Charbonnier, who has been with Kong since the Mashape days.
*Early iterations of the "Kong Walker" logo. You can see how the gorilla paired with a K evolved into the logo Kong uses today, which still retains some of that structure.*
The options were presented internally for a vote. They selected the "Walker" and secured the rights to the logo. But then decided a full rebrand was needed: not just for the Kong Gateway but for Kong the company.
The team got to work on developing a new logo and brand identity for Kong, separate from Mashape.
*Kong logo explorations looking at more abstract vs. concrete variations of the Mashape logo and the "Kong Walker."*
Of those early iterations of the Kong logo, Founder Designer Chuca says:
*"At first, we simply mashed up a version of our existing Mashape logo with our new company name to serve as our temporary logo while we went through the process of creating a new brand identity. While it was hard to part with the cute ape in our beloved Mashape logo (who we dubbed Jason), we knew we wanted to develop a new identity that would represent our new company in its stronger, more mature stage."*
*Further exploration of the "Kong Walker" logo, with concrete and abstract options.*
That original "Kong Walker" iconography lives on in this new brand, but with a fresh coat of paint and a more modern look.
We didn't just change how Kong looks. We changed how we're telling the world what Kong does.
Kong is the AI connectivity company. We're on a mission to build the connectivity layer AI needs to reach its full potential with AI governance from day one. Our unified platform enables organizations to secure, govern, accelerate, and monetize the flow of intelligence across AI and API traffic — on any model, any cloud.
Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this story so far. We can't wait to see what happens in this next chapter.
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