Startups > Solo.io

Solo.io

Solo.io helps enterprises manage API gateways and service meshes at scale.

Series C $206M total Founded 2017 United States

Solo.io provides API gateway and service mesh management tools that help enterprises connect, manage, and secure application traffic across microservices architectures. Built on industry standards like Envoy Proxy, Kubernetes, and Istio, their products—Gloo Edge, Gloo Mesh, Gloo Portal, and Gloo Extensions—enable organizations to modernize their internal application networking without relying on traditional ISV integrations. The company is led by cloud infrastructure veterans including Istio co-creators, giving it deep credibility in the cloud-native ecosystem. Solo.io focuses specifically on enterprises building and managing their own microservices, not those connecting third-party SaaS applications.

Problem solved

Enterprises struggle to securely connect, manage, and govern traffic across microservices and APIs without a unified, modern platform built on industry standards.

Target customer

Mid-market to enterprise organizations running Kubernetes-based microservices architectures with complex internal application networking requirements

Website LinkedIn Crunchbase

Founders

Idit Levine

Founder & CEO

Former CTO of EMC Cloud Management Division and technical leader at VMware, CloudSwitch, and Verizon; co-creator of Istio's ambient mode sidecar-less architecture.

Louis Ryan

CTO

Co-founder of Istio and gRPC at Google; brings deep architectural vision for service networking infrastructure.

Funding history

Seed $2.5M September 27, 2017 Led by Unknown · Unknown

Series A $11M December 10, 2018 Led by Redpoint Ventures · True Ventures

Series B $23M October 2020 Led by Unknown · Unknown

Series C $135M October 7, 2021 Led by Altimeter Capital · Redpoint Ventures, True Ventures

Total raised: $206M

Industries

Cloud Computing Developer APIs Internet Software Apps

Pricing

Subscription-based model with tiered pricing based on environment size, deployment options, and support levels. Specific pricing available upon inquiry.

Notable customers

T-Mobile, Chick-fil-A, Capital One, SAP, Vonage, ADP, Schneider Electric, Snyk, Domino's UK, Confluent, Motive

Integrations

Kubernetes, Envoy Proxy, Istio, WebAssembly (via Gloo Extensions), multi-cluster Kubernetes environments

Website

solo.io/

Competitors

F5 Networks

Broader network and security platform; Solo.io is more specialized in cloud-native API gateways and service mesh.

Kong

Kong is heavily VC-backed with broader API gateway focus; Solo.io emphasizes service mesh management and Istio integration.

MuleSoft

Salesforce-owned integration platform focused on connecting ISV applications; Solo.io targets internal microservices architectures.

Apigee

Google-owned platform with broader API management scope; Solo.io specializes in Kubernetes-native and Envoy-based solutions.

KrakenD

Open-source API gateway option; Solo.io provides commercial support and enterprise service mesh capabilities.

Why this matters: Solo.io is uniquely positioned at the intersection of API gateway and service mesh management with a founding team that literally created core infrastructure standards (Istio, gRPC). Their $1B valuation and $206M in funding validate market demand for specialized cloud-native networking, and their customer base—including some of the world's largest transaction processors—demonstrates real production viability at enterprise scale.

Best for: Enterprise organizations running microservices on Kubernetes who need centralized API gateway and service mesh management with production-grade support and governance.

Use cases

High-Volume Transaction Routing

T-Mobile uses Gloo Edge to handle 150 million transactions per day with reliable routing and load balancing across services. Organizations processing massive transaction volumes need a gateway that can scale seamlessly and maintain availability.

Monolith-to-Microservices Migration

Domino's UK transitioned from monolithic architecture to microservices over 18 months using Gloo Gateway and Gloo Mesh. Companies breaking apart legacy systems need tools that provide gradual migration paths and traffic management across both old and new services.

Multi-Cluster Service Mesh Management

Confluent deployed Solo Enterprise for Istio across 100+ services in multiple environments with centralized governance. Organizations managing services across multiple Kubernetes clusters need unified observability, policy enforcement, and operational control.

Availability Improvement at Scale

Motive improved system availability from 98% to 99.99% using Gloo Gateway's advanced traffic management and resilience features. Mission-critical applications need sophisticated routing, failover, and circuit-breaking capabilities built into their API infrastructure.

Alternatives

Linkerd Lightweight, purpose-built service mesh with smaller footprint; Solo.io offers broader gateway capabilities and Istio-based options with more enterprise features.

Consul HashiCorp's service mesh and networking platform with broader infrastructure focus; Solo.io is more specialized in API gateway and Envoy-centric solutions.

AWS API Gateway Cloud-native but AWS-specific; Solo.io is cloud-agnostic and Kubernetes-native, suitable for multi-cloud and on-premises deployments.

FAQ

What does Solo.io do? +

Solo.io provides API gateway and service mesh management platforms built on Envoy Proxy and Istio. Their tools—Gloo Edge, Gloo Mesh, Gloo Portal, and Gloo Extensions—help enterprises securely connect, manage, and govern traffic across microservices architectures on Kubernetes. The company focuses specifically on internal application networking rather than connecting third-party SaaS integrations.

How much does Solo.io cost? +

Solo.io uses a subscription-based pricing model with tiering based on environment size, deployment options, and support levels. Specific pricing is not publicly available and requires contacting their sales team for a quote.

What are alternatives to Solo.io? +

Key alternatives include Linkerd (lightweight service mesh), HashiCorp Consul (broader infrastructure platform), Kong (open-source API gateway), AWS API Gateway (cloud-native but AWS-specific), and MuleSoft (broader integration platform). Choice depends on whether you prioritize service mesh, API gateway, integration scope, or cloud platform.

Who uses Solo.io? +

Enterprise organizations running Kubernetes-based microservices architectures, particularly those with complex internal application networking requirements. Notable customers include T-Mobile, Chick-fil-A, Capital One, SAP, Confluent, and Schneider Electric.

How does Solo.io compare to Kong? +

Both are API gateway platforms, but Solo.io has stronger service mesh capabilities through Gloo Mesh and deep Istio integration, while Kong focuses broader on general API gateway use cases. Solo.io's founding team includes Istio co-creators and emphasizes cloud-native Kubernetes deployments, whereas Kong has broader industry adoption but less specialized mesh management.