The problem
Teams overpay for idle cloud and GPU capacity and spend engineer hours hand-tuning Kubernetes clusters
What they do
Automation platform that autoscales and rightsizes Kubernetes and GPU workloads to cut cloud costs
Traction Unicorn at $1B+ valuation; est. $60M+ revenue; customers include BMW, Cisco, FICO
Hiring trend
- Open roles
- 30
- Ops roles
- 2
- Headcount
- ~350
Flat, ~350 staff (+1% YoY, Revelio); open roles 19 → 30 since Oct 2025
Glassdoor
3.9 ★ 58 reviews ↗Funding
- Last round
- Undisclosed (strategic, $1B+ valuation)
- Stage
- Series C
- Date
- Jan 2026
Led by Pacific Alliance Ventures (Shinsegae); Series C led by G2 Venture Partners and SoftBank Vision Fund 2
- Hiring+230 open roles on the live job board (30+ roles = +2)
- Funding recency+1.5Series C · Undisclosed (strategic, $1B+ valuation), Jan 2026 (9 months ago): 6–12 months = +1, $100M+ round +0.5
- Traction+0.75Some growth: Unicorn at $1B+ valuation; est. $60M+ revenue; customers include BMW, Cisco, FICO
- Red flags0Watch-outs noted below, none scored as a significant flag
- Total4.252 + 1.5 + 0.75 − 0 = 4.25 → Race (4.25–4.74)
Distance (Half) is a separate read on how long the lead can last. It doesn't change the score.
Distance
Half · edge: hard to leave
A top independent player in Kubernetes cost automation (G2 #1 in cloud cost management, $1B+ valuation, broad enterprise use), and replacing a team's autoscaler makes it sticky; but ScaleOps ($130M raised, $800M valuation) is a direct rival, AWS ships free Karpenter to the same buyers, and flat headcount says growth has cooled
Sources: Cast AI release, Jan 2026: $1B+ valuation; customers BMW, Cisco, FICO, HuggingFace ↗ · Cast AI LinkedIn, Sep 2026: record H1, #1 on G2 Cloud Cost Management ↗ · KubernetesGuru, Jul 2026: ScaleOps $130M Series C at $800M as main alternative ↗ · KubernetesGuru, Jul 2026: Cast AI vs free AWS Karpenter ↗ · Cast AI blog, Sep 2026: autoscaler replacement and exit cost ↗
Watch-outs
Watch (not scored): an Oct 2026 Glassdoor review alleges layoffs, hire-and-fire culture and high sales turnover; headcount flat for a year
Sources: Glassdoor review, Oct 2026: layoffs, sales churn, missed quotas ↗ · Revelio Labs: 374 staff, +1.2% YoY (Mar 2026) ↗ · Unify: observed profiles 350 → 348, Aug 2025–Jul 2026 ↗
Last checked Oct 13, 2026