--- title: 'Redis — company profile' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/companies/redis' type: 'company' updated: '2026-07-02' --- # Redis > Redis is the in-memory data platform behind much of the internet's fast path, now betting its future on being the memory layer for AI agents. - **Website:** https://redis.io/ - **Type:** Private (growth-equity backed; Redis Ltd) - **Headquarters:** San Francisco, California - **Founded:** 2011 - **Founders:** Ofer Bengal, Yiftach Shoolman, Salvatore Sanfilippo - **Valuation:** $2B - **Total raised:** $355M - **Latest round:** Series F · $100M · 2020 - **Investors:** Bain Capital Ventures, TCV, Francisco Partners, Goldman Sachs Growth, Viola Ventures, Dell Technologies Capital - **Business model:** Open-core B2B. The core database is free and open source; Redis makes money selling a managed multi-cloud service (Redis Cloud, priced by memory and throughput) and self-managed enterprise software (Redis Software, licensed by shards), plus enterprise support, security, and high-availability features the open-source version does not ship. - **Industries:** Infrastructure - **Open roles:** 27 - **Profile:** https://feeny.ai/companies/redis ## What they do Redis builds and commercializes Redis, the in-memory data store used for caching, session storage, real-time data, and, increasingly, vector search and AI-agent memory. It sells a fully managed cloud service (Redis Cloud), self-managed enterprise software (Redis Software), and stewards the open-source project the whole thing is named after. ## Overview **The database that runs the internet's fast path is now chasing AI** If you checked the weather, swiped a credit card, or looked up a flight today, odds are Redis was somewhere in the loop. It started as one developer's 2009 side project, grew into the default caching layer for modern apps, and now claims more than 10,000 customers and a spot in 43% of enterprise AI-agent stacks. The company was founded in 2011 by Ofer Bengal and Yiftach Shoolman, raised roughly $355M at a $2B valuation, and moved to San Francisco in 2024. The last two years have been the most eventful in its history: a bruising license fight, a rival fork, the return of its original creator, and a hard pivot toward being the memory layer for AI. ## What They Do **One in-memory engine, sold three ways** Redis keeps data in memory so applications can read and write in under a millisecond, which is why it shows up as the cache, session store, and real-time layer behind so much software. The same engine now does vector search, so teams can run RAG and semantic search without bolting on a separate database. The business wraps that core in three products: the free open-source project, a managed cloud service, and self-managed enterprise software. Increasingly the pitch is not just speed but memory for AI agents, the thing that keeps a chatbot coherent from one turn to the next. ## Problems **When a millisecond is the difference between a sale and a bounce** Redis exists because primary databases are too slow for the hot path. It absorbs the reads a relational database would choke on, powers leaderboards and sessions and streams in real time, and now serves vectors for retrieval. The newer bet is agent memory: giving AI agents fast, consistent context so they do not lose the thread mid-conversation. ### Problems addressed - Applications that need sub-millisecond data access at scale - Caching to take load off primary databases - Real-time features like leaderboards, sessions, and streaming - Vector search and retrieval for RAG and semantic search - Memory and context for AI agents so they stay consistent across turns ## Who It's For **Built for the engineers who own the latency budget** The core users are backend and platform engineers who reach for Redis the moment a query needs to be instant. The newer audience is AI and ML engineers building RAG pipelines and agents, and the buyers are enterprise architects who want caching, search, and agent memory in one system instead of three. Redis says it serves customers across financial services, gaming, healthcare, and e-commerce. ### Ideal customer profiles - **Backend and platform engineers** — Latency-critical data access; Scaling caching and session stores; Running high-availability data infrastructure - **AI/ML engineers** — Fast vector search for RAG; Cutting LLM token cost and latency; Giving agents durable, low-latency memory - **Enterprise architects** — Multi-cloud and on-prem deployment; Compliance and high availability; Consolidating multiple data tools into one platform ## Products **From a cache to an AI context platform** The lineup fans out from one idea. Redis Open Source is the free core; Redis Cloud is the managed multi-cloud service; Redis Software is the self-managed enterprise build for teams that need to run their own infrastructure. The growth story is Redis for AI, a cluster of newer products, Iris, LangCache, Agent Memory, and the Context Engine, aimed squarely at the agent boom. Redis Flex rounds it out by blending RAM and flash so big datasets run fast without paying pure in-memory prices. ## Business Model **Free core, paid operations** Redis runs the classic open-core play. The database is free to self-host, and the money comes from taking the operations off your hands: Redis Cloud is metered by memory and throughput, and Redis Software is licensed by shard count for enterprises that self-manage. The value you pay for is failover, backups, security, high availability, and support, not the code itself. ### Plans Redis runs an open-core model. The core is free to self-host, but the managed and enterprise products are where the revenue is. Redis Cloud is consumption-based, charged by memory (per GB) and throughput tier, so cost scales with how much data you keep hot and how hard you hit it. Redis Software (the self-managed enterprise product) is licensed annually by the number of shards, which is why enterprise deals land in the five-to-six-figure range. Small teams often note that a managed instance costs real money next to a free Redis on a cheap VM, with the tradeoff being that Redis handles failover, backups, and patching for you. - **Redis Open Source** — $0 · Developers, self-hosters The free core, now AGPLv3 / SSPL / RSALv2 tri-licensed as of Redis 8 - In-memory data structures - Vector search and Vector Sets - Replication and persistence - Self-managed, you run the infrastructure - **Redis Cloud** — Consumption-based · Teams that want managed Fully managed DBaaS on AWS, Azure, and GCP - Priced by memory (GB) and throughput tier - Multi-cloud - Active-Active geo-replication - Managed failover, backups, and patching - **Redis Software** — Annual license · Enterprises, regulated industries Self-managed enterprise deployment, licensed by shards - On-prem or hybrid - Enterprise security and compliance - High availability and clustering - Enterprise support Good to know: Redis Cloud is metered by memory and throughput, so cost tracks usage; Redis Software is licensed by shard count annually; The open-source core is free; managed and enterprise tiers add operations, HA, and support ## Competition **Fending off the fork it created** Redis competes with Memcached and managed caches like Amazon ElastiCache, faster upstarts like DragonflyDB, and a wave of dedicated vector databases on the AI side. Its sharpest rival is one it accidentally spawned: Valkey, the BSD fork that AWS, Google, and Oracle stood up after the 2024 license change. What Redis still has going for it is ubiquity and speed, one platform where caching, vectors, and agent memory all live, and a roadmap the returned creator has made credible again. Whether that is enough to slow Valkey is the open question. ### Their edge - **Raw speed and ubiquity** — Redis is already in most modern app architectures, which lowers the cost of adopting its newer vector and AI features. - **One platform, not a stack** — Caching, vector search, streaming, and agent memory live in the same system, so teams avoid stitching separate tools together. - **The creator is back** — Salvatore Sanfilippo rejoined in late 2024 and drove the native Vector Set data type, giving the roadmap renewed technical credibility. ### Where they're betting - Becoming the memory and context layer for AI agents - Vector search and hybrid retrieval at scale - Winning back open-source trust after the Valkey fork - Lowering total cost of ownership with tiered RAM-plus-flash storage ## Proof **The numbers Redis leans on** Redis puts three figures front and center: more than 10,000 customers, a claim that 43% of enterprise AI-agent stacks touch Redis somewhere, and vector search that scales to a billion vectors on Redis 8. Its clearest customer proof point is Relevance AI, which says Redis cut vector search times by 99.5%, from two seconds to ten milliseconds, after testing Qdrant, OpenSearch, and its own build. ## What People Say **Loved for speed, scorched over the license** Developers rarely argue with the speed, and Redis is so common that adopting its newer features barely costs anything to try. The complaints are consistent too: enterprise and managed pricing feels steep for small teams, and clustering and security config have a learning curve. The deepest wound is self-inflicted. The 2024 license change sent a chunk of the community to Valkey, and the goodwill did not come back overnight. The 2025 return to open source was, in part, an apology written in a license file. ## Funding **$355M raised, a $2B valuation, and IPO talk in the job posts** Redis has raised about $355M and carries a $2B valuation. The headline round was a $100M Series F in 2020, co-led by Bain Capital Ventures and TCV, with Francisco Partners, Goldman Sachs Growth, Viola Ventures, and Dell Technologies Capital along for the ride. Several current job descriptions describe a company on its way to IPO, so the next chapter may be a public one. ## Team & Culture **Engineering-led, with the founder back in the building** Redis calls itself engineering-led, and the values match: Be Real, Be Unreasonable, and the two that read like a mission statement, simplicity is everything and speed is our superpower. The core database is still hand-tuned C, C++, and Rust, while the newer AI services run on Go, Java, and Python. The cultural plot twist is Salvatore Sanfilippo, the creator, who left in 2020 and came back in late 2024 to help steer the codebase and mend fences with the open-source world. A lot of the deep systems work now runs out of a Sofia, Bulgaria hub, alongside teams in the US, UK, and beyond. ## Compensation **Base bands from $91K to $310K, plus equity for nearly everyone** US roles disclose base bands running roughly $91K to $310K depending on function and seniority, with a smaller set of EUR-denominated engineering roles out of Bulgaria. Base is only part of it: most roles add equity grants, US postings note 401(k), unlimited time off, and discretionary bonuses or stock options, and sales roles carry a commission plan on top. ## Security & Legal **Redis Ltd, and a license history worth reading** The commercial entity is Redis Ltd, Israeli-founded and now headquartered in San Francisco. The story that actually matters here is licensing: Redis moved off the permissive BSD license to a source-available model in 2024, drew a fork and a fair amount of anger, then re-added the OSI-approved AGPLv3 as an option with Redis 8 in 2025. If you build on Redis, which license version you are on is a decision, not a footnote. ## In the News **A license U-turn and a hard turn toward AI** The last two years of Redis headlines split into two threads. One is the license drama: the 2024 shift to source-available, the Valkey fork backed by AWS, Google, and Oracle, and the 2025 return to open source. The other is the AI push: the creator's return producing a native vector data type, billion-vector search on Redis 8, and the Iris platform for agent context. The links below trace both. ### Coverage - [Redis is now available under the AGPLv3 open source license](https://redis.io/blog/agplv3/) — Redis (2025-05) - [Why AWS, Google and Oracle are backing the Valkey Redis fork](https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/31/why-aws-google-and-oracle-are-backing-the-valkey-redis-fork/) — TechCrunch (2024-03-31) - [Return of Redis creator bears fruit with vector set data type](https://www.theregister.com/software/2025/04/10/redis-creators-return-bears-fruit-with-vector-set-data-type/528727) — The Register (2025-04-10) - [Welcome back to Redis, antirez](https://redis.io/blog/welcome-back-to-redis-antirez/) — Redis (2024) - [Redis launches Iris platform to fix AI agent context](https://itbrief.co.uk/story/redis-launches-iris-platform-to-fix-ai-agent-context) — ITBrief (2025) - [Searching 1 billion vectors with Redis 8](https://redis.io/blog/searching-1-billion-vectors-with-redis-8/) — Redis (2025) - [Redis Labs Raises $100 Million from Bain Capital Ventures and TCV](https://redis.io/press/redis-labs-raises-100-million-series-f-financing/) — Redis (2020-08-25) ## Outlook **Can the memory layer for AI outrun its own fork?** Redis has a genuine second act in front of it. Being the fast context and memory layer for AI agents plays directly to what it is already good at, and the numbers it cites suggest real traction. The catch is Valkey, which took a slice of the open-source base and the trust that came with it. The bet for the next few years, possibly as a public company, is that speed plus a healed community plus an AI story is a stronger hand than a free fork alone. ## Company details - **Mission:** To help digital businesses set a new standard for speed by building, scaling, and deploying the fast apps the world runs on. - **Products:** Redis Open Source, Redis Cloud, Redis Software, Redis for AI, Redis Iris, LangCache, Redis Flex, Redis Data Integration - **Notable customers:** Relevance AI - **Customer segments:** Enterprises, Digital-native companies, Developers, Financial services, Gaming, Healthcare, E-commerce - **Buyers / users:** Backend and platform engineers, AI/ML engineers, Enterprise architects, Data infrastructure teams - **Competitors:** Valkey, DragonflyDB, Memcached, Amazon ElastiCache, Hazelcast, dedicated vector databases (Pinecone, Qdrant, Weaviate) - **What sets them apart:** Widely recognized as one of the fastest in-memory databases, with sub-millisecond reads and writes; Enormous open-source ecosystem and client-library coverage across nearly every language; Combines caching, vector search, streaming, and AI context retrieval in one platform; Multi-cloud and on-prem flexibility with Active-Active geo-replication - **Tech stack:** AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes - **Integrations:** LangChain, LangGraph, LlamaIndex, Feast, AWS, Azure, GCP ## Open roles (27) - [Senior Product Manager, Redis Core (Document Database) - Product Management - Spain](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/a2d40409-38ee-436c-84b4-aaf77c9989e4) — Remote - [Senior Product Manager, Redis Core (Document Database) - Product Management - Germany](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/7f3ab2c9-b015-451e-b47b-bd0853a3c21b) — Remote - [Senior Product Manager, Redis Core (Document Database) - Product Management - UK](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/98a4ea8d-250e-407a-a9c9-719dbc9f9c6a) — United Kingdom - [Technical Support Engineer (L2/ L3)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/698e070d-ad6a-410c-a087-d63bee083ead) — Remote - [SR. Product Manager](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/66d02763-c44b-4c20-a5cf-9565f98f01a6) — Remote - [Senior Professional Services Consulting Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/45d64fa6-4ede-4409-93f2-e7c11adb4d11) — Remote - [Sr Product Marketing Manager](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/6a47676c-cd31-446d-b058-5d8e8685d8cf) — London, United Kingdom - [Regional Account Executive - Midwest](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/ace8ec20-9c18-4b3b-8d74-8ae17abfe9f4) — Remote - [Corporate Counsel](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/ddbaf79b-7f6b-4b23-b5e3-bb029de39c50) — Remote - [Customer Marketing Manager](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/63bf8b4e-5de8-4b45-86b9-deec6b9d1088) — Remote - [Regional Account Executive - NYC](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/595eacf4-ac63-4927-9c1f-85dc07fabcc8) — Remote - [Pricing Strategy Director](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/6f748587-bba8-41f0-bac9-675cb9889376) — Remote - [Senior Partner Sales Manager - Dubai](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/6138f81e-9b1e-45ca-840f-9516cd7e7218) — Remote - [Regional Account Executive](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/80ff1298-ad88-4d77-95ca-b597f0d18e2b) — Remote - [Account Executive - Italy](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/24e00c6c-2ba8-4a34-b412-670bded1a92d) — Remote - [Senior Product Manager, Redis Core (Document Database) - Product Management - Bulgaria](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/d52fa366-9a5b-41ca-adfc-aeb4e7125cfc) — Bulgaria - [Cybersecurity Trust & Assurance Analyst](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/c4322a86-762a-4e10-bf7f-28179f2c7375) — London, United Kingdom - [Senior Software Engineer , AI and Search Team - C/C++ or Rust](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/2c37f565-f233-49d0-aae5-dca1d72ddae2) — Bulgaria - [Account Executive](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/e900e4e9-fcc7-4aea-b7be-a4bedbea485f) — Remote - [Senior Product Security Engineer - InfoSec - Bulgaria](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/be8a5417-df85-4170-b608-3a8419af65b7) — Bulgaria - [Account Executive](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/778b71fe-ade1-4c3f-b21f-212737b8c0c4) — Remote - [Regional Account Executive - PubSec](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/b2f45634-397f-465b-bdb3-9e82e013d3d7) — Remote - [Manager, GTM Systems Engineering](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/c91fbf2c-51bd-4e70-8c7c-7ec4260736bf) — Remote - [Sales Development Representative with French - Field Sales - UK](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/d94ff9f8-6c14-4af0-88be-3ff8524da3fe) — Remote - [Sr. Customer Success Manager - Mumbai](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/729f73bd-4c56-44c5-9d81-2b216c61213b) — Remote - [Account Executive - UK](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/c93c891c-5ccf-4777-91d0-5745629646bf) — London, United Kingdom - [Senior AI Automation Engineer – IT – Bulgaria](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/redis/f0410812-b7ec-4994-9fdc-bbe68f357308) — Bulgaria --- _Source: https://feeny.ai/companies/redis · profile updated 2026-07-02_