--- title: 'Software Engineer - Backend at Koah' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-backend-koah-san-francisco-h1e5qt2ttys2' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-08' --- # Software Engineer - Backend at Koah - **Company:** Koah - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Compensation:** $180k–$250k - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-03-27 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/koahlabs/43616243-f485-480d-b31a-f89589a4b09d/application **Skills:** Ruby on Rails, Python, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, Redis, Kafka, AWS, Terraform, React, TypeScript, Flutter, React Native, Android, iOS, Loki, Grafana, Tempo, Mimir, Tailscale, Cloudflare > Join Koah Labs to build scalable backend systems for an AI-native ad network. You will design data models, optimize performance, and create reliable abstractions using Ruby on Rails, Python, and AWS infrastructure. ## Job description ## Who We Are Koah Labs is building the ad network to power the next generation of AI-native products. Our mission is to help publishers monetize and help advertisers reach the right audience — without compromising speed, UX, or privacy. We’re a small, tight-knit team in San Francisco with backgrounds at X, Apple, Meta and early-stage startups. We’ve raised from top investors and are growing fast with real traction on both the publisher and advertiser sides of the marketplace. Working at Koah means joining at the ground floor: you’ll ship code that shapes the company and the ecosystem we’re building. We move quickly, operate with high trust, and care deeply about craft. ## Our Stack - Infra: Terraform, AWS, LGTM (Loki, Grafana, Tempo, Mimir), Tailscale, Cloudflare - Data: PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, Redis, Kafka, Python - Core Application: Ruby on Rails, React, TypeScript - SDKs: Flutter, React Native, Android, iOS Example projects - Build scalable data models that support multiple impressions for an ad request allowing us to align publisher and advertiser interests - Design abstractions that allow us to experiment and ship new formats that allow for a flexible way of tracking engagement events - Build a low-latency frequency capping system to improve an end user's experience and prevent ad fatigue - Create schemas to represent high-volume ad bidding with ad exchanges to increase the diversity of the ad demand on platform - Evolve our real-time auction and ad-decisioning systems to improve publisher, advertiser, and user outcomes You might be a fit if - You like debugging and optimizing performance - You are detail oriented and like to create good abstractions that others rely on - You enjoy experimentation, measuring, and creating reliable systems - You want ownership of foundational systems - You enjoy working closely with product and data science to turn ambiguous problems into measurable outcomes ## About Koah ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Koah builds the ad infrastructure for AI-native applications, enabling publishers to monetize AI chat and agent experiences with contextual, sponsored placements. - **Entity Type**: Private (Seed Stage) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States - **Founded**: 2024 - **Founders**: Nic Baird (CEO), Mike Choi, Herrick Fang ## Core Business - **Primary Industry**: Advertising Technology (AdTech) / Generative AI Infrastructure - **Target Customers**: B2B — serves both AI app publishers (developers and companies building AI chat/agent experiences) and advertisers (brands seeking high-intent, context-aware ad placements). - **Mission/Purpose**: To create the essential monetization layer for consumer AI services, making it possible for AI-native apps to be profitable at scale without relying solely on subscriptions. ## Products & Services - **Koah Ad Network**: A native advertising platform designed specifically for generative AI environments. Publishers embed a JavaScript snippet or SDK to serve contextual, sponsored content directly inside chat and agent conversations. Advertisers can reach users in moments where AI is shaping their decisions, with clickthrough rates reported at 7.5% (4x-5x higher than traditional display ads). Early partners have earned $10,000 in their first 30 days on the platform. ## Market Standing - **Total Funding**: $25.5 million - **Seed Round (October 2025)**: $5 million led by Forerunner, with participation from South Park Commons and AppLovin co-founder Andrew Karam. - **Series A (February 2026)**: $20.5 million led by Theory Ventures. - **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue not publicly disclosed; early partners generating $10k in first 30 days. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Theory Ventures (lead Series A), Forerunner (lead Seed), South Park Commons, Andrew Karam (AppLovin co-founder). Advertisers include UpWork, General Medicine, and Skillshare. Publisher partners include Luzia, Heal, Liner, and DeepAI. - **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 633% year-over-year to 18 employees. Active job postings increased 66.7% quarterly. LinkedIn followers grew 744.8% year-over-year. The company is expanding its go-to-market team with a Founding Head of Ad Sales role. ## Competitive Advantages - **Native AI Ad Format**: Unlike older adtech companies (AdMob, AppLovin) that try to retrofit display ads into AI, Koah builds ads that are contextually embedded within the conversational flow, making them additive rather than disruptive. - **High Performance**: Delivers 7.5% clickthrough rates (4x-5x better than traditional ads) with less detrimental effect on user engagement. - **First-Mover in a Growing Market**: As the "long tail" of AI apps built on top of large models expands, Koah positions itself as the essential monetization layer, solving the "elephant in the room" of how to make consumer AI profitable globally. - **Strong Investor Backing**: Backed by top-tier VCs (Theory Ventures, Forerunner) and a successful adtech founder (AppLovin co-founder), providing both capital and deep industry expertise. ## Strategic Focus - **Monetization Infrastructure for AI**: Koah is focused on becoming the default ad network for the generative AI ecosystem, enabling "vibe coded" apps to operate at scale without requiring VC funding or subscription-only models. - **Global Expansion**: The company is targeting apps with user bases outside the United States, recognizing that subscriptions alone don't work for global audiences. - **Product Development**: Building out the SDK, API, and developer tools to make integration seamless for publishers, while refining ad targeting to capture "commercial intent" within AI conversations. ## Why Work Here - **High-Growth Environment**: The company has grown headcount by 633% in the last year and is actively hiring across engineering, product, design, data science, and go-to-market roles. - **Mission-Driven**: Employees work on solving a fundamental problem for the AI ecosystem — how to make AI apps profitable without compromising user experience. - **Culture Values**: The company emphasizes "design for quality," "velocity over perfection," "experiment boldly," and "respect first." They value ownership, rapid iteration, and data-driven decision-making. - **Work Policy**: Hybrid/on-site presence in San Francisco and New York. The Founding Head of Ad Sales role is listed as on-site in San Francisco or New York. - **Team Composition**: Small, high-leverage team (18 people) with a flat structure. Technical roles (engineering, data science, product) make up a significant portion of the team. - **Tech Stack**: Modern stack including React, TypeScript, Python, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, Redis, Terraform, Cloudflare, and Grafana — appealing to engineers who want to work with cutting-edge infrastructure. ## Sources 1. [koahlabs.com](https://www.koahlabs.com/) 2. [koahlabs.com/about](https://www.koahlabs.com/about) 3. [LinkedIn - Koah](https://www.linkedin.com/company/koahlabs) 4. [TechCrunch - Koah raises $5M](https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/07/koah-raises-5m-to-bring-ads-into-ai-apps/) 5. 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