1.5 The Deno Company

The seed Funding

On March 29th 2021, the Deno team announced the formation of something called 'Deno Company'. The company has been formed with a seed investment of 4.3M USD. This was a significant step for Deno.

Deno emerges as a revitalizing force within this technological landscape, breathing fresh vitality into the existing ecosystem. Its mission is to furnish a contemporary, efficient programming system that remains aligned with browser APIs. Unlike a monolithic entity, Deno constitutes an amalgamation of technologies that possess the potential for versatile adaptation across a spectrum of requirements. Recognizing that not every scenario involving server-side JavaScript necessitates interaction with the file system, the underlying framework allows for the removal of extraneous connections. This ingenious mechanism empowers developers to forge tailored runtimes for diverse applications: think of Electron-style graphical user interfaces, Cloudflare Worker-style Serverless Functions, or even embedded scripts tailored for databases.

To effectively cultivate and actualize these innovative concepts, the Deno team has successfully secured a substantial seed capital of 4.9 million dollars. The collective of investors includes noteworthy names like Dan Scholnick from Four Rivers Ventures, Guillermo from Rauch Capital, Lee Jacobs from Long Journey Ventures, the Mozilla Corporation, Shasta Ventures, and our steadfast collaborator Ben Noordhuis. This injection of financial backing translates to the formation of a dedicated group of adept engineers working full-time to enhance the Deno platform. Armed with the necessary resources, they are poised to systematically address issues, rectify bugs, and ensure punctual software releases. This concerted effort underscores Deno's evolution into a robust foundation upon which others can confidently construct their innovative creations.

The Series A

As the primary Deno development group dedicated their efforts to constructing the Deno runtime, a segment of the Deno team worked in the shadows on a project known as Deno Deploy.

Deno Deploy stands as a decentralized framework designed to enable the execution of JavaScript, TypeScript, and WebAssembly in proximity to users, spanning the globe at the very edges of the network. This system is closely interwoven with the V8 runtime, a fundamental component, ensuring exceptionally low latency while stripping away unnecessary layers of complexity. The unique advantage lies in the synergy between Deno Deploy's servers and the V8 runtime, culminating in rapid response times and the elimination of redundant abstractions.

This dynamic platform brings forth a host of advancements:

Harnessing the Web's Potential: With Deno Deploy, you can harness the capabilities of the web, utilizing features like fetch, WebSocket, and URL functionalities, just as you would within a standard web browser.

Seamless TypeScript and JSX Support: The platform seamlessly incorporates TypeScript and JSX, enabling you to write code with enhanced safety through type checking. This unique feature facilitates intuitive server-side rendering without necessitating a separate build process.

Effortless Integration of Web-Compatible ES Modules: Deno Deploy streamlines the process of importing dependencies, mimicking the experience of a web browser. This negates the need for explicit installations, providing a smoother development journey.

Streamlined GitHub Integration: The platform directly integrates with GitHub, simplifying your workflow. Effortlessly push your changes to a branch, conveniently review a deployed preview, and seamlessly merge for a smooth transition to production release.

Impressive Speed: Deno Deploy boasts remarkable speed, allowing you to deploy your applications in under a second. Additionally, your content is efficiently served to users across the globe, ensuring proximity and responsiveness.

Thanks to the remarkable achievements of Deno Deploy, the Deno company experienced a surge in its accomplishments. This led to a substantial influx of funding amounting to 21 million USD through a series of investment rounds. The primary objective behind securing this funding was to transform the Deploy project into a fully-fledged product that can cater to a wider range of needs and users.

The success of Deno Deploy not only demonstrated its potential but also attracted significant attention from investors who recognized the value it could bring to the technological landscape. This infusion of funds marked a pivotal moment for the Deno company, as it enabled them to channel resources and efforts into further refining and expanding upon the foundation laid by the Deploy project.

This fresh infusion of investment is set to empower them to engage top-tier engineers dedicated to advancing Deno over the long term. This strategic move ensures the establishment of a dependable infrastructure catering to businesses of all sizes. The innovative Isolate Cloud technology exhibits evident potential across various industries, and they are determined to actively explore its commercial applications. With this funding boost, they plan to bolster the business facet of the Deno company by recruiting adept professionals who can drive its growth and capitalize on the technology's market prospects.