Developer Software Maker Sentry Triples Valuation to $3 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- Developer tool startup Sentry said it raised $90 million in a new funding round, valuing the company at more than $3 billion.

The fundraising brings the total gathered to date to $217 million, it said, and triples Sentry's valuation from $1 billion last year, at a time when valuations in the broader private market are cooling. The round was co-led by BOND and Accel, with participation from existing investor NEA as well as new investor K5 Global.

Sentry helps software developers with performance monitoring for their applications. Its platform helps resolve code-related issues in software, such as errors and slow database queries. Its customers include Peloton Interactive Inc., Eventbrite Inc. and Slack. Sentry said it is used by 3.5 million developers across 85,000 organizations.

The company was able to increase its valuation in this difficult environment because of its strong growth, said Dan Levine, a partner at Accel, one of the company's early investors. Now “everyone seems to use this thing” in the developer industry, he said, comparing its growth trajectory to Slack's. Levine said that he expects the company to continue to grow both organically and through acquisitions.

Jay Simons, a general partner at BOND, said he's optimistic that Sentry could someday be a public company, like Atlassian Corp., where he was president during its initial public offering. His experience at Atlassian helped him learn more about the developer ecosystem and how large the potential market is, he explained, adding that companies are shifting toward a “digital-first mindset.”

Sentry Chief Executive Officer Milin Desai said that whether a company is building thermostats or ride-sharing, “everything is software-driven” these days, which is why there is a need for application-related developer tools. He said that the company will be investing in expansion in locations including Europe.