Decodable
Decodable, founded in 2021 by Eric Sammer, is a serverless, fully managed stream processing platform built on Apache Flink and Debezium.
Profile
A serverless platform for building and managing real-time data pipelines without infrastructure overhead.
Decodable, founded in 2021 by Eric Sammer, is a serverless, fully managed stream processing platform built on Apache Flink and Debezium. The San Francisco-based company simplifies real-time data engineering by letting developers build and deploy streaming data pipelines using SQL, Java, or Python without managing underlying infrastructure. Sammer, a 20-year veteran of data infrastructure who previously led stream processing at Splunk and co-founded the data analytics company Rocana (acquired by Splunk in 2017), launched Decodable to abstract away the operational complexity of Apache Flink, which requires substantial DevOps expertise.
The company raised $25.5 million across two rounds: a $5.5 million seed and a $20 million Series A in February 2022 led by Venrock and Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from prominent investors including Olivier Pomel (Datadog CEO), DJ Patil (former U.S. Chief Data Scientist), and Spencer Kimball (CockroachDB CEO). Decodable positioned itself as a competitive alternative to Amazon's Managed Service for Apache Flink (MSF) by offering a more developer-friendly interface and lower operational overhead.
Key customers include Medidata, which operates over 1,000 Decodable pipelines, and Drata, which ingests nearly 2 terabytes of data daily while reducing compute costs by 20 percent. In September 2025, Redis announced its acquisition of Decodable, integrating it into Redis Data Integration (RDI) to strengthen Redis's position as a real-time data platform for AI agents. The acquisition reflects surging demand for real-time context pipelines that feed AI systems with fresh, relevant data.
Who buys this
- Enterprise data teams standardizing on real-time ETL/ELT for analytics platforms
- AI and LLM applications requiring fresh, low-latency context and data feeds
- Organizations replacing fragmented or custom stream processing with managed pipelines
- SaaS and fintech companies with high-volume data ingestion requirements (TB+ daily throughput)
Publicly disclosed clients
- Medidata
- Drata
- Fidelity Investments
Strengths and what to watch
Strengths
- Eliminates weeks of custom Apache Flink engineering with declarative SQL-based pipelines and automatic scaling
- Built-in connectors and integrations for major data warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift) and messaging systems (Kafka, Pulsar)
- Fully managed service with SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance certifications
Watch for
- Company is now a subsidiary of Redis post-acquisition (September 2025); strategic priorities and product roadmap will shift toward Redis's AI infrastructure focus rather than remaining an independent vendor
- Relatively small standalone headcount (23–28 employees as of late 2025) may limit ability to support large enterprise customer bases independently
- Limited public disclosure on pricing, customer concentration, or churn; Medidata and Drata represent significant portions of visible customer base
Recent moves
Key Information
- Industry
- Streaming/In-Memory
- Founded
- 2021
- Headquarters
- San Francisco
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Decodable?
Decodable is a serverless, fully managed platform for building real-time data pipelines using Apache Flink. Developers write SQL, Java, or Python code without managing infrastructure. Founded in 2021, it eliminates weeks of custom Flink engineering by automating deployment and scaling.
How does Decodable help with real-time data pipelines?
Decodable simplifies building real-time ETL/ELT pipelines through declarative SQL and automatic scaling. It provides built-in connectors for Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, Kafka, and Pulsar. The fully managed service eliminates infrastructure overhead while delivering low-latency data context for AI and analytics applications.
Why would I use Decodable instead of AWS Managed Service for Apache Flink?
Decodable offers a more developer-friendly interface than AWS MSF, with simpler SQL-based deployment and lower operational overhead. It eliminates weeks of Flink engineering expertise requirements. Enterprise customers like Medidata operate thousands of pipelines, and Drata reports 20 percent compute cost reductions compared to alternatives.
Is Decodable secure and compliant for enterprise use?
Yes. Decodable holds SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, and HIPAA compliance certifications. Enterprise customers including Fidelity Investments trust it for regulated data handling. The fully managed service handles infrastructure security while developers focus on pipeline logic, meeting enterprise security standards without additional DevOps overhead.
Can I use Decodable for AI and LLM applications?
Yes. Decodable delivers low-latency, fresh data context that AI systems need. Redis acquired Decodable in September 2025 to strengthen real-time data pipelines for AI agents. Organizations use it to feed LLMs continuously updated information, enabling AI applications to generate responses based on current data rather than stale context.
What changed when Redis acquired Decodable?
Redis acquired Decodable in September 2025 to integrate it into Redis Data Integration (RDI), positioning the platform as core to Redis's AI infrastructure strategy. Decodable shifts from independent vendor to subsidiary. The acquisition reflects surging demand for real-time context pipelines that feed AI systems with fresh data.
How Decodable compares
Direct head-to-head against 3 competitors. Picked by 7wData.
Decodable
- Positioning
- A serverless platform for building and managing real-time data pipelines without infrastructure overhead.
- Customer segments
- Enterprise data teams standardizing on real-time ETL/ELT for analytics platforms
- Strengths
- Eliminates weeks of custom Apache Flink engineering with declarative SQL-based pipelines and automatic scaling
- Watch for
- Company is now a subsidiary of Redis post-acquisition (September 2025); strategic priorities and product roadmap will shift toward Redis's AI infrastructure focus rather than remaining an independent vendor
- Recent moves
- Redis announces acquisition of Decodable to strengthen real-time data platform for AI agents
Confluent Cloud
- Positioning
- Managed data streaming platform combining Kafka and Flink for enterprise real-time application and analytics workloads.
- Customer segments
- Enterprise data platform engineers and architects in fintech, logistics, and telecom buying managed streaming infrastructure.
- Strengths
- Kafka and Flink run natively on one managed platform, eliminating cross-system schema registry and routing overhead.
- Watch for
- Four-dimensional consumption billing (Stream, Connect, Process, Govern) drives unpredictable cost spikes on continuous Flink jobs.
- Recent moves
- Launched dbt adapter for Confluent Cloud Flink in Q2 2026, enabling streaming pipeline deployment via dbt models.
Striim
- Positioning
- Unified real-time data integration and streaming platform targeting CDC pipelines and legacy database-to-cloud migration.
- Customer segments
- Enterprise data and IT teams in fintech, retail, and telecom migrating Oracle or SQL Server databases to cloud.
- Strengths
- CDC from Oracle, SQL Server, and MySQL to cloud targets with zero-downtime, continuous schema-evolution handling.
- Watch for
- Last significant funding (Series C, $50M) closed March 2021; no major follow-on round disclosed through mid-2026.
- Recent moves
- Hired Milind Joshi as VP of Payment Solutions in October 2025 to build out enterprise payments vertical.
Estuary Flow
- Positioning
- Right-time managed platform for CDC, batch, and streaming ETL positioned for AI data movement use cases.
- Customer segments
- Mid-market and startup data engineering teams in fintech and marketing analytics needing managed real-time pipeline infrastructure.
- Strengths
- Sub-100ms CDC latency with exactly-once delivery semantics, plus flat-fee pricing as alternative to record-volume billing.
- Watch for
- Proprietary runtime (not Kafka-standard) increases onboarding friction; observability gaps cited in G2 and Gartner Peer Insights reviews.
- Recent moves
- Raised $17M Series A in October 2025 led by M13, targeting AI-ready enterprise data movement.
Sources
- www.globenewswire.com — Series A funding round details, investors, Eric Sammer founder background, company mission
- www.decodable.co — Product overview, deployment options, compliance certifications, use cases, free tier availability
- redis.io — Redis acquisition announcement, strategic rationale for AI/LLM context delivery, integration with Redis Data Integration (RDI)
- www.decodable.co — Named customers Medidata, Drata, Fidelity; case study details on pipeline scale and cost savings
- medium.com — Competitive positioning vs. AWS Managed Service for Apache Flink; product differentiation on developer experience
- estuary.dev — Competitive context within streaming ETL landscape; positioning vs. batch-oriented tools