Scott Breitenother
| Scott Breitenother | |
| Nationality | American |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, technology executive |
| Known for | Founder of Brooklyn Data Co., Founder of Kilo Code |
Scott Breitenother is an American entrepreneur and technology executive known for founding Brooklyn Data Co., a full-stack data consultancy that was acquired by Velir in 2023, and for founding Kilo Code, an open-source AI-powered coding agent. Breitenother's career has spanned work in data analytics and engineering before transitioning into the emerging field of agentic AI software development. Kilo Code gained significant attention in the technology industry after raising $8 million in seed funding in December 2025 to advance its platform for agentic engineering.[1] The company positions itself as the fastest-growing open-source coding agent and has developed tools that integrate AI capabilities directly into software development workflows, including extensions for code editors and collaborative platforms such as Slack.[2]
Career
Brooklyn Data Co.
Prior to founding Kilo Code, Breitenother established Brooklyn Data Co., a full-stack data and analytics consultancy. The company provided data engineering, analytics engineering, and data science services to clients seeking to build and optimize their data infrastructure. Brooklyn Data Co. developed a reputation as a specialist firm in the modern data stack ecosystem.
On March 21, 2023, Velir, a data-driven experience agency, announced that it had acquired Brooklyn Data Co. The acquisition was intended to strengthen Velir's position as a leading data-driven experience agency by combining its existing capabilities with Brooklyn Data Co.'s full-stack data expertise.[3] The deal brought together Velir's digital experience services with Brooklyn Data Co.'s data and analytics capabilities, creating a combined entity with broader offerings across the data and digital experience landscape.[3]
Kilo Code
Following the acquisition of Brooklyn Data Co., Breitenother founded Kilo Code, an open-source AI-powered coding agent designed to accelerate software development through agentic engineering. The company developed tools that allow AI agents to assist developers in writing, reviewing, and shipping code, positioning itself within the rapidly growing market for AI-assisted software development tools.
Kilo Code's flagship product is an open-source coding extension that integrates with code editors, enabling developers to interact with AI agents that can autonomously execute coding tasks. The company has described its approach as focused on speed and developer productivity, with its name reflecting its emphasis on rapid execution.[1]
Seed Funding
On December 10, 2025, Kilo Code announced that it had raised $8 million in seed funding to expand its agentic engineering platform.[1] The funding round attracted attention from major technology media outlets. CNBC reported on the round, noting that Kilo Code competes in a crowded AI coding market and that the company's coding extension falls within the category of "vibe coding" tools — a term used to describe AI-powered development environments where developers describe desired functionality in natural language and AI agents generate the corresponding code.[4]
The seed round was covered by multiple technology and business publications. Pulse 2.0 reported that the funding was intended to help Kilo Code expand its agentic engineering platform and accelerate product development.[5] At the time of the funding announcement, Kilo Code described itself as the fastest-growing open-source coding agent in its category.[1]
The investment round involved participation from notable figures in the technology industry. Sid Sijbrandij, the co-founder and former CEO of GitLab, was associated with the funding effort for Kilo Code.[4] Sijbrandij's involvement lent additional credibility to the company, given GitLab's position as one of the most prominent platforms for software development and DevOps.
Product Development and Expansion
Following its seed funding, Kilo Code expanded its product offerings beyond its core code editor extension. The company launched Kilo for Slack, an AI-powered bot that enables software development teams to initiate coding tasks directly from Slack conversations. According to VentureBeat, the Slack integration allows developers to turn Slack threads into actionable coding tasks, with the AI agent capable of writing and shipping code based on chat messages.[2] This product reflected Kilo Code's strategy of integrating AI coding capabilities into the communication and collaboration tools that development teams already use in their daily workflows.
The launch of Kilo for Slack positioned the company at the intersection of two significant trends in enterprise software: the growing adoption of AI coding assistants and the increasing centrality of team messaging platforms in software development workflows. By embedding its AI agent within Slack, Kilo Code sought to reduce the friction between identifying a coding need and executing on it, enabling what the company described as a more seamless development experience.[2]
Market Context
Kilo Code emerged during a period of intense competition and innovation in the AI-assisted software development market. The broader phenomenon of "vibe coding" — in which developers use AI tools to generate code from high-level descriptions rather than writing it line by line — gained significant traction in the mid-2020s. Computerworld reported on how vibe coding was reshaping software development practices, noting that while the approach was moving from experimentation to real production software, it also introduced new challenges related to code quality, security, and maintainability.[6]
Kilo Code's competitive landscape included a range of companies and products, from large technology corporations offering AI coding assistants integrated into their existing platforms to startups focused specifically on autonomous coding agents. The company's open-source approach differentiated it from some competitors, as it allowed developers to inspect, modify, and contribute to the underlying codebase of the tool they were using.[1]
ClawCon and Community Engagement
Kilo Code has been associated with the broader community of developers and technologists interested in AI-driven automation. The Free Press reported on ClawCon, described as New York City's inaugural conference focused on AI automation, where participants gathered to discuss the future of AI-assisted work and the potential for AI agents to automate significant portions of software development and other professional tasks.[7] The event reflected the growing cultural and professional interest in the tools and philosophies that companies like Kilo Code represent.
Kilo Code has also been featured in design and culture media. Huge Magazine published a feature on the company, exploring its approach to AI-assisted coding and its place within the evolving landscape of software development tools.[8]
Recognition
Kilo Code's $8 million seed funding round in December 2025 generated coverage across major business and technology media outlets, including CNBC,[4] Business Wire,[1] VentureBeat,[2] and Pulse 2.0.[5] The company's positioning as an open-source alternative in the AI coding agent space, combined with the involvement of prominent investors from the technology industry, contributed to its visibility within the developer tools ecosystem.
The company's product launches, including its Slack integration, were covered by technology publications that noted Kilo Code's approach of embedding AI coding capabilities within existing developer collaboration tools.[2] The broader trend of vibe coding, within which Kilo Code operates, has been the subject of analysis by publications such as Computerworld, which examined both the opportunities and risks associated with AI-generated code in production environments.[6]
Legacy
As of early 2026, Breitenother's career reflects a trajectory from data analytics and consulting, through the founding and successful exit of Brooklyn Data Co., to the creation of an AI-powered software development tool during a period of rapid transformation in how software is built. The acquisition of Brooklyn Data Co. by Velir in 2023 demonstrated Breitenother's ability to build and scale a consultancy in the competitive data services market.[3]
With Kilo Code, Breitenother entered the AI coding tools market at a time when the industry was experiencing a surge of investment and innovation. The company's open-source model and focus on agentic engineering — in which AI agents autonomously execute multi-step coding tasks rather than merely suggesting code completions — positioned Kilo Code within a segment of the market that many industry observers consider to represent the next evolution of software development tools.[1] The company's expansion into collaborative platforms through its Slack integration reflected a broader industry trend of bringing AI capabilities closer to where teams communicate and make decisions.[2]
The long-term impact of Kilo Code and similar tools on the software development profession remains a subject of active discussion within the technology industry, with proponents emphasizing increased developer productivity and critics raising concerns about code quality, security, and the changing nature of software engineering work.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Kilo Raises $8 Million to Bring Kilo Speed to Agentic Engineering".Business Wire.2025-12-10.https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251210195261/en/Kilo-Raises-%248-Million-to-Bring-Kilo-Speed-to-Agentic-Engineering.Retrieved 2026-03-11.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Kilo launches AI-powered Slack bot that ships code from a chat message".VentureBeat.2025-02-01.https://venturebeat.com/technology/kilo-launches-ai-powered-slack-bot-that-ships-code-from-a-chat-message.Retrieved 2026-03-11.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Velir announces acquisition of Brooklyn Data Co.; strengthens position as leading data-driven experience agency".PR Newswire.2023-03-21.https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/velir-announces-acquisition-of-brooklyn-data-co-strengthens-position-as-leading-data-driven-experience-agency-301776532.html.Retrieved 2026-03-11.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Former GitLab CEO raises money for Kilo to compete in crowded AI coding market".CNBC.2025-12-10.https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/10/former-gitlab-ceo-raises-8-million-for-kilo-to-compete-in-vibe-coding.html.Retrieved 2026-03-11.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Kilo: $8 Million Seed Funding Closed To Accelerate Agentic Engineering Platform".Pulse 2.0.2025-12-12.https://pulse2.com/kilo-code-8-million-seed-funding/.Retrieved 2026-03-11.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "How vibe coding is reshaping software development, and what it breaks along the way".Computerworld.2026-02-01.https://www.computerworld.com/video/4140065/how-vibe-coding-is-reshaping-software-development-and-what-it-breaks-along-the-way.html.Retrieved 2026-03-11.
- ↑ "Who's Excited to Be Replaced By AI? These Guys!".The Free Press.2026-03-11.https://www.thefp.com/p/whos-excited-to-be-replaced-by-ai.Retrieved 2026-03-11.
- ↑ "Kilo Claw". 'Huge Magazine}'. Retrieved 2026-03-11.