Chamath Palihapitiya, the well-known venture capitalist and host of the All-In podcast, announced the closing of a $135 million Series A funding round for his AI coding startup 8090 Labs. The deal marks his return to a full-time operating role, as he will personally lead the company as CEO.
A record round led by Salesforce Ventures and backed by Silicon Valley heavyweights
The round was led by Salesforce Ventures, with participation from Jeffrey Katzenberg's WndrCo, David Sacks' Craft Ventures, and fellow All-In hosts David Friedberg (The Production Board) and Jason Calacanis (Launch). Angel investors include Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, and Adam D'Angelo, CEO of Quora. The massive interest in AI coding startups shows that Silicon Valley continues to bet on software development automation, a sector that many experts believe could redefine enterprise productivity. In this context, Zurich has emerged as Big Tech's secret R&D hub, while Europe watches the rise of these technologies from the sidelines.
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8090 Labs and Software Factory: an AI agent built for enterprise teams
Founded in January 2024, 8090 Labs offers an AI coding agent specifically designed for corporate programming teams. Its flagship product, Software Factory, helps coders build production-quality software, not just vibe-coded prototypes, with all the controls enterprises need, such as audit trails and compliance. Palihapitiya compared the current AI rush to the early days of social media, when he was an executive at Facebook. "What we are building now is even more important," he wrote on X, announcing his decision to return to a full-time operating role.
AI coding as the new frontier for enterprise efficiency
According to a Boston University study, treating AI as a coworker could reduce error detection by 18%, but 8090 Labs' approach aims to integrate it as a supervised tool, not an autonomous agent. The Boston University study shows that treating AI as a coworker reduces error detection by 18%, highlighting the importance of maintaining human oversight in development processes. Palihapitiya, leveraging his experience at Facebook and Social Capital, believes Software Factory can bridge the gap between rapid prototyping and robust, production-ready code—a hot topic for companies wanting to adopt AI without sacrificing quality and security.
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For more background on Chamath Palihapitiya, see his biography on Wikipedia.
