Why We Invested in Plural, AI for DevOps at Scale

Kubernetes is the 10,000 pound gorilla of infrastructure. It is ubiquitous—over 60% of enterprises today manage 10 or more Kubernetes clusters—and the underlying backbone of so much of how enterprises run their applications. And yet, despite consistent efforts to make Kubernetes manageable, in 2025 it remains an unsolved problem. It is an esoteric system that has become a mess to operate.

This is the case because the enterprise Kubernetes environment is more complex than ever: sprawling with massive scale, sometimes hundreds of clusters that require upgrades, dependency management, and a control plane to manage how everything is tied together. Enterprises often have dozens of highly skilled engineers just tasked with keeping Kubernetes operable.

Moreover, the hyperscaler clouds have never been properly incentivized to create the optimal control plane and experience around Kubernetes, so their products are subpar. They are by definition tied to their own cloud, with a lack of the product vision required to build something that properly solves all the intricate issues that pop up when managing a Kubernetes fleet.

Enter Plural. CEO Sam Weaver and CTO Michael Guarino have been working on removing the headache from Kubernetes upgrades and dependency management for years. They have the intense product understanding, Kubernetes expertise, and now, AI to supercharge the product and 10x the experience.

Plural delivers AI automation for DevOps at scale. Plural reads a scaled Kubernetes environment, gives prescriptive insights and recommendations around when and how to manage upgrades, and sits alongside a DevOps professional as they address issues.

Today we’re celebrating Plural’s $6 million seed round, which we led with participation from Company Ventures and Capital One Ventures, bringing total funding to $12 million. We are excited to be joined in this round by Capital One Ventures, which has an incredible track record of backing industry-defining companies while also being an early customer to some of the world’s most iconic infrastructure businesses like Snowflake.

Plural has from the beginning been focused on enterprise functionality and scale. The company’s first customers are some of the biggest financial services and cybersecurity businesses in the world, that entrust a startup with the all-important job of managing a high-stakes Kubernetes environment.

Some of our favorite infrastructure investors often say that it takes time for infra solutions to take hold—because they are essential building blocks of a company’s foundation, the trust and time required to adopt is high. However, when an infra solution clicks, it is magic. You become an essential part of your customers’ operations and success. You become indispensable.

We are seeing this happen with Plural, and it’s fun to watch. Now is the time to truly build DevOps automation at scale—the pain is severe and the tech is ready. Plural is the solution to this longstanding and frustratingly unshakable problem.