When adding text code from a 3rd party source into a platform, the process is an unavoidable and time-consuming chore. Developers currently spend a large part of their day reviewing things like “NPM” packages, and such. There are developer libraries and text code platforms like JetBrains and Visual Studio, but these don’t entirely solve the problem. A UK startup thinks it might have the answer.
CRANQ is a Low-Code IDE (integrated dev environment, like Visual Studio) which provides component authoring, with, it says, a lot of re-usability. Its focus on standardized datatypes and ports means that intent can be easily checked, says the company. It’s now raised a Pre-Seed £1m funding from Venrex and Profounders.
Developers build their code in the IDE visually, using a drag-and-drop interface. So far it’s been used to built a version of the Educai.io back-end, and Alpha trials will begin this summer.
The cofounders are Toby Rowland and Dan Stocker. Rowland, CEO, is a serial entrepreneur, best-known for co-founding King.com in 2003. His most recent digital startup – Mangahigh.com – was acquired by Westermann Publishing in 2018, and subsequently, Rowland launched RyzeHydrogen.comfor the hydrogen-for-transport market. Stocker, CTO, is an experienced developer, software architect, and inventor. Among other projects, Dan conceived and created Giant, a React competitor, in 2012.
CRANQ’s initial focus on testing will also bring it into competition with Postman.com. The Workflow space (Zapier, N8N etc.) also overlaps with CRANQ.
But CRANQ is addressing a sizeable market. The microservices market is estimated to be worth $32bn in 2023, growing at 16% you, according to some estimates.