Linear raises $82 million at a $1.25 billion valuation in Series C funding to challenge Atlassian

Enterprise Software Startup Linear raised a $82 million Series C funding round and valued the startup at $1.25 billion, the company said Tuesday. Venture Capital Fund Accel led the round, leading the participation from existing investors 01A and SECOIA, as well as new investors Seven Seven Six and Designer Fund.

“Today, we are pleased to raise a $82 million Series C at a $12.5 billion valuation. The round includes both primary and secondary funding led by Accel, with continued support from Sequoia and 01A, with SALD ANS from new partners Seven Seven Fund, Indie.VC, TK Ventures, Soleio, Jeff & Vlad Loktev.

Linear creates software development and project planning tools that compete directly with Atlassian’s Jira. The startup has seen impressive growth, with profits rising 280% last year, resulting in a customer base that currently includes more than 15,000 companies, Reuters reported. Most notable clients include hot AI companies such as Openai, Scale AI, and Prperxity.

The 80 remote first company plans to use fresh capital to build more products and attract customers from large companies. “This allows teams and individuals to use their agents daily, alongside their work,” says Saarinen.

What sets Linear apart from its competitors is focusing on specific product development use cases rather than offering overwhelming customization options that can confuse users.

The company is building specific features for typical software development workflows. This includes a built-in “triage inbox” for handling software bugs and feature requests, as well as a tool for managing software development cycles called sprints. Linear has also developed capabilities to manage AI as team members, allowing humans and AI to help build software. This is becoming more and more common in the industry.

Linear’s approach places the customer’s needs before flashy technology. This is what Accel investor Miles Clements thinks is forgetting during the current AI boom. “There are many vendors who are pushing a lot of unwanted AI slops into the market. Instead, linear teams are locked into what users are looking for and then they provide what they want,” he said.

Its customer-first philosophy seems to be rewarded as Linear continues to grow in a competitive market dominated by established players like Atlassian. The company’s ability to attract well-known AI companies as clients while maintaining strong profit growth suggests there is a real demand for a streamlined approach to project management tools.