Pivotal
Pivotal is a San Francisco-based enterprise software company, founded in 2013, that provides digital transformation technology and services centered on its Cloud Foundry platform, Pivotal Tracker agile tooling, and data and consulting capabilities for enterprise and federal customers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Pivotal does
Pivotal is a privately held enterprise software company headquartered in San Francisco, founded in 2013, that develops and delivers digital transformation technology and services centered on its cloud-native platform and developer tooling. Its core technology stack is anchored on Cloud Foundry, a multi-cloud application platform for deploying and operating modern applications, and Pivotal Tracker, an agile project management tool used by software teams. The company extended this base through acquisitions including Xtreme Labs (mobile engineering, 2013), CloudCredo (cloud services, 2015), Slice of Lime (2016), and NEO (data platform, 2016), building out a fuller digital transformation portfolio spanning platform, data, and consulting-adjacent services.
The company's customer base is enterprise-oriented, with strategic investors Dell EMC, VMware, General Electric, Ford Motor, and Microsoft also serving as likely anchor customers and channel partners, and an explicit U.S. federal practice signaled by leadership hiring. Capitalization was substantial: more than $1.7 billion was raised across rounds in 2013, 2016, and 2018, with Dell EMC and VMware co-leading the largest rounds. The headcount band of 1,001–5,000 employees and the inclusion of a VMware Tanzu Platform reference in the source material indicate the company's technology was eventually integrated into VMware's Tanzu application platform, consistent with a corporate development outcome rather than a standalone IPO. Revenue mechanics, pricing, and detailed customer logos are not disclosed in the available data.
Pivotal firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Pivotal
- Website
- https://pivotal.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- Pivotal is a San Francisco-based enterprise software company, founded in 2013, that provides digital transformation technology and services centered on its Cloud Foundry platform, Pivotal Tracker agile tooling, and data and consulting capabilities for enterprise and federal customers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Pivotal industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cloud Application Platform
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Computer Systems Design Services (541512)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cloud-Native Development (Containers, Kubernetes, Microservices) (BPAEACAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Strategy & IT Advisory (BPAEAAAA)
Keywords
Where Pivotal is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Pivotal business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Pivotal product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Pivotal provides cloud-native application platform technology and digital transformation technology and services to enterprises. The company's flagship offering, Pivotal Cloud Foundry (now part of VMware Tanzu), enables organizations to build, deploy, and operate modern applications at scale using microservices, containers, and continuous delivery practices.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- BlackFly: An electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) that is autonomous, human-controlled, with a flight time limited to 20 minutes. Available for consumer use.
- Helix
Products and services
- VMware Tanzu Platform A cloud-native application platform that provides a comprehensive set of tools and services for building, deploying, and running modern applications. Includes capabilities for application development, container orchestration, and microservices management. Targeted at enterprise IT organizations undergoing digital transformation.
- Pivotal Cloud Foundry An open-source cloud application platform (Cloud Foundry) commercialized by Pivotal, providing a Platform-as-a-Service for enterprises to deploy and run cloud-native applications at scale.
- Pivotal Tracker A project management and agile planning tool for software development teams, supporting story-based workflow and team collaboration.
Companies that use Pivotal
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Pivotal technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Pivotal partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves2 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Pivotal competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Red Hat OpenShift: Enterprise Kubernetes platform with integrated developer tooling and CI/CD, directly competing with Pivotal Platform / Cloud Foundry for cloud-native application development and deployment workloads.
- HashiCorp: Provides developer and infrastructure tooling (Terraform, Vault, Consul) commonly bundled into cloud-native application platforms; competes for the same developer and platform-engineering budget.
- Pivotal Software (pre-acquisition) / VMware Tanzu: The historical reference point for the Pivotal cloud-native platform; now integrated as VMware Tanzu Application Platform, providing the closest product and go-to-market comparability for the subject company.
- Heroku (Salesforce): PaaS offering (now part of Salesforce) competing for the same developer persona of streamlined cloud application deployment and is positioned as an alternative platform experience to Pivotal Platform.
Broad incumbents
- Google Cloud (GKE / Cloud Run): Hyperscaler offering GKE and Cloud Run for containerized and serverless workloads; competes broadly for enterprise cloud-native application platform spend.
- Microsoft Azure (App Service / AKS): Hyperscaler platform offering managed Kubernetes (AKS), App Service, and developer tooling that compete with Pivotal Platform for enterprise modernization workloads at scale.
- Amazon Web Services (EKS / App Runner): Largest hyperscaler with managed Kubernetes (EKS), App Runner, and developer services providing end-to-end cloud-native platforms that overlap with Pivotal's capabilities.
- IBM Cloud (with Red Hat): IBM's cloud platform bundles OpenShift and adjacent services; competes for enterprise customers standardizing on hybrid cloud and cloud-native platforms similar to Pivotal's positioning.
Emerging players
- Docker: Containerization and developer tooling leader with Docker Desktop and Docker Hub; comparable as developer-facing tooling for cloud-native application build and deploy workflows.
- Cloud Foundry Foundation: Open-source home of the Cloud Foundry project whose commercial extension was Pivotal Platform; directly relevant for understanding the open-source ecosystem that surrounds Pivotal's commercial offering.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Pivotal social profiles
Digital presencePivotal financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pivotal leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Pivotal funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors7 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pivotal M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A4 records
Investments1 record
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pivotal
What does Pivotal do?
Pivotal provides cloud-native application platform technology and digital transformation technology and services to enterprises. The company's flagship offering, Pivotal Cloud Foundry (now part of VMware Tanzu), enables organizations to build, deploy, and operate modern applications at scale using microservices, containers, and continuous delivery practices.
Is Pivotal a public or private company?
Pivotal is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Pivotal founded?
Pivotal was founded in 2013. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is Pivotal based?
Pivotal is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Pivotal's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Red Hat OpenShift, HashiCorp, Pivotal Software (pre-acquisition) / VMware Tanzu and Heroku (Salesforce). Broad incumbents are Google Cloud (GKE / Cloud Run), Microsoft Azure (App Service / AKS), Amazon Web Services (EKS / App Runner) and IBM Cloud (with Red Hat). Emerging players are Docker and Cloud Foundry Foundation.
Does Pivotal have an API?
No public API is recorded for Pivotal.
What industry is Pivotal in?
Pivotal's product category is Cloud Application Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEACAD, Cloud-Native Development (Containers, Kubernetes, Microservices), with a secondary code of BPAEAAAA, Strategy & IT Advisory. Its NAICS code is 54151 and its SIC code is 7372.