Kato
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersOakland, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
Kato firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Kato
- Website
- https://kato.im
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Kato is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oakland
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Kato business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription: Cloud-based platform delivered as a service with no hardware or software maintenance required from customers. Pricing model not publicly disclosed.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels2 records
Kato product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Kato is a cloud-based team communication SaaS platform that unifies text, voice, video, and screen sharing with intelligent information management and permanent searchable archival. It is built for business use, scaling from teams of 2 to organizations of 2,000, with enterprise-grade security and zero local maintenance (no hardware, software updates, or database backups required from customers).
Product overview
Kato is a single, unified team communication platform. It provides text, voice, video, and screen sharing capabilities, combined with best-in-class search and knowledge archiving. The product is delivered as a cloud-based SaaS solution with enterprise-grade security, requiring no hardware maintenance, software updates, or database backups from customers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Kato Cloud-based team communication platform that unifies text, voice, video, and screen sharing with intelligent information management and permanent searchable archival; built for distributed teams, remote workers, and large multinational organizations, scaling from 2 to 2,000 users with enterprise-grade security.
Companies that use Kato
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Kato technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Kato partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.
- Alphabet IncminorMentioned as an example of large company using Kato for team communication and productivity. Not an explicit partnership.
- Meta PlatformsminorMentioned as an example of large company using Kato for team communication and productivity. Not an explicit partnership.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Kato competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Slack: Channel-based team messaging and collaboration platform owned by Salesforce. Most directly comparable to Kato on core product (text chat, rooms, search, integrations) and target use case (distributed team productivity).
- Rocket.Chat: Open-source team communication platform with omnichannel and collaboration features. Comparable product surface (rooms, messaging, voice, video) and similar self-serve SaaS positioning.
- Mattermost: Self-hostable and SaaS team collaboration platform popular with technical, security-conscious, and regulated organizations. Comparable horizontal chat/search/rooms product targeting enterprise and developer audiences.
- Flock: Team messaging and collaboration tool for SMBs and mid-market. Comparable horizontal chat/voice/video product targeting small-to-mid-sized operations in the same 2–2000 user range Kato advertises.
- Zoom Team Chat: Persistent team chat layered onto Zoom's video infrastructure. Directly comparable unified text/voice/video offering, with much larger brand and installed base.
- Twist (Doist): Async-first team communication app built around threaded conversations. Comparable horizontal team chat SaaS targeting distributed teams, with a similar product-led-growth positioning.
Broad incumbents
- Webex by Cisco: Enterprise messaging, meetings, and calling suite. Comparable unified communications product aimed at large multinationals, with much broader portfolio and incumbent enterprise footprint.
- Microsoft Teams: Enterprise chat, voice, and video bundled with Microsoft 365. Comparable to Kato's unified communications thesis but as part of a much broader productivity suite with deep enterprise distribution.
- Google Chat: Messaging integrated with Google Workspace. Comparable as a unified communication + search + rooms product aimed at enterprise teams, with massive bundled distribution.
Emerging players
- Zoho Cliq: Team chat and collaboration within the broader Zoho productivity suite. Comparable on chat/rooms/search core, with a similar focus on serving distributed teams across business sizes.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Kato social profiles
Digital presenceKato financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Kato leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Kato funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Kato M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Kato
What does Kato do?
Kato is a cloud-based team communication SaaS platform that unifies text, voice, video, and screen sharing with intelligent information management and permanent searchable archival. It is built for business use, scaling from teams of 2 to organizations of 2,000, with enterprise-grade security and zero local maintenance (no hardware, software updates, or database backups required from customers).
Is Kato a public or private company?
Kato is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Kato founded?
Kato was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Kato based?
Kato is headquartered in Oakland, United States, in the North America region.
How does Kato make money?
One revenue line is on record: saaS Subscription.
Who are Kato's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Slack, Rocket.Chat, Mattermost, Flock, Zoom Team Chat and Twist (Doist). Broad incumbents are Webex by Cisco, Microsoft Teams and Google Chat. Zoho Cliq is listed as an emerging player.
Does Kato have an API?
No public API is recorded for Kato.