What Cloud Foundry Foundation does

Cloud Foundry Foundation is an independent, member-funded nonprofit organization chartered under The Linux Foundation and headquartered in San Francisco, established to steward the Cloud Foundry open source project. It operates as a vendor-neutral governance body for a portfolio of cloud-native application development projects, with a small staff (11-50 employees) led by Executive Director Abby Kearns, supported by a Governing Board composed of corporate members including SAP, VMware Tanzu (Broadcom), Google, and Bloomberg.

The foundation's core product is the Cloud Foundry Application Runtime, an open source Platform-as-a-Service that lets developers deploy cloud-native applications to any infrastructure with a single "cf push" command, supporting Java, Node.js, Go, Python, PHP, Ruby, and .NET out of the box. Surrounding projects extend the platform: Korifi delivers the Cloud Foundry developer experience on Kubernetes; Paketo Buildpacks provides language runtime support via the Cloud Native Buildpacks framework; Open Service Broker API enables backing-service provisioning; Stratos provides a web-based management UI; cf-for-k8s and Klutch bridge CF to Kubernetes-native architectures; and BOSH handles release engineering and lifecycle management. Integrations span the major CI/CD tools (GitLab Runner, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, CircleCI, Travis CI, Tekton) and CNCF projects (kpack, Istio, Envoy, Fluentd).

The foundation does not sell software. Its revenue comes from corporate membership dues across Platinum, Gold, and Silver tiers, with members gaining influence over project direction and gaining distribution rights. Commercial distribution and enterprise support are carried by member companies, most prominently VMware Tanzu (Tanzu Platform for Cloud Foundry) and SAP (SAP Business Technology Platform), with additional channels through GOV.UK PaaS and managed-service providers such as Anynines. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, anchored by the annual Cloud Foundry Summit, regional Cloud Foundry Days, 200+ user groups, 180+ meetups, and an active Slack community. Adopted by hundreds of enterprises and reportedly "more than half the Fortune 500," the platform underpins workloads in financial services (Wells Fargo, Allianz, ING Bank), telecommunications (Deutsche Telekom, Orange), government (UK Government Digital Services), healthcare (Kaiser Permanente), and retail (Rakuten).

Name

Cloud Foundry Foundation

Legal name

Cloud Foundry Foundation

Website

https://cloudfoundry.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cloud Foundry Foundation is a Linux Foundation–hosted nonprofit that stewards the open source Cloud Foundry PaaS, supporting cloud-native application deployment for hundreds of enterprises and more than half the Fortune 500 through a member-funded governance model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Source Cloud Application Platform (PaaS)

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Cloud-Native Application Development (Containers/Kubernetes/Serverless) (BPAEAFAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cloud-Native Development (Containers, Kubernetes, Microservices) (BPAEACAD), Cloud-Native Enablement (Containers, Kubernetes, Service Mesh) (BPAEAKAE), Private Cloud Platforms (On‑Prem Cloud Stacks) (HDABABAA)

Keywords

• Open source PaaS
• Cloud-native application platform
• Kubernetes developer abstraction
• Cloud-native buildpacks
• Application runtime platform

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: The foundation is funded through membership fees from corporate members at various tiers (Platinum, Gold, Silver). Members include SAP, VMware Tanzu, Google, Bloomberg, and others who pay dues to support the foundation and gain influence over the open source project direction.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Cloud Foundry Foundation stewards and curates the Cloud Foundry open source Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) for cloud-native application development. The foundation supports a suite of projects including the Cloud Foundry Application Runtime (with the cf push single-command deployment experience), Korifi (Cloud Foundry experience on Kubernetes), Paketo Buildpacks, the Open Service Broker API, Stratos UI, BOSH, and Klutch. The foundation itself is funded by corporate membership dues and does not sell software; commercial distributions and enterprise support are delivered by member companies such as VMware Tanzu and SAP.

Product overview

Cloud Foundry Foundation offers a suite of open source cloud-native application development products and tools. The core product is the Cloud Foundry Application Runtime, a PaaS platform that enables developers to deploy applications with a single 'cf push' command. This is complemented by Cloud Foundry Korifi, which delivers the Cloud Foundry developer experience on Kubernetes clusters. Paketo Buildpacks provide language runtime support using Cloud Native Buildpacks framework. The Open Service Broker API enables delivery of backing services for applications. Additional tools include Stratos (web-based management UI), cf-for-k8s (CF experience on Kubernetes), the Cloud Foundry CLI, BOSH (deployment and lifecycle management), and Klutch (Kubernetes services bridging). The platform supports Java, Node.js, Go, Python, PHP, Ruby, and .NET out of the box and can be extended via buildpacks.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Korifi: A next-generation platform-as-a-service project delivering an inherently higher-order abstraction over Kubernetes, enabling developers to focus on building applications.
• Paketo Buildpacks
• Open Service Broker API

Products and services

• Cloud Foundry Application Runtime Open source Platform-as-a-Service for cloud-native application development that enables developers to build, deploy, and run applications on any infrastructure via a single 'cf push' command. Supports Java, Node.js, Go, Python, PHP, Ruby, and .NET out of the box and is targeted at enterprise development teams.
• Cloud Foundry Korifi A next-generation Platform-as-a-Service project delivering a higher-order abstraction over Kubernetes, enabling developers to focus on building applications without dealing with Kubernetes complexities. Brings the Cloud Foundry developer experience (cf push) to Kubernetes clusters.
• Paketo Buildpacks Language runtime support for applications leveraging the Cloud Native Buildpacks framework, making container image builds easy, performant, and secure for Java, Node.js, Go, Python, PHP, Ruby, and .NET workloads.
• Open Service Broker API Open standard project providing backing services to workloads for ISVs, SaaS providers, and developers, enabling easy delivery and management of service offerings running on cloud-native application platforms such as Cloud Foundry or Kubernetes.
• Stratos Open-source, modern, web-based management UI for managing Cloud Foundry resources, adopted by commercial clouds as the default UI for managing Cloud Foundry deployments.
• cf-for-k8s Combines the Cloud Foundry developer experience with the power of Kubernetes, built on top of Istio, Envoy, and Fluentd. Enables simplified application deployments to Kubernetes clusters via cf push.
• Cloud Foundry CLI (cf CLI) Command-line interface for Cloud Foundry that enables developers to interact with Cloud Foundry platforms, including the 'cf push' command for deploying applications.
• BOSH Open source tool for release engineering, deployment, and lifecycle management of large-scale distributed systems. Originally part of Cloud Foundry, now a separate project used for deploying Cloud Foundry and other distributed services.
• Klutch A project that bridges the gap between Kubernetes and the cloud services world, borrowing heavily from the Open Service Broker API and adapting it to a newer cloud native architecture.

Quantifiable outcome

• Deploy applications with single cf push command without writing Kubernetes/YAML configuration
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• BloombergcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 November 2023Bloomberg joined as Silver member. Bloomberg's Managed Compute platforms utilize Paketo Buildpacks to package source code into container images. Bloomberg contributes to Buildpacks Technical Oversight Committee and the Paketo community, driving adoption and innovation.
• GooglecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 March 2020Google joined the Cloud Foundry Foundation as a Platinum member. Google has been active in the cloud native ecosystem with Kubernetes and contributes to the broader open source community. Their involvement brings hyperscaler perspective and strengthens multi-cloud positioning.
• SAPflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAP is a Platinum member and major contributor to Cloud Foundry. SAP runs SAP Business Technology Platform on Cloud Foundry and contributes significantly to Korifi, BOSH, and various working groups. Key sponsor of Cloud Foundry Days and Summits.
• VMware Tanzu (Broadcom)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerVMware Tanzu is a major member offering Tanzu Platform for Cloud Foundry. Key contributor to core components (Diego, Garden, Networking), provides enterprise distribution, support, and drives innovation in the ecosystem.
• AnyninescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnynines is a platform operations company specializing in Cloud Foundry, Kubernetes, and data service automations. Key sponsor of Cloud Foundry events, contributor to Korifi, Klutch, and Stratos projects.
• STACKITcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSTACKIT is a sponsor of Cloud Foundry Day Europe 2025, providing Cloud Foundry-based services in the European market.
• FiveTwentyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFiveTwenty is a sponsor of Cloud Foundry Day Europe 2025, supporting the Cloud Foundry community events.
• GstackcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGstack is a Cloud Foundry-focused company providing consulting and implementation services, presenting at Cloud Foundry events.
• SyntassocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSyntasso showcased Kratix at Cloud Foundry events, demonstrating how to create platforms using cloud native building blocks including Paketo Buildpacks and CNCF projects.
• InfraCloud TechnologiescoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerInfraCloud Technologies is a consulting partner providing Cloud Foundry implementation and platform engineering services. Founder Vishal Biyani presented on Korifi at Cloud Foundry events.
• SrijanminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSrijan is a technology consulting firm with Cloud Engineering practice, presenting on Cloud Foundry local-to-prod workflows.
• Stark & WaynecoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLong-time member and Cloud Foundry consulting partner. James Hunt from Stark & Wayne has led Cloud Foundry hands-on labs and contributed to the community.
• KubeCon + CloudNativeConcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCloud Foundry Foundation is a sponsor of KubeCon with booth presence. Key alignment between Kubernetes ecosystem and Cloud Foundry, especially around Korifi and Paketo Buildpacks integration.
• CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation)coreTechnology or IntegrationCloud Foundry collaborates with CNCF through Paketo Buildpacks (which contributed to CNCF's Buildpacks project), Korifi running on Kubernetes, and shared community participation.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• OpenInfra Foundation: Open source foundation hosting OpenStack and other infrastructure projects. Directly comparable as a vendor-neutral, member-funded foundation stewarding production-grade cloud infrastructure software used by large enterprises and governments.
• Red Hat OpenShift: Commercial Kubernetes application platform from Red Hat that competes directly with Cloud Foundry/Korifi and Tanzu. Highly comparable as an enterprise-grade higher-order PaaS abstraction over Kubernetes for cloud-native application delivery.
• Heroku (Salesforce): Long-established PaaS offering developer-centric cloud-native application deployment with multi-language support. Comparable as a turn-key PaaS platform targeting the same developer-experience-led cloud-native application deployment use case that Cloud Foundry pioneered.
• Apache Software Foundation: Long-established open source foundation stewarding projects including cloud-native offerings such as Mesos and CloudStack. Comparable as a member-governed foundation model stewarding enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure software.
• Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF): Sister open source foundation stewarding Kubernetes and the broader CNCF cloud-native project portfolio. Most directly comparable to Cloud Foundry Foundation given shared mission of stewarding vendor-neutral, member-funded cloud-native projects and overlapping contributor/enterprise communities.
• Eclipse Foundation: Open source foundation hosting enterprise-focused projects including Jakarta EE and cloud-native runtimes. Comparable as a vendor-neutral, member-funded foundation stewarding production enterprise cloud platforms used by Fortune 500 adopters.

Broad incumbents

• Google App Engine: Hyperscaler-managed PaaS from Google Cloud offering simplified application deployment and scaling. Comparable as a broader incumbent offering similar single-command deployment abstraction on top of cloud infrastructure, including PaaS-on-Kubernetes via GKE.
• VMware Tanzu (Broadcom): Commercial Cloud Foundry distribution and broader application platform portfolio from Broadcom. Comparable as the primary commercial distribution of Cloud Foundry and a major ecosystem member, while also offering adjacent Kubernetes/Korifi products that overlap with CFF's developer experience goals.
• AWS Elastic Beanstalk: AWS-managed PaaS for deploying and scaling web applications and services across multiple language runtimes. Comparable as a hyperscaler incumbent offering developer-friendly cloud-native deployment that competes for the same enterprise application deployment workload.

Emerging players

• Platform.sh: Modern unified PaaS offering git-push-to-deploy cloud-native application hosting built on container infrastructure. Comparable as an emerging higher-order PaaS abstraction pursuing the same developer-experience simplification that Cloud Foundry champions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cloudfoundry
• GitHubgithub.com/cloudfoundry
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC0ZYS0Y7b5oiVLvxGf4magw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/2509135

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cloud Foundry Foundation