Cognitect, Inc.
Cognitect, Inc. is a Durham, NC-based developer-tools and consulting firm and wholly-owned subsidiary of Nubank, maintaining the Datomic database, Clojure/ClojureScript sponsorship, and related open source libraries (Pedestal, Vase, Transit), serving enterprise clients and Nubank's mission-critical banking systems.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersDurham, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Cognitect, Inc. does
Cognitect, Inc. is a Durham, North Carolina-based private software company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Nu Holdings, Ltd. (Nubank), focused on the Clojure ecosystem and associated developer tooling. Founded in 2003 (originally under the name Relevance) and acquired by Nubank in 2020, the company maintains the Datomic database platform, the Clojure and ClojureScript programming language sponsorship, and a suite of open source libraries including Pedestal (web services), Vase (data-driven microservices), and Transit (cross-language data format). Its commercial offerings center on Cognitect dev-tools — comprising Datomic dev-local and the REBL debugger — provided under quote-based licensing.
The company's business model is a hybrid of one-time software licensing (developer tools) and professional services revenue (IT consulting and custom development work), with no publicly disclosed pricing and no self-serve option. Go-to-market is sales-led and direct: enterprise clients engage Cognitect through consultative sales conversations for both tooling adoption and bespoke Clojure/Datomic implementation work. The customer base is anchored by Nubank, which uses Clojure and Datomic for mission-critical software serving over 100 million customers across Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina; broader external adoption is concentrated in enterprise technology companies using Clojure in production.
Operationally, Cognitect functions as both a commercial entity and a steward of the open source Clojure ecosystem — Nu is a key corporate sponsor of Clojure and ClojureScript. Distribution and awareness are driven through content channels (Cognicast podcast, technical blog), conference presence (StrangeLoop, Clojure/conj), authored reference books, and open source community engagement. The company's headquarters at 101 W. Chapel Hill Street, Suite 300, Durham, supports a headcount of 51–100, and revenue figures are not separately disclosed by the parent.
Cognitect, Inc. firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cognitect, Inc.
- Legal name
- Cognitect, Inc.
- Website
- https://cognitect.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Cognitect, Inc. is a Durham, NC-based developer-tools and consulting firm and wholly-owned subsidiary of Nubank, maintaining the Datomic database, Clojure/ClojureScript sponsorship, and related open source libraries (Pedestal, Vase, Transit), serving enterprise clients and Nubank's mission-critical banking systems.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cognitect, Inc. industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Developer Tools and Functional Programming Languages
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Engineering Services (8711)
- akta.pro primary industry
- IP Management, Patents & Trademark Software (BPAEAPAN)
Keywords
Where Cognitect, Inc. is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Durham
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Cognitect, Inc. business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Software Tools: Sale of Cognitect dev-tools software comprising Datomic dev-local and REBL. These are developer tools provided as software products.
- Information Technology Consulting: Professional consulting and development services provided to clients, assisting developers in translating Clojure ideas into business agility.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Enterprise software tools and consulting services - pricing not publicly disclosed |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Cognitect, Inc. product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cognitect develops and sells proprietary developer tools (Datomic database, Datomic dev-local, REBL debugger) and provides information technology consulting and development services to enterprise clients. The company is also the originator and primary steward of the Clojure and ClojureScript programming languages and supporting open-source libraries (Pedestal, Vase, Transit), maintained through Cognitect Labs. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nubank, Cognitect translates Clojure and functional programming expertise into business outcomes at scale.
Product overview
Cognitect, a Nu Holdings company, offers a portfolio of developer-focused products centered around the Clojure ecosystem. The core offerings include Cognitect dev-tools (comprising Datomic dev-local and REBL), the Datomic database, and support for the Clojure and ClojureScript programming languages. These are complemented by open-source libraries including Pedestal (for backend services), Vase (for data-driven microservices), and Transit (a cross-language data format). The company also provides information technology consulting and development services. Cognitect Labs serves as the experimental repository for work-in-progress tools. Cognicast provides educational content through podcast discussions with technology practitioners.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Cognitect dev-tools (Datomic dev-local and REBL) Proprietary developer tool suite combining Datomic dev-local and REBL, provided by Cognitect alongside consulting services to enterprise customers building Clojure-based applications.
- Datomic A distributed database that enables building flexible systems leveraging the full history of critical data, deployable on existing infrastructure or in the cloud. Targeted at enterprise developers building data-intensive applications.
- Clojure A robust, practical, and fast programming language created by Rich Hickey and stewarded by Cognitect, forming the foundation of the company's ecosystem and consulting practice.
- ClojureScript A Clojure implementation that compiles to JavaScript, enabling developers to leverage the entire JavaScript ecosystem while using Clojure's paradigm. Stewarded by Cognitect.
- Pedestal A set of libraries for building services and applications, running in the backend to serve HTML pages or handle API requests. Developed and maintained by Cognitect.
- Vase A framework for building data-driven microservices in minutes with Clojure. Developed and maintained by Cognitect.
- Transit
Companies that use Cognitect, Inc.
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Cognitect, Inc. technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Cognitect, Inc. partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Nu Holdings, Ltd. (Nubank)coreIn 2020, Cognitect was acquired by Nubank, one of the World's Largest digital banking platforms serving over 100 million customers across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. Through this acquisition, Nubank incorporated a world-class team to assist developers in translating Clojure's ideas into business agility and leverage the company's mission to fight complexity and empower people. Cognitect operates as a subsidiary of Nu Holdings, and Nu is a key corporate sponsor of Clojure and ClojureScript.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Cognitect, Inc. competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Atomic Object: Atomic Object is a US-based custom software consultancy focused on bespoke product development for enterprises. It is comparable to Cognitect as a specialty software consultancy serving enterprise clients, but operates across a broader set of technology stacks rather than concentrating in Clojure.
Broad incumbents
- JetBrains: JetBrains is a major developer tools vendor (IDEs, profilers, team tools) with a similar go-to-market of building productivity tools tightly coupled to specific programming ecosystems (Kotlin, IntelliJ, etc.). It is a broad incumbent in the developer tools space where Cognitect's REBL and dev-tools products compete for developer mindshare.
- HashiCorp: HashiCorp is a developer infrastructure and tooling company (Terraform, Vault, Consul, Nomad) that shares Cognitect's model of building proprietary developer-focused products with strong open source community roots. It is a broader incumbent in the developer tools category where Datomic dev-local and REBL compete.
- Thoughtworks: Thoughtworks is a large global technology consultancy known for software engineering excellence, modern stacks, and thought leadership. It overlaps with Cognitect's enterprise consulting motion but operates at much larger scale across many languages and industries, making it a broad incumbent rather than a direct competitor.
- Cognizant Softvision: Cognizant Softvision is a large digital engineering and IT consulting firm offering custom software development and consulting services to enterprise clients. It is comparable to Cognitect's IT consulting and development arm in business model, but operates at much larger scale and across many more technology stacks.
- Neo4j: Neo4j is a leading graph database company whose immutable, time-aware data model overlaps conceptually with Datomic's. It represents a broader incumbent in the specialized database market where Cognitect's Datomic competes, though with substantially larger commercial scale and enterprise adoption.
Direct peers
- ThinkTopic: ThinkTopic (formerly Velvect) is a US-based Clojure and functional programming consultancy. It offers enterprise consulting, custom development, and training services in the same technology stack as Cognitect, making it a direct peer in the Clojure consulting market.
- JUXT: JUXT is a UK-based software consultancy with deep specialization in Clojure and Datomic, the same core technology stack Cognitect built around. It offers consulting, training, and bespoke development services to enterprise clients, making it the closest direct functional peer in the Clojure/Datomic services market.
Regional players
- Functional First: Functional First is a UK-based consultancy focused on Clojure and functional programming. It offers similar services to Cognitect (consulting, training, bespoke development) for enterprise clients, but is geographically focused on the UK/European market rather than operating inside a major fintech subsidiary.
- Metosin: Metosin is a Finnish software consultancy with strong Clojure and ClojureScript expertise, including open source contributions to the Ring/Compojure/Reitit ecosystem. It is comparable to Cognitect as a specialty Clojure consultancy serving enterprise clients, but operates primarily in Northern Europe.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Cognitect, Inc. social profiles
Digital presenceCognitect, Inc. financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cognitect, Inc. leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Cognitect, Inc. funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cognitect, Inc. 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 Cognitect, Inc.
What does Cognitect, Inc. do?
Cognitect develops and sells proprietary developer tools (Datomic database, Datomic dev-local, REBL debugger) and provides information technology consulting and development services to enterprise clients. The company is also the originator and primary steward of the Clojure and ClojureScript programming languages and supporting open-source libraries (Pedestal, Vase, Transit), maintained through Cognitect Labs. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nubank, Cognitect translates Clojure and functional programming expertise into business outcomes at scale.
Is Cognitect, Inc. a public or private company?
Cognitect, Inc. is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Cognitect, Inc. founded?
Cognitect, Inc. was founded in 2003. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Cognitect, Inc. based?
Cognitect, Inc. is headquartered in Durham, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cognitect, Inc. make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Software Tools are the primary driver. The others are information Technology Consulting.
Who are Cognitect, Inc.'s main competitors?
Atomic Object is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are JetBrains, HashiCorp, Thoughtworks, Cognizant Softvision and Neo4j. Direct peers are ThinkTopic and JUXT. Regional players are Functional First and Metosin.
Does Cognitect, Inc. have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cognitect, Inc..
What industry is Cognitect, Inc. in?
Cognitect, Inc.'s product category is Developer Tools and Functional Programming Languages. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAPAN, IP Management, Patents & Trademark Software. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7371.