Kinvolk
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersBerlin, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
Kinvolk firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Kinvolk
- Legal name
- Kinvolk GmbH
- Website
- https://kinvolk.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Kinvolk industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cloud Native Infrastructure Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Container Platforms & Orchestration (Kubernetes) (HDABADAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Cloud-Native Enablement (Containers, Kubernetes, Service Mesh) (BPAEAKAE), Kubernetes & Container Security (KSPM/KCSPM, Runtime) (HDADADAE), Cloud Security for Containers & Kubernetes (KSPM/Kubernetes Security) (HDABAHAO), Managed Container Platforms (Kubernetes & Container PaaS) (HDABAAAB), Virtualization, Containers & Kubernetes Security (EDAOAIAO)
Keywords
Where Kinvolk is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Berlin
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Kinvolk business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Open Source Projects: Kinvolk maintains several open source projects (Flatcar Container Linux, Headlamp, Inspektor Gadget, Lokomotive) that are freely available. Revenue is not generated directly from these projects but through community engagement, talent acquisition, and strategic positioning.
- Commercial Support Subscriptions: Flatcar Container Linux Pro is available as a commercial subscription product with enterprise features and support. Previously offered subscription-based support alongside free community images.
- Enterprise Integration: Post-acquisition by Microsoft, Kinvolk contributes to Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Arc, and other Azure services, bringing open source cloud native capabilities to enterprise customers through the Azure platform.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Community Edition - Free open source |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Kinvolk product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Kinvolk develops and maintains open source cloud native infrastructure products, primarily Flatcar Container Linux (a minimal, secure-by-default, immutable Linux distribution for running containers at scale), Headlamp (an extensible Kubernetes UI for desktop and web), and Inspektor Gadget (an eBPF-based debugging and inspection framework for Kubernetes, containers, and Linux hosts). It also offers Lokomotive, a Kubernetes distribution, and Nebraska, an update manager. Commercial offerings include Flatcar Container Linux Pro subscriptions distributed via AWS Marketplace.
Product overview
Kinvolk is an open source technology company (now part of Microsoft Azure) specializing in Linux and cloud native infrastructure products. The portfolio centers on three core offerings: Flatcar Container Linux (a minimal, immutable Linux distribution for container infrastructure), Headlamp (an extensible Kubernetes GUI for desktop and web), and Inspektor Gadget (an eBPF-based debugging and inspection framework). These products are complemented by Headlamp Plugins (extensible modules for KEDA, cert-manager, Flux, Helm charts, and AI assistance) and Nebraska (an update manager for Flatcar). The company also offers AKS Desktop, an Azure-specific application management layer built on Headlamp. Kinvolk maintains active contributions to systemd, Kubernetes, and broader cloud native open source communities.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Flatcar Container Linux: A fully open source, minimal-footprint, secure by default and always up-to-date Linux distribution for running containers at scale.
- Headlamp
- Inspektor Gadget
- Lokomotive
Products and services
- Flatcar Container Linux A fully open source, minimal-footprint, secure-by-default, and always up-to-date Linux distribution optimized for running containers at scale. An immutable, image-based operating system designed for fully automated, zero-touch container infrastructure; the continuation of CoreOS Container Linux.
- Headlamp An extensible and easy-to-use Kubernetes UI available for desktop or web, enabling users to view, manage, and troubleshoot Kubernetes clusters through a graphical interface with plugin extensibility, app catalogs via Helm, and GitOps workflows.
- Inspektor Gadget An eBPF-based tool and systems inspection framework for Kubernetes, containers, and Linux hosts that provides debugging and inspection capabilities for cloud native environments.
- Lokomotive A self-hosted, upstream Kubernetes distribution with strong security defaults and frictionless updates. Supports bare metal environments via Tinkerbell integration.
- Nebraska An update manager for Flatcar Container Linux that handles OS updates and version management for container-optimized deployments.
- Flatcar Container Linux Pro Commercial subscription offering for Flatcar Container Linux providing enterprise features and support, distributed via AWS Marketplace.
Quantifiable outcome
- eBPF enables containers to start roughly 42 times faster by using kernel metacopy parameter
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Kinvolk
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Kinvolk technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability2 records
Feature5 records
Kinvolk partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Microsoft CorporationcoreIn April 2021, Kinvolk was acquired by Microsoft and continues as a team within the Azure organization. The partnership focuses on enhancing open source cloud native technologies with the latest Linux capabilities and bringing these capabilities to Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Arc, and other Azure products.
- Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)coreKinvolk contributes to CNCF projects and ecosystem. Headlamp is part of the Kubernetes SIG UI. cert-manager is a CNCF project with Headlamp plugin integration.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Kinvolk competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Mirantis (Lens): Develops Lens (now OpenLens), the most widely adopted Kubernetes desktop UI — a direct competitor to Headlamp in the Kubernetes GUI category.
- Sidero Labs: Maintains Talos Linux, a minimal container-optimized Linux distribution, and Omni Kubernetes platform — directly comparable to Flatcar Container Linux and Lokomotive.
- Rancher Labs (SUSE): Provides Kubernetes management platforms (Rancher, k3s, Harvester) and container-optimized infrastructure — directly comparable to Kinvolk's Flatcar OS and Lokomotive Kubernetes distribution.
Emerging players
- Spectro Cloud: Delivers Palette, a Kubernetes management platform with bare-metal and edge support — overlaps with Kinvolk's Lokomotive distribution and bare-metal provisioning capabilities.
- Sysdig: Provides cloud-native security and observability built on Falco (an eBPF-based runtime security tool) — adjacent to Inspektor Gadget in the eBPF-driven Kubernetes debugging/inspection space.
Broad incumbents
- Red Hat (OpenShift / CoreOS): Offers Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS — broader container platform and container-optimized OS offerings that overlap with Flatcar and Lokomotive.
- AWS (Bottlerocket): Provides Bottlerocket, a free, AWS-native container-optimized Linux distribution — competes with Flatcar Container Linux as a free incumbent in the same OS category.
Others
- Containerd / CNCF: Industry-standard container runtime under CNCF — a foundational peer whose ecosystem Kinvolk's container tooling (Flatcar, Inspektor Gadget) integrates with and complements.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Kinvolk social profiles
Digital presenceKinvolk financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Kinvolk leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Kinvolk funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Kinvolk 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 Kinvolk
What does Kinvolk do?
Kinvolk develops and maintains open source cloud native infrastructure products, primarily Flatcar Container Linux (a minimal, secure-by-default, immutable Linux distribution for running containers at scale), Headlamp (an extensible Kubernetes UI for desktop and web), and Inspektor Gadget (an eBPF-based debugging and inspection framework for Kubernetes, containers, and Linux hosts). It also offers Lokomotive, a Kubernetes distribution, and Nebraska, an update manager. Commercial offerings include Flatcar Container Linux Pro subscriptions distributed via AWS Marketplace.
Is Kinvolk a public or private company?
Kinvolk is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Kinvolk founded?
Kinvolk was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Kinvolk based?
Kinvolk is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Kinvolk make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Open Source Projects are the primary driver. The others are commercial Support Subscriptions and enterprise Integration.
Who are Kinvolk's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Mirantis (Lens), Sidero Labs and Rancher Labs (SUSE). Emerging players are Spectro Cloud and Sysdig. Broad incumbents are Red Hat (OpenShift / CoreOS) and AWS (Bottlerocket). Containerd / CNCF is listed as an others.
Does Kinvolk have an API?
No public API is recorded for Kinvolk.
What industry is Kinvolk in?
Kinvolk's product category is Cloud Native Infrastructure Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDABADAF, Container Platforms & Orchestration (Kubernetes), with a secondary code of BPAEAKAE, Cloud-Native Enablement (Containers, Kubernetes, Service Mesh). Its NAICS code is 5415 and its SIC code is 7372.