Factor House is on a mission to empower the next generation of software engineers and to shape the future of software development with creative new solutions, built by engineers for engineers.
Formally founded in 2019, the Melbourne-based startup has gained traction with its flagship product, Kpow, a web-based enterprise application, which gives engineers simple, secure tools to monitor, manage and control Apache Kafka-powered systems. Factor House, Co-founder and CEO, Derek Troy-West, understands this environment well.
Over his 20+ year global engineering career spanning banking, insurance, and fintech he has developed an innate understanding of the needs of both engineers and enterprises.
“When we began building Kpow in 2018 it shared more in design with a trading platform than a database tool. Today Kpow is trusted by global enterprises for the way it seamlessly fits into their existing environments, securely manages their data, and reduces costs. Engineers love it because it's fast, intuitive, and gives them complete visibility and understanding of the complex systems they are building." — Derek Troy-West, CEO, Factor House
Derek and his co-founder, COO, and wife, Kylie Troy-West have recently raised funds from Lighter Capital — without diluting equity — to support them in growing Kpow’s global profile and product suite.
“Kpow has gained a loyal following since it launched, but there is still work to do growing our profile in the market. We’ve found the best way to make an impact with engineers is by getting Kpow in front of them, and conferences are an ideal way to do this. A lightbulb goes off when engineers compare our product to the ways they have been seeing and managing their Kafka clusters beforehand. The finance from Lighter Capital has enabled us to turbocharge our global presence and engage directly with engineers in the UK and the US.” — Kylie Troy-West, COO, Factor House
Having the ability to focus on delivering products and not pitch decks was key to their decision to seek finance from Lighter Capital. The speed and simplicity of the process meant that funds were quickly available, helping to facilitate the launch of their free developer-focused tool, Kpow Community, and supporting their expansion into other steaming technologies, starting with an enterprise-grade UI for Apache Flink.
Lighter Capital was on Kylie and Derek’s radar for over a year with the pair pressing hold on their initial funding application after a period of hyper-growth, which earned them 15th place in the 2022 Deloitte Tech Fast 50 Rising Star Awards.
It was an email from investment director Matt Dowling congratulating Kylie on their “incredible 839% growth” that led to further conversations and the decision to partner with Lighter Capital.
“I have been chatting with Derek and Kylie over the last 16 months and they have delivered on everything they told me. Factor House has superb capital management, no churn, and great growth. They have been a business we could lend to from day one. The main product “Kpow for Apache Kafka” could easily grow organically but they decided now was the time to invest in solidifying their current customer base and a more aggressive growth strategy.” — Matt Dowling, Investment Director, Lighter Capital
We are already impressed with Derek and Kylie’s early achievements, and it is our pleasure to welcome Factor House to the Lighter Capital portfolio and to begin a partnership that helps them continue to grow!
Visit Factor House to learn more.
About Factor House
At Factor House, we believe insight has the power to shape the future. Over 20 years of experience fuels our engineers with the insight to design specialized products for developers, empowering them to imagine and create new solutions. Kpow for Apache Kafka® is our flagship product used by thousands of expert engineers globally. Join the Kpow community today at kpow.io.