As the founder of several bootstrapped startups, I’ve always been intrigued by how the ecosystem celebrates funding rounds, especially when the numbers are enormous. Reading about Harness hitting a stunning $5.5 billion valuation with a $240 million Series E raise made me think deeply about what this means for startup founders like us in Europe, women founders, solopreneurs, or small teams trying to build sustainable businesses in an often cash-strapped environment. What can we learn from such stories, and how can we adapt these lessons to our entrepreneurial journeys?
Let’s start with the basics. Harness is solving a big and rather less-discussed problem, what happens to all the AI-generated code after it’s written? While there’s massive excitement about AI generating code in seconds, few talk about the bottleneck that follows: testing, security, compliance, and deployment. Enter Harness’s approach to automating these post-code phases, which currently take up to 70% of an engineering team’s time. This is a clever move, targeting not a visibly "glamorous" issue but a critical one that directly impacts efficiency.
It’s no wonder that Goldman Sachs led this funding round and was joined by other investors like IVP. The money will not just fuel Harness’s research and development, but also help strengthen its presence in India and other global markets. Their focus? Building a more advanced “software delivery knowledge graph” to refine and enhance automated testing, deployment, and security processes. With all this in mind, here’s what I took away from Harness’s success:
1. Pick a Clear Problem Many Overlook
Like Harness identified the "after-code" gap, look for issues that the hype might be bypassing. What are the pain points your potential client might see as a necessary evil? For European founders, this could mean examining untapped niches or industries beyond the current trends.
2. Don’t Forget the Core Team
Harness is exceptional not just for what it does but also because of its leadership. Jyoti Bansal, the founder, is a serial entrepreneur. He’s brought experience, credibility, and a network to the table, having sold AppDynamics for $3.7 billion. For European female founders, this poses a key question: how do we invest in our own "credibility capital" to attract opportunities or partnerships? It’s not always about pedigree, it’s about the expertise we consciously build.
3. Leverage Your Location Dynamically
Harness’s choice to set up a significant presence in Bengaluru, India, reflects its understanding of global talent pools and cost structures. For European startups, the equivalent might be assessing under-utilized talent pools across smaller cities or countries in Europe. Is there a high-caliber engineering hub somewhere less obvious?
The Stats Tell the Story
Harness’s yearly scale is jaw-dropping:
- 128 million software deployments automated.
- $1.9 billion in cloud spending optimized for clients.
Numbers are persuasive when shared authentically. Even if you’re just launching, create visuals of the small wins your startup achieves early on, they’ll go a long way with clients, partners, and potential hires.
How You Can Benefit as a Founder
Here’s a quick guide to applying some Harness-inspired strategies to your startup, even if you’re working with modest resources:
1. Zero in on specifics.
Harness didn’t focus broadly on AI or DevOps. They dialed into what they call the "after-code" phase, something niche yet substantial. What area can you dominate, even if it looks small at first glance?
2. Build a modular offering.
Harness uses a 15-module platform. Though most of us don’t need that kind of scale right away, ask yourself: can your product grow in steps where customers see increasing value over time?
3. Start with one strong customer segment.
If Harness can secure partnerships with United Airlines and National Australia Bank, you can also aim for lighthouse customers relevant to your sector. These customers do more than validate you, they also propel your product with real-world use cases.
Common Mistakes Founders Should Avoid
- Spreading Too Thin. If Harness had tried to cover every part of software development, it wouldn’t have gained traction. European entrepreneurs should concentrate on excelling at one thing before diversifying.
- Skipping Community Feedback. Founded in 2017, Harness grew carefully by listening to developer needs and market trends. Small startups can replicate this by running low-cost focus groups or engaging online communities.
- Ignoring Culture Gaps in Expansion. Harness’s growth in international markets shows their understanding of cultural adaptation. As European startup founders, we often misread how local our strategy remains while scaling outward.
Lessons Female Founders in Europe Can Adopt
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Cash efficiency trumps chasing giant funding rounds. I see a lot of women founders getting sidetracked comparing themselves to funded startups. Bootstrapped or sustainably funded startups can still dominate niche markets and achieve strong results. Balance financial flexibility with growth.
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Learn to stand out in leadership. Bansal’s presence as a credible founder undoubtedly eased Harness’s investor discussions. Proactively sharing your expertise at industry events or collaborations builds trust and positions you as a “go-to” name in your field.
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Scale while staying personal. Harness managed to scale across industries and continents, while still creating strong, specific processes for its clients. In Europe, we see many startups trying to grow too fast without streamlining their foundations, the result is often chaos. Prioritize “scalability,” but don’t compromise personal support for the customers who lift you off the ground.
Final Thoughts
Harness’s success story carries lessons for all of us striving to create impact under tight constraints. Behind the billions and big names is a simple strategy, finding a problem, layering expertise over it, and patiently building the right processes to solve it. If you’re a European founder, especially a woman wearing many hats, take these lessons not as a formula to copy but as inspiration to shape your journey.
So what’s your “after-code” gap? Maybe that’s the question you need to answer next.
FAQ
1. What problem does Harness address with its AI platform?
Harness focuses on automating the "after-code" phase, tasks such as testing, security, compliance, and deployment that consume up to 70% of an engineering team’s time. Learn more about Harness's focus on "after-code" automation
2. Who led Harness's $240 million Series E funding?
The funding round was led by Goldman Sachs and included participation from IVP, Menlo Ventures, and Unusual Ventures. Discover Harness's funding details
3. What is Jyoti Bansal’s role at Harness?
Jyoti Bansal is the founder and CEO of Harness, leveraging his entrepreneurial experience from selling AppDynamics for $3.7 billion. Learn more about Jyoti Bansal and his contributions
4. How does Harness’s software delivery knowledge graph work?
The knowledge graph maps key software delivery aspects like code changes, deployment, tests, incidents, and costs, enabling intelligent AI automation. Explore Harness's knowledge graph
5. How does Harness plan to use its recent funding?
Harness plans to expand its R&D team, hire engineers at its Bengaluru office, enhance AI capabilities, and strengthen global operations. Check out Harness's plans for expansion
6. What is Harness’s customer footprint?
Harness serves over 1,000 enterprise customers, including United Airlines, National Australia Bank, and Morningstar. Discover Harness’s enterprise impact
7. What is Harness’s presence in India?
Harness employs 33% of its workforce in India, with major engineering operations in Bengaluru and an office in Gurugram. Learn more about Harness’s India operations
8. What merger supported Harness’s growth in 2025?
Harness merged with Traceable, an application observability startup, in February 2025 to integrate DevOps and app security capabilities. Read about the Harness-Traceable merger
9. What challenges in AI coding does Harness solve?
Harness addresses the bottleneck in post-code processes, optimizing the tasks that follow AI-generated code for efficiency and scalability. Discover how Harness solves AI coding challenges
10. What is Harness’s long-term plan for an IPO?
While no exact date is confirmed, Jyoti Bansal stated that Harness plans to go public when market conditions align with its growth metrics. Find out more about Harness's IPO plans
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
