As companies have a strong system integration (SI) image, many perceive that developing and using necessary software is still a past-oriented approach.
Recently, as the number of so-called no-code and low-code platforms that can develop software without coding using programming languages has increased interest in developing work applications on their own, but there is various commercial software already out there, including SaaS, so it is difficult to answer “No.” In other words, if there are commercial products, it is better to choose from them.
Nevertheless, services that challenge this perspective and help companies create and use the software themselves continue to emerge. B2B SaaS startup Retool is one of them. Unlike no-code and low-code companies that target non-developers, Retool is focusing on platforms that target developers in the company, drawing attention.
Lower barriers to entry into custom app development and increase productivity
Retool believes that many tasks in the company are still suitable for custom-made style software optimized for specific uses and http://54.254.57.212/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/twx33i9v6eu-1.jpgs, rather than buying and using them. The numbers provided by Retool provide their own persuasive power.
According to the company, more than 500,000 apps have been developed on the Retool platform since 2017. Based on this, Retool recently attracted $45 million worth of investment from Sequoia Capital, a leading venture investment company in Silicon Valley. In the process, Retool was valued at around $3.2 billion.
According to foreign media such as TechCrunch, the Retool platform basically consists of a drag-and-drop interface. It creates the main components of the application needed in a drag-and-drop manner and writes code based on them. The proportion of coding is about 20-30%. Considering this, Retool can be classified as a low-code platform rather than a no-code. Among low-code platforms, the proportion of coding seems relatively high.
The Retool platform can be used by combining more than 90 components. This allows software developers and engineers to obtain basic building blocks such as tables, charts, and formats. Developers can link the results made in this way to the database or API. The rest of the software development can be completed by connecting to REST, GraphQL API, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB.
Retool emphasizes that by using its platform, companies can develop so-called custom software that is optimized for their own tasks more easily and quickly.
It is said that a job that usually takes two weeks is possible in a day. Free for up to 5 http://54.254.57.212/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/twx33i9v6eu-1.jpgs per month, $10 per http://54.254.57.212/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/twx33i9v6eu-1.jpg, $50 per http://54.254.57.212/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/twx33i9v6eu-1.jpg, and enterprise versions are available.
According to the company, famous companies such as Amazon, Pinterest, Kosera, NFL, and NBC Universal are already using Retool, which is unlikely to lack internal resources.
Among apps around the world, the proportion of apps for corporate internal use is still more than 50%
Retool has focused on helping companies develop apps for internal use. The priority is to help companies develop the software necessary for internal work, not services for external customers.
The company explained that this alone has enormous market opportunities.
TechCrunch reports emphasize that more than 50% of all apps in the world are used internally. Even if there are many commercial SaaS products, many companies still need software optimized for internal use for one reason or another, and they actually use it a lot.
Retool’s a strategy focusing on internal apps is similar to the overall trend of the no-code and low-code development platform industries.
Related industries share the perception that no-code and low-code development platforms are not yet suitable for application development used by consumers among enterprise companies Although it has evolved to a complex level, these tools are still useful for internal use, not for external sales.
Retool is different from the no-code development platform aimed at field workers, so-called Citizen developers, in that it is aimed at developers and software engineers with drag-and-drop software development platforms, not the same coding as before.
Rather than allowing non-developers to develop apps, they made a winning move with a SaaS platform that supports developers to make compatible apps more sophisticated. This is a startup case that makes you think that it is necessary to pay attention to not only the no code for non-developers but also the low code platform for developers.
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by Sasquachi
