Postman acquires Orbit to expand reach in software developer community

Postman, an API collaboration company, has announced the acquisition of Orbit, a platform renowned for fostering community growth among developer companies.

The acquisition will enable Postman to strengthen its commitment to empowering a wider developer community, with a focus on improving interactions between API builders and developers.

Orbit's expertise in managing communities across various platforms, such as Discord, Slack, and GitHub, will be instrumental in integrating community features into the Postman Public API Network, fostering a more collaborative environment.

Bridging builders and developers

The acquisition comes at a crucial time, addressing the gap in direct engagement between API builders and the developer community within the Postman API Network.

“Tens of thousands of API builders including companies like Discord already distribute their APIs to millions of developers on the Postman API Network. But today, those builders can’t engage directly with their community on the network,” said Abhinav Asthana, co-founder and CEO of Postman.

“We can show them how many developers call their APIs along with success rates, which is only part of the experience. With Orbit, we'll open up the conversation between API builders and developers, allowing developers to tell API builders what they need, and enabling API builders to reach new audiences.”

With Orbit's integration, Postman aims to open dialogues, allowing developers to communicate their needs directly to API builders, thereby enabling builders to reach new audiences and receive valuable feedback.

Orbit's legacy and forward path

Founded in 2019, Orbit is backed by notable investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Coatue. The startup helps leading developer companies manage and grow their communities across forums, chat platforms, social channels, and more, providing insights, automations, and engagement capabilities.

“We created Orbit to help companies understand and grow their communities, on the idea that larger and healthier communities ultimately lead to broader adoption of software,” said Patrick Woods, co-founder and CEO of Orbit. “After getting to know the Postman team and platform, we realized that Postman is the single biggest developer community-building opportunity on the planet right now, so naturally it's been exciting to join forces.”

However, as part of the transition, Orbit will wind down its existing product and platform within 90 days. This phased discontinuation includes a final stop to new data ingestion by May 31, though current users will retain data access for exploration and export until July 11.

Becoming a go-to resource for developers

The merger signifies Postman’s growth strategy and underlines its vision of becoming the go-to resource for developers in finding, evaluating, and deploying APIs.

With over 30 million developers and 500,000 organizations relying on Postman’s platform, the integration with Orbit promises to enrich the API development experience, enhancing discovery, decision-making, and confidence among developers.