Austin startup Stoplight raises more than $3 million

Austin-based software startup Stoplight said Wednesday it has raised more than $3.25 million in seed funding led by Bill Wood Ventures, the new investment firm of heavyweight venture capitalist Bill Wood.

Stoplight, founded by Marc MacLeod in 2015, is an online platform that helps developers build and test their application programming interfaces, or APIs, which helps companies manage how applications interact with one another. The company has more than 500 paying customers, according to a news release.

The company received additional funding from NextGen Venture Partners, Next Coast Ventures, Social Starts and downtown startup accelerator Capital Factory.

The seed funding brings Stoplight’s total funding to $4.65 million. Stoplight will use the seed funding to double its engineering team and improve product development, MacLeod said.

“Stoplight’s mission is to streamline the API lifecycle, multiplying the productivity of every API stakeholder,” MacLeod said in a written statement. “We have the most respected value-add investors in Austin driving the change, and the wealth of experience they bring will help make Stoplight a category-leading company.”

MacLeod also announced Wednesday that he has hired Brian Rock, former Austin-based Applause director of engineering and automation product, as Stoplight's director of engineering. Rock's hire brings Stoplight's employee count to 12 people, according to MacLeod.

MacLeod moved to Austin in 2015. He had intended to move back to Los Angelos but stayed because he "developed a nice work ecosystem here."

"It made sense to stay in Austin," MacLeod said, adding that the city is a "great place to find talent and a great place to live."

Wood, the lead investor for Stoplight, co-founded Austin Ventures and founded of Silverton Partners. He founded his personal investment firm, Bill Wood Ventures, in April, according to his LinkedIn. Wood has led startup financing for companies like Silicon Labs and SailPoint, now both multi-billion dollar companies.

“Software is evolving from a state in which it is developed line by line into a monolithic application to one in which it is assembled from small units or microservices”, Wood said in a written statement. “Stoplight robustly manages these connections, or APIs, such that developers are freed up to exploit all the advantages of microservices without dealing with the downside.”