It’s always a great thing to know that more startups are now trying to tackle open source sustainability.

Well, if you didn’t know already, Tidelift is a startup which aims to support the developers and maintainers by monetizing the open source software while also helping them to secure it and improve it.

About Tidelift

Well, I did mention about it above – but read on to know what/how exactly they plan to do it. The official Tidelift website sheds some light on it:

First, software development teams should be able to depend on the open source software they incorporate into their projects. They should be confident that it is reliable—professionally supported, more secure, easy to integrate, and properly maintained. Meanwhile, open source maintainers and core teams should be compensated for the value their projects create. They should have easy access to paying users and to the tools necessary to deliver a professional software experience.

I think you get the idea now. However, let me summarize the functioning of Tidelift in even simple terms:

Tidelift has enterprise customers who use open source software for business. Tidelift also has the maintainers who contribute to the maintenance of the open source software. Tidelift charges the enterprise for the maintenance of the open source software they use. Tidelift then pays the programmers who maintain these open source software for them.

Why you should be happy about startups like ‘Tidelift”?

We utilize a lot of open source tools and services without paying a penny for it and we expect the developers and maintainers be able to keep up with their work – how is it possible without financial help?

I mean, yes, recognition and stuff – but the real-world problem is the monetization of open source software, it doesn’t have to expensive – but affordable while being able to support the dev teams and maintainers as well.

So, that’s what Tidelift does – creating a win-win situation for open source developers, maintainers, and the users by monetization.

More about the Series B Funding…

Series B funding is usually labelled when a company has a proven track record with a loyal userbase and enough resources to keep the lights running and the users happy.

In just about seven months of its series A funding ($15m) – it has managed to go for the series B round of funding, raising $25 million.

The funding involved General Catalyst, Foundry Group, and Matthew Szulik (former chairman of Red Hat) as the return backers.

Luis Villa (co-founder of Tidelift), tweeted about it as well with the mission of hiring more people as they scale up.

Wrapping Up

We’re happy to see some progress here. What do you think about ‘ Tidelift ” and the startups similar to it like Open Collective?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Oh! if you are looking for a job in Boston area, check out their career page as they are looking for people to hire.