UPDATED 14:45 EDT / FEBRUARY 17 2020

AI

PullRequest acquires Moonlight to boost its AI bug hunting engine

PullRequest Inc., a code review startup backed by Google LLC and Y Combinator, today said it has acquired fellow startup Moonlight Work Inc. to advance its plans of making software development more automated using artificial intelligence.

Austin, Texas-based PullRequest operates a “code review as a service” platform that helps enterprise software teams find bugs in their software. Developers submit their code and the startup sends it to a community of programmers who flag any issues that may exist and provide tips on how to fix them. Companies such as Audi AG use the platform to find security vulnerabilities, performance problems and other types of bugs in development projects.

PullRequest has raised more than $10 million since 2017 from investors, including Google’s Gradient Ventures artificial intelligence fund. It has used the capital to build out various value-added tools, among them an AI-powered automated bug detection engine that flags software issues and suggestions fixes without any human input. It’s this part of its portfolio that PullRequest is hoping to boost through the Moonlight acquisition.

New York City-based Moonlight operates a hiring platform that helps companies recruit developers for software  projects. The startup has built up a community of about 3,000 programmers since launching in 2017. PullRequest’s vision, Chief Executive Officer Lyal Avery told TechCrunch, is to use the data Moonlight collects about development projects to enhance the AI models powering its bug detection engine and expand the range of issues that can be detected automatically.

“Partnering will make it easier for PullRequest subscribers to write new code faster, and for Moonlight clients to trust the contributions of contractors,” Moonlight co-founder Emma Lawler added in a statement. Lawler and co-founder Philip Thomas are joining PullRequest as head of design and head of growth, respectively, while the startup’s platform will continue to operate as a separate service for the time being.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Photo: Unsplash

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