For years, twin sisters Nilo and Jen Rahmani had late-night conversations about the challenges they faced as engineers. As they tackled issues like reliability and downtime, they realized the tools they relied on were inadequate for the scale and complexity of modern cloud systems. These frustrations, paired with their deep understanding of the pain points in site reliability engineering (SRE) and DevOps, planted the seeds for Thoras, a Washington, D.C.-based startup that is now making waves in cloud observability.
Launched in January 2024, Thoras came out of stealth with a bold mission: to eliminate the trade-off between reliability and cost. Its platform leverages AI and machine learning to not only identify the root causes of system disruptions but also optimize cloud resource allocation, slashing costs while maintaining peak performance. The Rahmani sisters envisioned a world where cloud observability tools were lightweight, predictive, and adaptive—tools they wished they had during their careers as on-call engineers.
Now, less than a year later, Thoras has announced the close of a $5 million seed funding round, led by Wellington Ventures, with participation from Sinewave Ventures, Focal Ventures, Storytime Capital, and other strategic investors. This follows the company’s $1.5 million pre-seed round in March 2024, bringing its total funding to $6.5 million. The new capital will enable Thoras to expand its engineering team, enhance its adaptive reliability technology, and meet growing customer demand.
The Shift in Cloud Observability
The landscape of cloud observability has evolved dramatically. “Before, it was reliability first at all cost,” said Nilo Rahmani, CEO of Thoras. “Now, companies are paying more attention to the costs of cloud. The whole industry is being crippled by these costs, and the challenge grows exponentially as the business grows.”
Unlike traditional tools that rely heavily on large language models (LLMs), Thoras takes a more practical approach. The company’s platform uses smaller, more targeted AI models to achieve clearer ROI. “Many of our competitors are built around LLMs, which aren’t always accurate and can lead to overconsumption of resources,” Nilo added. By focusing on actionable insights and predictive analytics, Thoras stands apart in a crowded market that includes players like New Relic, Splunk, and Dynatrace.
Thoras’s platform is designed to tackle two major challenges: preventing downtime and optimizing cloud costs. The AI/ML-driven solution has proven its ability to reduce incident response times by over 50% and slash cloud costs by up to 50%. By proactively detecting anomalies and providing root cause analysis, Thoras empowers engineers to address issues before they escalate.
“We want customers to have the best of both worlds,” Nilo said. “AI/ML allows us to reduce noisy metrics and underutilized compute—without sacrificing performance. We’re proud to introduce the industry to Adaptive Reliability, a breakthrough product that proves growing enterprises no longer need to choose between reliability and cost—you can have both.”
The results speak for themselves: Thoras claims its platform can help companies identify and resolve issues 70% faster than traditional methods while saving up to 60% on cloud expenses. Its ability to predict demand fluctuations ensures companies are prepared for potential disruptions, tapping the right cloud resources at the right time.
Investor Confidence
The funding round has drawn praise from the investment community. “We’re excited to support Nilo, Jen, and the Thoras team,” said Van Jones, Deal Lead at Wellington Ventures. “As thesis-driven investors, we’ve been seeking the next generation of software that tackles major SRE and DevOps challenges. Thoras is achieving impressive results in a short amount of time and addressing critical cloud costs and uptime issues faced by companies today.”
Focal Ventures, an early backer of Thoras, also reaffirmed its confidence in the company. “From the day we led their pre-seed, Thoras has had a crystal-clear vision, been extremely customer-obsessed, and as a result, exceeded expectations at every turn,” said Pascal Ungar, Managing Partner at Focal Ventures. “With a bold vision, a fantastic team, and a superior solution, this round empowers them to transform the broken state of observability—a huge market opportunity.”
The Rahmani sisters’ journey into entrepreneurship came with its challenges. Their parents, immigrants who valued job security, were initially apprehensive about their decision to leave stable careers. “In the very beginning, [our parents] were confused and nervous for us,” Nilo shared. “They always believed in us. Now they are thrilled to see what we are doing.”
Jen Rahmani, COO, reflected on their partnership. “We’re a power duo that uses our connection as twins to better solve problems,” she said. Together, they have built a company that is not only reshaping cloud observability but also addressing a massive market need for cost-effective, reliable solutions.
What’s Next for Thoras
Thoras has focused its initial efforts on Kubernetes environments, a deliberate choice to address a significant market segment. However, the company has plans to expand its product offerings to other types of cloud software. With a 360% revenue growth in the past nine months, the company is now well-positioned to scale its operations and meet the needs of a growing customer base.
“This round was a lot more smooth sailing,” Nilo said, comparing it to the pre-seed round. “We had the traction and the metrics that prove we understand product-market fit and what we need to do to get to that next level.”
With $5 million in new funding and the unwavering support of its investors, Thoras is well on its way to addressing the pain points that have long plagued the industry. For enterprises navigating the complexities of cloud observability, the Rahmani sisters are offering more than just a tool—they’re delivering a solution they wish they’d had years ago.