Amplication builds out open source low-code, no-code platform

The world is currently short 40 million skilled tech workers, according to a report from Daxx. And it won’t get better any time soon. The staff augmentation firm estimates that dearth to exceed 85 million workers by 2030. Similarly, a 2021 McKinsey & Company global survey reported that 87% of businesses are experiencing a developer shortage or anticipate one imminently. 

Considering this lack of available talent, developers should work to their highest abilities, says Yuval Hazaz, founder and CEO of Amplication. It simply doesn’t make sense for them to waste their talent on boilerplate coding or repetitive tasks. For that reason, more companies are turning to low-code, no-code platforms that are designed to instantly generate code and can be used at nearly any skill level. 

Amplication is an emergent company in the low-code, no-code market that includes well-known competitors like, Airtable, and AppSheet, as well as and Quixy, Visual LANSA, Caspio, Creatio, and many others. 

Despite a crowded field, Amplication has gained rapid traction. The 10-employee, Tel Aviv, Israel-based company released its open-source development tool a little over a year ago to streamline and automate backend development. The platform auto-generates fully functional, human-readable, and editable apps based on TypeScript and Node.js. 

Code: When less is more

Hazaz began building the company out of his home in mid-2020, and when it was releasedin early 2021. Within hours, the platform had thousands of signups and began trending on social media. It is now supported by a community of programmers in 160 countries. 

Today, the company announced that it has raised $6.6 million in seed funding to support its open source community, product development, and the build-out of an enterprise version of the platform. 

Hazaz says what sets his company apart is its full customizability, flexibility, and extensibility. It provides developers with efficient and scalable backend code to help alleviate delays caused by repetitive coding tasks such as API creation, monitoring, and entity management. Instead, they can focus on creating valuable products, Hazaz said. 

“The outcome of our product is the outcome you wish you could create yourself,” said Hazaz. “It doesn’t replace you. You can keep working with your existing skillset, in your own environment. You don’t need to learn anything new. You can pick whatever works for you and go from there in seconds.” 

Users maintain full control, while also improving productivity, streamlining processes, and enabling faster development. They can decide what — and how much — they want to generate automatically. 

“We don’t restrict you to any boundaries, you have the freedom to choose,” Hazaz said. “That’s what’s most important for developers, psychology-wise: They want to use their skills the way they want to.” 

By developers, for developers

Hazaz set out on the open source project after experiencing the difficulties involved in managing development firsthand. He previously worked as a full-stack developer and manager in the areas of R&D, products, and engineering at Tel Aviv-based Q-nomy, Inc., and was frustrated by repetitive coding and undifferentiated tasks that were “too heavy, too costly.” Hazaz says he was  looking for a way to make things more automated and focused on product rather than process. 

“I built Amplication as an open source project to make coding more efficient by eliminating repetitive coding tasks — a prevalent issue that plagues developers,” he said. “I have dedicated my time to solving this problem.”

And it’s paying off. The $6.6 million infusion of capital comes from Norwest Venture Partners and Vertex Ventures Israel, joined by Entrée Capital, Velocity Ventures and angel investors including the founders of Datorama (acquired by Salesforce), Epsagon (acquired by Cisco) and Bridgecrew (acquired by Palo Alto Networks). Amplication will leverage this to double its headcount —to 20—over the next 12 months and further develop its enterprise version, which will include more advanced architecture, governance, component sharing, team collaboration, privacy, and security features. 

The company’s efforts continue to be bolstered by widespread community adoption, with thousands of programmers using the platform and actively contributing to its development. “The power of open source is a huge multiplier,” Hazaz said. “They’re not on our payroll, but they help move everything forward.”

Ultimately, “it’s built by developers for developers,” Hazaz said. “We’re letting the community be part of the roadmap. That’s how we’re getting all the traction we’ve been getting.”