Datadog veterans launch AI coding startup Niteshift on a bet against Big AI lock-in
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- Niteshift raised $7 million in a seed round led by Greylock partner Jerry Chen.
- Niteshift will route coding requests between models such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and open‑source options based on project needs.
- Niteshift sells its service as infrastructure with per‑minute usage rates, rather than token‑based pricing.
- Niteshift positions itself as a safeguard against model‑vendor lock‑in, citing concerns about giants like OpenAI and Anthropic.
- Niteshift faces competition from AI coding tools like Cursor, Cognition, Amazon Bedrock, and OpenRouter.
- Niteshift was founded by former Datadog engineers Sajid Mehmood (CEO) and Conor Branagan, who helped scale Datadog to a multi‑billion‑dollar valuation.
- Niteshift attracted angel investors Reid Hoffman, Olivier Pomel, Alexis Lê‑Quôc, Ankur Goyal, and Misha Laskin.
Why it matters: Enterprises that rely on AI‑generated code gain a vendor‑agnostic platform that lets them switch between models, reducing dependence on OpenAI, Anthropic, or other providers, while those providers lose a direct revenue channel. Niteshift captures revenue by charging per‑minute usage, shifting the market from token‑based AI services to cloud‑style infrastructure.
