QueryPal
Critical correction (May 2026 refresh)
The prior wiki claim that QueryPal was Lightspeed-led was incorrect. Primary sources (Sequoia’s own announcement bylined by partner Bill Coughran, SiliconANGLE’s stealth-emergence coverage, Dev Nag’s Pulse2 interview, LinkedIn, Tracxn) all converge on:
- $5.2M seed Dec 2022, Sequoia + Engineering Capital co-led (lead = Bill Coughran at Sequoia)
- Lightspeed was a participant (along with Kearny Jackson, Webb) — NOT a lead
- $18.1M total figure is aggregator artifact (Pitchbook/CB Insights heuristic), not a verified Series A
- Dev Nag in Pulse2 interview: “both rounds” were Sequoia-led
Implication: Lightspeed is RESTORED to fully clean Tier-A lane for Init Intelligence fundraise. The previously-flagged “soft portfolio overlap” was based on wrong data.
Counter-implication: Sequoia adds a third small portfolio adjacency (QueryPal alongside Serval + Edra), but QueryPal is now Tier-C / borderline-adjacent — doesn’t materially change Sequoia’s already-locked-out status.
Snapshot
- HQ: San Francisco (NOT Larkspur — wiki HQ was wrong)
- Founded: May 2020 (legal entity originally CtrlStack DevOps, pivoted via PromptOps → QueryPal AI CS)
- Founders: Dev Nag — solo CEO. Ex-Google → PayPal → founder/CTO Wavefront (Sequoia → VMware acquisition 2017) → VMware AIOps lead. Founding engineers: Mike McMahon, Yanislav Yankov, GK Brar, Vasily Vorontsov
- Funding: ~$5.2M total (Sequoia + Engineering Capital co-led Dec 2022 + Lightspeed/Kearny Jackson/Webb participation)
- Revenue: ~1M, seed-scale
- Headcount: ~10 employees
- Threat level: Tier-C (downgrade from Tier-B after refresh)
Pitch + product
- Positioning shift May 2026: “resolution, not deflection” (moving AWAY from deflection-first framing)
- Products: Intercept (email draft), Concierge (deflection chatbot), Prism (analytics)
- Confirmed customers: JetBrains (92% agent upvote on AI-drafted replies), Simply Benefits
Company history (the pivot chain)
| Year | Identity | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | CtrlStack | DevOps tooling |
| ~2023 | PromptOps | LLM-for-DevOps |
| 2024+ | QueryPal | AI CS / helpdesk |
Same legal entity throughout; ctrlstack.com 302-redirects to querypal.com.
Exit watchlist
April 2025 M&A offer received (terms undisclosed per Latka). Track for possible exit; sub-$1M ARR + Sequoia-backed + 5 years old = exit-window characteristic.
Related
- sequoia-capital — primary investor (lead at seed)
- lightspeed — small non-lead participant only (clean lane restored)
- risotto — overlay-pattern peer
- itsm-landscape