Tangled Raises $4.5M to Build European Alternative to GitHub

Tangled, a code collaboration platform positioning itself as a European alternative to GitHub, announced it has closed a $4.5 million seed funding round. The round was led by byFounders, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto and existing investor Antler. Angel investors include Thomas Dohmke (former CEO of GitHub), Avery Pennarun (CEO of Tailscale), Mårten Mickos (former CEO of MySQL and HackerOne), and Sami Honkonen (Finnish angel investor and founder of DIAS).

Tangled was founded by brothers Akshay and Anirudh Oppiliappan, who have backgrounds in building distributed systems and code intelligence platforms. With Akshay based in London and Anirudh in Helsinki, Tangled reflects cross-border European roots.

The company aims to address issues of data sovereignty and developer control. According to CEO Anirudh Oppiliappan, most of the world’s code is currently governed by U.S. jurisdiction on platforms like GitHub, which has operated under Microsoft ownership since 2018. Anirudh highlights concerns within the developer community about Microsoft’s terms for using code to train artificial intelligence models, stating that “for some developers and organisations, that’s not acceptable. They want ownership over their intellectual property and control over how it’s used.”

Tangled enables users to self-host code on their own infrastructure via a lightweight server called a "Knot". Code hosted on a Knot federates into the Tangled network, maintaining a decentralised but familiar development experience. This approach appeals to researchers, universities, and independent developers who require greater control over their codebases.

Tangled is also rethinking the pull request workflow, widely used for code review on platforms like GitHub. Recognising the limitations of traditional pull requests in today’s AI-assisted coding environment, the company introduced stacked pull requests—smaller, independently reviewable code changes—designed with input from an engineer experienced in large-scale version control.

The platform is built on the AT Protocol, allowing both human users and AI agents to participate in code collaboration without proprietary API restrictions. Tangled reports that autonomous agents have already begun using its system to create repositories and submit code, reflecting the increasing role of AI in software development.

Currently, Tangled focuses on serving independent developers and open-source communities. Its funding model draws inspiration from Tailscale, offering core services free to individuals and open-source users while planning to charge businesses for advanced enterprise features. The company emphasises that it will not place core functionality behind paywalls.

Tangled’s active user community includes around 900 Discord members and 18,000 followers on Bluesky. The team also intends to integrate community discussion spaces directly into the platform, aiming to unify fragmented project conversations.

The founders selected investors who share their philosophy of community-driven, transparent development. byFounders, known for its openness, and Bain Capital Crypto, which supports the AT Protocol, join the funding round alongside industry experts.

The $4.5 million investment will support Tangled’s ambition to scale its platform as a foundational environment for code collaboration, particularly for those seeking alternatives to U.S.-centric platforms.

Source: tech.eu