Ankit Sobti, co-founder and Field CTO of Postman, helped build the company's core technology and scale its API platform for developers and enterprises.
Ankit Sobti co-founded Postman and helped turn it into a global API platform. Explore his career, technology leadership, funding and AI strategy.
Written by TFN Research Desk | covering startups, technology, venture capital, and business strategy.
Table of Contents
- Who is Ankit Sobti?
- Early Life and Education
- Career Before Postman
- How Postman Started
- Funding History
- Revenue Growth and Recent Developments
- Public Recognition
- Postman vs Competitors
- Investor Perspective
- Founder Timeline
- Key Takeaways
- FAQs
- Sources
- SEO Metadata Block
Who is Ankit Sobti?
Ankit Sobti is the Co-founder and Field CTO of Postman, the API development and collaboration platform he built with Abhinav Asthana and Abhijit Kane. He joined the founding team as Postman’s usage began growing rapidly in 2014 and has played a key role in developing the company’s technology platform. His current work focuses on APIs, AI agents, developer experience and enterprise software.
Early Life and Education
Sobti holds a B.E. from Netaji Subhas University of Technology and an MBA from the Indian School of Business. His academic background combines engineering with business management, which later became useful as Postman developed from a developer utility into a broader software platform.
His career has remained closely connected to engineering and technology. His experience building software products gave him a practical understanding of the problems developers face when designing, testing and managing APIs.
Career Before Postman
Before Postman, Sobti worked in engineering roles at Adobe and Yahoo. It was at Yahoo where he met Abhinav Asthana, who would later create the initial Postman product.
His engineering background exposed him to the challenges involved in developing and testing software at scale. When Asthana’s API testing project began gaining traction, Sobti joined him along with Abhijit Kane to help develop the product into a company.
How Postman Started
Postman began as a side project created by Abhinav Asthana to make API testing easier. The tool gained traction among developers because it simplified a workflow that was often cumbersome and fragmented.
Sobti and Kane joined Asthana in building the company in 2014 as Postman’s usage increased. The founding team gradually expanded the product from a simple API testing utility into a broader API development and collaboration platform.
Postman now covers multiple stages of the API lifecycle, including API design, testing, documentation, collaboration and management. This evolution has made the platform relevant to both individual developers and large engineering teams.
Sobti’s technology leadership has been particularly important as Postman has moved beyond its original use case and into enterprise software and AI-related development.
Funding History
| Round | Year | Amount | Lead Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Funding | 2016 | Not publicly disclosed | Nexus Venture Partners |
| Series A | 2019 | $7 million | Nexus Venture Partners |
| Series B | 2020 | $150 million | Insight Partners |
| Series C | 2021 | $225 million | Coatue |
Postman raised significant venture funding as its developer community expanded. The company’s 2020 Series B valued Postman at approximately $2 billion, while the 2021 Series C valued the company at approximately $5.6 billion.
Revenue Growth and Recent Developments
| Fiscal Year | Revenue | Profit/Loss |
|---|---|---|
| Latest publicly disclosed | Not publicly disclosed | Not publicly disclosed |
Postman remains privately held, so detailed current revenue and profitability figures are not consistently publicly disclosed.
The company’s strategic focus has increasingly moved beyond traditional API testing. APIs are becoming increasingly important to AI systems and autonomous software agents, creating a new opportunity for Postman’s platform.
Postman’s current materials state that the company has more than 40 million users and 500,000 companies. The platform’s scale gives the company a significant developer distribution advantage as it moves into AI-native software development.
Sobti’s current Field CTO role places him close to these technology developments, particularly around APIs, AI agents and enterprise developer workflows.
Public Recognition
Sobti has built his public profile primarily through his technology work at Postman rather than through traditional founder awards.
His current professional activity includes writing and speaking about APIs, AI agents, developer experience and enterprise software. His role as Field CTO also places him at the intersection of Postman’s engineering capabilities and the needs of developers and enterprise customers.
Postman vs Competitors
| Company | Founded | Positioning |
|---|---|---|
| Postman | 2014 | API development and collaboration |
| Swagger | 2011 | API design and documentation |
| Insomnia | 2014 | API development and testing |
| Apidog | 2021 | API design, testing and development |
Postman’s advantage comes from its broad API lifecycle platform and large developer community. It has moved beyond testing to provide tools for designing, documenting, testing and managing APIs.
The challenge is that developers have many specialised tools available, while AI coding platforms are also changing how software is created. Postman needs to ensure that its platform remains central to modern engineering workflows.
Investor Perspective
Sobti’s strongest qualification is his engineering background. Unlike founders who enter technology after identifying a business opportunity, he had direct experience with the technical problems Postman was designed to solve.
His contribution became especially important as Postman evolved from a developer tool into an enterprise platform. Building for millions of developers requires reliability, scalability and a strong understanding of developer workflows.
The next major opportunity is AI. As AI agents increasingly interact with APIs, developers will need better tools for discovering, testing, documenting and securing those interfaces.
The risk is that AI could also automate parts of traditional development workflows. Postman’s challenge is therefore to ensure that AI becomes a reason to use its platform more, rather than a reason to use it less.
Sobti’s Field CTO role gives him an important position in that transition. His technical focus can help Postman adapt its platform while maintaining the developer-first approach that helped it grow.
Founder Timeline
- Before 2014: Works in engineering roles at Adobe and Yahoo.
- Before 2014: Meets Abhinav Asthana at Yahoo.
- 2014: Joins Asthana and Abhijit Kane in building Postman.
- 2016: Postman raises early venture funding.
- 2019: Postman raises $7 million Series A.
- 2020: Postman raises $150 million Series B.
- 2021: Postman raises $225 million Series C and reaches approximately $5.6 billion valuation.
- 2026: Postman reports more than 40 million users and 500,000 companies.
- 2026: Sobti continues as Field CTO and focuses on APIs, AI agents and enterprise software.
Key Takeaways
- Ankit Sobti co-founded Postman with Abhinav Asthana and Abhijit Kane.
- He joined the founding team in 2014 as Postman’s usage began growing rapidly.
- He previously worked at Adobe and Yahoo.
- He currently serves as Field CTO and Co-founder of Postman.
- His current focus includes APIs, AI agents, developer experience and enterprise software.
FAQs
Who founded Postman?
Abhinav Asthana, Ankit Sobti and Abhijit Kane co-founded Postman.
What is Ankit Sobti’s current role?
He is the Field CTO and Co-founder of Postman.
When did Ankit Sobti join Postman?
Sobti joined Asthana and Kane in building Postman in 2014 as the product’s usage began growing rapidly.
What did Ankit Sobti do before Postman?
He worked in engineering roles at Adobe and Yahoo.
Where did Ankit Sobti study?
He holds a B.E. from Netaji Subhas University of Technology and an MBA from the Indian School of Business.
What does Postman do?
Postman provides tools for designing, testing, documenting, collaborating on and managing APIs.
How much funding has Postman raised?
Postman raised major venture rounds including a $150 million Series B in 2020 and a $225 million Series C in 2021.
What is Postman’s valuation?
The company was valued at approximately $5.6 billion following its 2021 Series C funding.
Is Postman profitable?
Current revenue and profitability figures are not publicly disclosed because Postman is privately held.
What does Ankit Sobti focus on?
His current work includes APIs, AI agents, developer experience and enterprise software.
What is Ankit Sobti’s net worth?
His current personal net worth is not publicly disclosed.
Sources
- Postman, Official Website
Postman - Postman, Press and Media
Postman Press and Media - Postman, Company Blog
Postman Blog - Insight Partners, Postman Investment and Founder Story
Insight Partners - Nexus Venture Partners, Postman
Nexus Venture Partners - Postman, Series C Funding and API Development
Postman Series C Announcement
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