Elastic vs Redis: Founders, CEOs and History
Elastic was founded in 2012 by Shay Banon, Steven Schuurman, Uri Boness and is led by Ashutosh (Ash) Kulkarni. Redis was founded in 2011 by Salvatore Sanfilippo, Ofer Bengal, Yiftach Shoolman and is led by Rowan Trollope.
Company facts
Founders
Elastic
Shay Banon
Shay Banon is a brilliant software engineer and the creator of Elasticsearch, serving as the co-founder and original driving force behind Elastic.
Steven Schuurman
Steven Schuurman is a highly prominent Dutch technology entrepreneur and the co-founder and inaugural CEO of Elastic.
Uri Boness
Uri Boness is an incredibly brilliant software engineer and the profoundly influential co-founder fundamentally responsible for architecting the massive early search infrastructure of Elastic.
Simon Willnauer
Simon Willnauer is a highly distinguished computer scientist, globally recognized open-source pioneer, and the massively influential co-founder fundamentally responsible for the core technological dominance of Elastic.
Redis
Salvatore Sanfilippo
Salvatore Sanfilippo (known as 'antirez') is an absolutely legendary Italian software engineer, fiercely brilliant open-source architect, and the profoundly influential founding patriarch fundamentally responsible for inventing the massively dominant Redis dat…
Ofer Bengal
Ofer Bengal is a highly astute Israeli technology entrepreneur, fiercely visionary corporate executive, and the profoundly influential CEO and commercial co-founder fundamentally responsible for corporatizing the massively successful Redis open-source project…
Yiftach Shoolman
Yiftach Shoolman is an absolutely brilliant software engineer, fiercely skilled digital architect, and the profoundly influential CTO and technical co-founder fundamentally responsible for programming the incredibly complex enterprise-grade clustering bedrock…
CEOs and their tenures
Elastic
- Steven Schuurman2012–2017
Chief Executive Officer
Co-founder and first CEO, who built Elastic's early commercial organization after co-founding SpringSource.
Source - Shay Banon2017–2022
Chief Executive Officer (now Chief Technology Officer)
Created Elasticsearch, led Elastic as CEO through its 2018 IPO and the 2021 license change, and remains CTO and a board member.
Source - Ashutosh (Ash) Kulkarni2022–present
Chief Executive Officer
Joined Elastic in 2019 as chief product officer and became CEO in January 2022; previously held product leadership roles at Akamai and McAfee. Led the Search AI repositioning and the push into large multi-year platform deals.
Source
Redis
- Yiftach Shoolman2011–present
Co-Founder
Led product engineering and enterprise scaling for the in-memory data structure platform, overseeing the critical modules and cluster architectures adopted by Fortune 500 companies.
Source - Rowan Trollope2023–present
Chief Executive Officer
Steered Redis into the generative AI era, optimized enterprise SaaS operations, and established long-term commercial software defensibility.
Source
Timeline: Elastic and Redis side by side
2009Redis
Salvatore Sanfilippo Releases Open-Source Redis
Developed in Sicily as an in-memory key-value store for web log analysis, Redis was open-sourced on GitHub in March 2009.
2010Elastic
Shay Banon Releases Elasticsearch 0.4
Open-sourced the first standalone version of Elasticsearch, igniting viral developer adoption.
2011Redis
Garantia Data Founded by Bengal and Shoolman
Ofer Bengal and Yiftach Shoolman established Garantia Data in Tel Aviv to provide automated cloud hosting for Redis.
2012Elastic
Elasticsearch BV (Elastic) Founded in Amsterdam
Shay Banon, Steven Schuurman, Uri Boness, and Simon Willnauer formally established Elastic.
2014Redis
Company Rebranded to Redis Labs
Adopted the name Redis Labs to emphasize its commitment to the in-memory technology ecosystem and multi-cloud DBaaS.
2015Elastic
Launch of Elastic Cloud (Hosted Elasticsearch SaaS)
Introduced managed cloud service, transforming Elastic into a recurring SaaS business.
2015Redis
Salvatore Sanfilippo Joins Redis Labs
Redis Labs hired creator Salvatore Sanfilippo to lead open-source architecture while expanding commercial enterprise modules.
2018Elastic
Initial Public Offering on NYSE (Ticker: ESTC)
Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, raising $252 million at a $2.5 billion valuation.
2019Redis
Introduction of Redis Streams and Multi-Model Features
Expanded beyond caching into stream processing, JSON document storage, full-text search, and graph modeling.
2020Redis
Sanfilippo Steps Down & $100M Series F Unicorn Round
Sanfilippo transitioned leadership to the community; Redis Labs raised $100M at a $1B+ valuation during the cloud migration boom.
2021Redis
Rebranded to Redis & $110M Series G at $4 Billion Valuation
Officially rebranded to Redis; raised $110M led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global, crossing $100M ARR.
2022Elastic
Ashutosh Kulkarni Appointed Chief Executive Officer
Chief product officer Ash Kulkarni succeeded Shay Banon as CEO in January 2022; Banon became CTO.
2023Elastic
Launch of Elasticsearch Vector Database & Hybrid Search for AI
Engineered native vector search and Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF) for Generative AI RAG.
2023Redis
Rowan Trollope Appointed CEO
Former Five9 CEO Rowan Trollope took the helm, prioritizing enterprise cloud ARR, profitability, and AI vector caching.
2024Elastic
Release of ES|QL (Elasticsearch Pipelined Query Language)
Debuted influential query engine executing complex search, analytics, and security queries in memory.
2024Redis
Speedb Acquisition & Dual Source-Available Licensing
Acquired storage engine Speedb to launch Redis Flex; updated software licensing to RSALv2 and SSPL.
2026Elastic
Fiscal 2026 revenue reaches $1.739 billion
Revenue grew 17% in the year ended April 30, 2026, with $346 million in adjusted free cash flow.
2026Elastic
Elasticsearch Vector Database launched
Released a serverless vector database for large-scale AI search on September 11, 2026.
2026Redis
Surpasses $300M ARR Driven by GenAI Vector Caching
Crossed $300 million in ARR, establishing Redis as the premier operational memory layer for enterprise AI agents.
Acquisitions
Elastic
- Keep2025Undisclosed
- Jina AI2025Undisclosed
- Cmd2021Undisclosed
- Optimyze2021Undisclosed
- Endgame, Inc.2019$234M
- Opbeat & Prelert2017Undisclosed
Redis
- Decodable2025Undisclosed
- Featureform2025Undisclosed
- Speedb2024Undisclosed
- RDBTools (Alkaline Computing)2019Undisclosed
Questions about Elastic vs Redis
Who is the CEO of Elastic and Redis, Inc.?
Elastic is led by Ashutosh (Ash) Kulkarni and Redis, Inc. is led by Rowan Trollope. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Elastic founded vs Redis, Inc.?
Redis, Inc. was founded in 2011 — 1 year before Elastic, which was founded in 2012. Redis, Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Elastic.
How many employees does Elastic have compared to Redis, Inc.?
Elastic employs approximately 4,019 people, while Redis, Inc. employs approximately 1,300. Elastic has the larger workforce at 4,019 employees, compared to Redis, Inc.'s 1,300. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Elastic and Redis, Inc. headquartered?
Both Elastic and Redis, Inc. are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Elastic and Redis, Inc.?
Elastic was founded by Shay Banon, Steven Schuurman, Uri Boness, Simon Willnauer. Redis, Inc. was founded by Salvatore Sanfilippo, Ofer Bengal, Yiftach Shoolman.
Which company has a longer operating history — Elastic or Redis, Inc.?
Redis, Inc. has been operating for approximately 15 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Elastic has been in operation for around 14 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Elastic vs Redis overview