Stacklok — Series B — Dossier — StoryHouse Ventures

One-Liner & Thesis

Stacklok is a self-hosted, Kubernetes-native platform for AI agent governance — letting enterprises connect AI agents to sensitive systems without ceding control to a single model provider. The wedge is the founders: Craig McLuckie (CEO) and Joe Beda (CTO) are co-creators of Kubernetes and prior Heptio co-founders, sold to VMware for $550M.

Joe joined Stacklok in April 2026 and is now listed as a co-founder on Crunchbase; Miles has reached out for a catch-up call. The company has shipped open-source ToolHive (Apache 2.0, maintained with Red Hat) and the MCP registry, and is backed by Accel, Bain Capital Ventures, and Madrona through prior Seed and Series A rounds. The Series B is the SH entry point under evaluation.

Founders

Joe Beda

CTO & Co-Founder

Co-creator of Kubernetes and previously co-founder of Heptio, which exited to VMware for $550M. Joined Stacklok in April 2026 as CTO and is now listed as co-founder on Crunchbase. Reunites with Craig McLuckie, his Heptio and Kubernetes co-creator.

Open Questions & Risks

Series B entry: Joining at the Series B stage means pricing against Accel/Bain/Madrona's prior marks; SH check size and ownership target are unconfirmed.
Founder dynamics: Joe arrived as CTO only two months ago — durability of the Beda/McLuckie reunion at scale is unproven this cycle.
Open-source monetization: ToolHive is Apache 2.0 and maintained with Red Hat; conversion path from community to paid enterprise tier is unaddressed.
Crowded AI-agent platform space: MCP-server / agent-governance category is rapidly commoditizing across hyperscalers and incumbents.

Next Steps

Miles to take a catch-up call with Joe Beda following his LinkedIn outreach.
Confirm Series B round size, valuation, lead, and SH allocation availability.
Assess enterprise traction, paying customers, and applied-AI-engineer business model.

Latest Meeting Notes

2026-06-07 Internal note Joe Beda joined as CTO; SH outreach in motion

Internal note flagging that Joe Beda joined Stacklok in April 2026 as CTO/co-founder, reuniting with Heptio co-founder Craig McLuckie. Miles has reached out for a catch-up.

Team: McLuckie (CEO) and Beda (CTO) are co-creators of Kubernetes; prior Heptio exit to VMware at $550M.
Product: Self-hosted, Kubernetes-native AI agent governance platform; building blocks of agentic workflows (MCP servers, skills, environments, harnesses).
Open-source posture: ToolHive (Apache 2.0) co-maintained with Red Hat; team includes maintainers of the official MCP registry.
Backing: Accel, Bain Capital Ventures, Madrona through Seed and Series A.
Next step: Miles to land a catch-up call with Joe.

Source: Meeting Notes recOynDjJX3koDWTX

One-Liner & Thesis

Deal Box

Company Snapshot

Founders

Open Questions & Risks

Next Steps

Latest Meeting Notes

Deal Timeline