Vancouver-based Unblocked raises $27.5M to help developers bridge the understanding gap in AI-generated code with contextual intelligence tools.
Bringing Context to Code in the AI Era
Vancouver-based tech startup Unblocked has successfully raised $27.5 million CAD ($20 million USD) in a Series A funding round. The company’s mission: to ensure developers fully grasp the intent and structure of AI-generated code—a rapidly growing challenge as artificial intelligence becomes a staple in software development.
From Writers to Curators: The Evolving Developer Role
“AI is transforming developers from code writers into code curators,” said Dennis Pilarinos, CEO and founder of Unblocked. While AI can churn out syntax, it rarely documents the rationale, trade-offs, or system-level implications behind its choices. This missing context creates a significant knowledge gap when teams need to debug, maintain, or scale codebases.
Unblocked was originally built to capture the “why” behind past coding decisions. Now, it’s helping teams understand the “what” and “how” of code written by AI. The platform achieves this by integrating with collaborative platforms like GitHub and Slack, enabling it to track code discussions, decisions, and historical insights.
A Strategic Investment in Developer Enablement
Leading the all-equity Series A round is B Capital, a Manhattan Beach-based venture firm, with additional support from Radical Ventures and Artisanal Ventures. Notable angel investors, including Clio CEO Jack Newton, also participated. B Capital’s general partner, Yan-David Erlich, will now join Unblocked’s board.
The newly secured funds will be used to expand Unblocked’s contextual intelligence engine and deepen integrations with tools developers already rely on. Pilarinos shared that the team plans to grow from 18 to nearly 60 employees, hiring across engineering, marketing, and sales.
From Stealth to Spotlight
Unblocked exited stealth mode in October 2023. Since then, it has been quietly building its capabilities to answer critical developer questions like: “Why does this function exist?” or “How did this architecture evolve?” The company traces its roots back to Buddybuild, a previous venture by Pilarinos that was acquired by Apple in 2018 and folded into Xcode Cloud.
By centralizing the conversation and decisions around code, Unblocked is positioning itself as a vital tool in the new age of AI-assisted programming—where understanding the “why” is just as important as the “what.”
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