In a world where software is increasingly written and maintained by teams using different styles and tools, understanding unfamiliar codebases is a growing challenge. To address this, veteran developer Dennis Pilarinos created Unblocked, an AI-powered assistant designed to help developers quickly navigate and understand complex code.
Unblocked functions as a contextual knowledge platform for developers, answering specific questions about code and streamlining software development workflows. On Tuesday, the company announced it had raised $20 million in Series A funding, led by B Capital and Radical Ventures. This brings Unblocked’s total funding to $30 million, with prior backing from Amplify Partners, First Round Capital, and XYZ Capital.
Solving the Codebase Complexity Problem
Despite widespread adoption of best practices and internal documentation, many developers still struggle to understand legacy code or work written by colleagues. “Developers trying to get the information they want is quite painful and time-consuming,” said Pilarinos in a recent interview. “We wanted to use all the data, code, and tribal knowledge of conversations to present developers with easy answers.”
Unblocked integrates with popular developer tools like Slack, Jira, Confluence, Google Drive, and Notion, creating a unified layer of intelligence over a company’s software infrastructure. Developers can ask questions such as “Where do we define user metrics in our system?” or “Who modified the authentication module last?”, and receive context-aware answers immediately.
Built by a Developer Tool Expert
Dennis Pilarinos is no stranger to building tools for developers. A former director at Microsoft and Amazon, he worked on both Azure and AWS platforms. He later founded Buddybuild, a continuous integration platform for remote teams, which was acquired by Apple in 2018. Pilarinos then spent two years helping build Xcode Cloud, Apple’s cloud-based CI platform.
With his new venture, Pilarinos aims to eliminate hours of lost productivity. For example, Unblocked customers like Drata, AppDirect, Big Cartel, and TravelPerk report saving one to two hours per engineer per week by using the tool.
Unblocked is more than a Q&A engine. It’s evolving into a platform that actively assists with project workflows. One standout feature under development is Autonomous CI Triage, which helps developers test and debug code through multiple scenarios automatically — reducing the time spent in manual triage.
The startup is also working to integrate with platforms like Cursor and Lovable, aiming to improve how AI explains code to humans. This move could make AI programming tools not just faster but also more transparent.
Unblocked also includes admin-friendly controls that make onboarding simple for system administrators, ensuring security and oversight for engineering teams at scale.
AI and the Future of Software Development
As AI-generated code becomes more common, tools like Unblocked may become essential. Rob Toews, a partner at Radical Ventures, believes Unblocked solves a growing pain point. “Much of the software in the future will be written by AI,” he said. “That creates new challenges. People won’t understand when, why, and how code was written.”
He compares Unblocked to Glean, an AI-powered enterprise search tool that helps companies make sense of large datasets. “Unblocked will do the same for codebases,” Toews explained, highlighting the importance of tools that turn complex information into usable insights.
With rising demand for tools that demystify AI-written code, Unblocked is well-positioned to lead a new category of developer support platforms. As software complexity grows, solutions like Unblocked could redefine how developers interact with their code — making software development faster, smarter, and more collaborative.
