Replit CEO Opens London Office, Critiques Silicon Valley
Replit CEO Amjad Masad announced the AI coding startup's first overseas office in London, targeting 100 staff by early next year.
Amjad Masad, co-founder and CEO of San Francisco-based AI coding startup Replit, announced the opening of its first overseas office in London yesterday. The company plans to hire up to 100 staff there by early next year, depending on AI adoption rates, and has already onboarded around 20 employees in a few weeks.
Masad made the announcement at a launch event for the European hub, which was also attended by London Mayor Sadiq Khan. The new King's Cross office places Replit alongside other US tech firms like OpenAI and Anthropic that have recently expanded into the area.
Contrasting Tech Cultures
Speaking at the opening, Masad offered a critique of his home base. "I love San Francisco. Silicon Valley is obviously a place that has given me a lot," he said. "But there is like one major downside, which is it’s a bit of a monoculture. Everyone speaks the same language."
He contrasted this with his experience in London. "When I come to London, I meet artists, I meet people in finance, I meet filmmakers." Masad argued that a diverse workforce and environment help generate more diverse ideas.
London's Claim as a European Hub
Mayor Sadiq Khan championed London's position at the event. He claimed that Europe's cultural, technology, financial, and political capitals were all located in London. Khan stated this convergence was a "massive, massive advantage for somebody thinking about starting up, scaling up or expanding AI."
The London office will serve as a hub for Replit's European operations. To date, hires have spanned sales, support, and engineering roles. The company also has plans to open offices in Tokyo and New York.
Replit's Market Position and Call for Open AI
Founded ten years ago, Replit is a leader in 'vibecoding,' where non-coders and developers build software using AI. The platform also features an AI agent capable of deploying software applications. The company reports having more than 60 million users worldwide, including users at 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies.
Its enterprise client list includes PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst & Young, and Mercedes-Benz. In March this year, Replit raised $400 million in a funding round from a consortium including Databricks Ventures, Okta Ventures, Shaquille O’Neal, and Y Combinator, achieving a $9 billion valuation.
Commenting on the government's role in AI, Masad emphasized the need for fair competition. "One of the first things is maintaining a level playing field," he said. "We don’t want to see what happened in the last generation of platforms happen again, meaning we don’t want just two or three companies controlling all of AI. We want open source AI, we want accessible AI."
