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Key people at AppJet, Inc..
Founded in 2007 by David Greenspan, Aaron Iba, and JD Zamfirescu, AppJet was a San Francisco, California-based software startup providing an online platform for building and hosting simple web applications directly within a web browser. Backed by early-stage investor Y Combinator, the three-employee company allowed programmers to write server and client-side JavaScript in a web-based text editor and instantly publish live apps to unique URLs with built-in database libraries and Facebook API integrations. The team eventually pivoted their core technology to pioneer EtherPad, which successfully operated as the technology industry's first in-browser real-time collaborative word processor. Google acquired the business in 2009 to integrate its real-time synchronization capabilities directly into the Google Wave platform. Following the Google acquisition, the EtherPad software was open-sourced and ultimately influenced modern collaborative workspace products like Dropbox Paper.
AppJet, Inc. was a pioneering web-based platform that enabled users to build and host full web applications directly in their browser using a single JavaScript framework, complete with an online IDE, persistent storage up to 50 MiB, and custom domains.[1] Targeted at developers and beginners alike, it solved the problem of fragmented web development by unifying client- and server-side coding, offering free hosting, and providing an embedded IDE for tutorials—launching its public beta in 2007 and gaining early traction via Y Combinator funding before shutting down in 2009 and being acquired by Google.[1] A modern revival, Appjet.ai, emerged independently in August 2025 as an AI-powered iteration, while recent profiles describe a San Francisco-based software firm with $3 million in revenue focused on custom software and AI support engineering tools that streamline response times.[2][4][1]
AppJet was founded in 2007 by three MIT graduates, including two former Google engineers, who created a novel browser-based platform for web app development after receiving Y Combinator funding that summer.[1] The idea emerged from the need for a unified JavaScript environment to simplify full-stack web apps, leading to a public beta launch on December 12, 2007, and innovations like an August 2008 programming tutorial with an embedded IDE for beginners—one of the first of its kind.[1] Early milestones included a graphical site update in July 2008 and features like free hosting and a forum, but the company closed operations on July 1, 2009, to pursue other ventures before Google acquired it on December 4, 2009, for an undisclosed sum; a new AI-focused Appjet.ai relaunched independently on August 27, 2025.[1]
AppJet rode the early wave of cloud-based, no-setup development tools amid the AJAX and Web 2.0 boom, pioneering browser-native IDEs and full-stack JavaScript at a time when server-client divides dominated, influencing platforms like Glitch and Replit.[1] Its timing capitalized on rising demand for accessible web app creation post-2007, backed by Y Combinator's ecosystem, and its Google acquisition amplified serverless and online coding concepts in tools like Google Apps Script.[1] The 2025 Appjet.ai revival aligns with AI-driven devtools, addressing support bottlenecks in a market favoring efficiency amid scaling custom software needs, subtly shaping no-code/low-code trends and AI augmentation for engineers.[4][2]
AppJet's legacy as a trailblazing web dev platform positions its 2025 AI reincarnation to capitalize on generative AI's role in automating support and coding workflows, potentially expanding into broader devops tools. Trends like agentic AI and real-time collaboration will propel growth, evolving its influence from historical innovator to modern efficiency booster in a $3M-revenue software firm. This full-circle story underscores how early browser experiments now fuel AI-native development.
Key people at AppJet, Inc..
