Replit CEO Masad opens London office, mocks Silicon Valley
Replit CEO Amjad Masad announced the AI coding startup's first overseas office in London, aiming for 100 staff there by early next year.
Amjad Masad, CEO of the San Francisco-based AI coding startup Replit, said the company could hire up to 100 staff in London by early next year. He made the announcement yesterday at the launch event for Replit's first overseas office, a European hub in the capital.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan also spoke at the event. Replit joins other US tech firms like OpenAI and Anthropic in establishing a presence in London's King's Cross area.
Launching a European hub
Replit has already hired around 20 employees in London across sales, support, and engineering roles in just a few weeks. Masad stated the London office would serve as the hub for the company's European operations. The plan to grow to 100 staff early next year is contingent on the pace of AI adoption. The company also intends to open offices in Tokyo and New York.
Contrasting cultures: Valley monoculture vs. London diversity
Speaking at the opening, Masad praised San Francisco but criticized its insular tech culture. "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.
Mayor Sadiq Khan claimed London holds a unique position. He said Europe's cultural, technology, financial, and political capitals were all located in the city, calling it a "massive, massive advantage for somebody thinking about starting up, scaling up or expanding AI."
A call for open and accessible AI
Masad commented on the government's role in the AI sector, emphasizing the need for fair competition. "One of the first things is maintaining a level playing field," he stated. "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."
Replit's position and funding
Founded a decade ago, Replit is a leader in 'vibecoding', where non-coders and developers use AI to build software. The company also offers an AI agent capable of deploying software applications. It reports having more than 60 million users globally, including users from 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies.
Its enterprise client list includes PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst & Young, and Mercedes-Benz. In March of this year, Replit raised $400 million in a funding round that included Databricks Ventures, Okta Ventures, and Shaquille O’Neal, achieving a valuation of $9 billion.
