# Hannes Lenke

> Hannes Lenke is the CEO and co-founder of Checkly, a code-first synthetic monitoring platform that helps engineering teams detect and resolve production issues faster. A serial founder in the software testing and reliability space, he earlier built TestObject, a mobile testing startup acquired by Sauce Labs in 2016, where he then ran EMEA operations. He teamed up with Tim Nolet and Timo Euteneuer to launch Checkly, popularizing the 'Monitoring as Code' approach built around Playwright and OpenTelemetry. Checkly has raised $32.25M to date, including a $20M Series B led by Balderton Capital in 2024.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-Founder at Checkly
- **Organizations:** Checkly, TestObject, Sauce Labs
- **Nationality:** German
- **Education:** Bachelor of Business Computing, Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin)
- **Known for:** Founded and led TestObject to an acquisition by Sauce Labs in 2016., Co-founded Checkly and grew it into a leading code-first synthetic monitoring platform., Raised $32.25M in total funding for Checkly, including a $20M Series B led by Balderton Capital.

## Career timeline

- **2008** — Completed a Bachelor of Business Computing at the Berlin School of Economics and Law.
- **2011** — Founded TestObject, a cloud-based mobile app testing company, serving as CEO.
- **2016** — TestObject acquired by Sauce Labs; Lenke became General Manager EMEA at Sauce Labs.
- **2018** — Checkly founded by Tim Nolet as a bootstrapped side project; Lenke joins as co-founder and CEO.
- **2020** — Checkly raises a $2.25M seed round led by Accel.
- **2021** — Checkly secures $10M in Series A funding for continuous API and web app testing.
- **2023** — Monitoring as Code recognized by Gartner; Checkly cited in the Gartner Hype Cycle.
- **2024** — Checkly raises a $20M Series B led by Balderton Capital, bringing total funding to $32.25M.
- **2025** — Launches Playwright Check Suites, described as the next phase of synthetic monitoring.
- **2026** — Publishes 'Checkly and the Agentic Software Layer', pushing Checkly toward AI-assisted reliability.

## Achievements

- Founded and led TestObject to an acquisition by Sauce Labs in 2016.
- Co-founded Checkly and grew it into a leading code-first synthetic monitoring platform.
- Raised $32.25M in total funding for Checkly, including a $20M Series B led by Balderton Capital.
- Popularized the 'Monitoring as Code' category, recognized by Gartner for multiple consecutive years.
- Built a remote-first company with roots in Berlin and a US presence in New York.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Published 'Checkly and the Agentic Software Layer', signaling a move toward AI-assisted, agentic monitoring.
- **2025-10** — Launched Playwright Check Suites as the next phase of synthetic monitoring.
- **2025-01** — Argued that Monitoring as Code is the future of application reliability for modern teams.
- **2024-07** — Announced Checkly's $20M Series B led by Balderton Capital.

## Links

- Website: https://checklyhq.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanneslenke/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/HLENKE
- GitHub: https://github.com/hlenke
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA-kfm4Fj80

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/hannes-lenke
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-17