apache-kafka
(3)
Conduktor found Kafka’s bottleneck. It was the queue for permission.
Kafka moves data in real time. The people around it often move at the speed of an approval ticket. Conduktor sells a way to close that gap without surrendering control.
StreamNative Wants the Stream to Outlive the Broker
The Apache Pulsar founders built a company to manage the messages that keep modern businesses moving. Now they are making a more provocative bet: the data should be able to leave the broker behind.
Confluent
Confluent is the data streaming company founded by the original creators of Apache Kafka. Its Data Streaming Platform - anchored by fully managed Confluent Cloud and a self-managed Confluent Platform, plus managed Apache Flink for stream processing - lets organizations connect, process, and govern data in motion across clouds in real time. Used by thousands of enterprises including a large share of the Fortune 500, Confluent went public in 2021 (NASDAQ: CFLT) and in December 2025 agreed to be acquired by IBM in a deal valuing it at roughly $11 billion.