It was only several weeks ago when Geekli.st rolled out of beta and became available to the public and, since then, the company has stayed busy making the service more useful for developers. As you may know, it’s a community developed by programmers for programmers to basically use as their portfolio to tout their accomplishments. We’ve covered the startup from its launch to its Github integration, the release of its robust search option, and its public debut.
Today, Geekli.st is evolving once again and it is announcing the release of its public API. The API is a means to allow developers to build out their own applications and services while incorporating any data from the Geekli.st database. Interested developers can go to Geekli.st’s site to find out more.
It’s interesting to note that there’s no limit on how many times you can hit the API either. That’s entirely deliberate, and founders Chris Sanz and Reuben Katz told me that they chose that option as they want to encourage developers to go crazy with the data at hand. They say the system can take a lot of traffic to the API before triggering rate-limiting – whether that’s via plugins or apps.
Right now, nine apps are using Geekli.st’s API, but the hope is that more developers will jump on board. To promote the release, the company will hold a global online hackathon and it is inviting developers to sign up and show how creative they can be.
Geekli.st has over 500,000 activities logged in its system, with tons of information about developer achievements and skills just waiting to be picked at. Potential uses could include graphing, searching, indexing, or whatever else is on a developer’s mind.
The API release is Geekli.st’s attempt to help the developer community monetize its data. The company doesn’t charge for the API, it makes its money other ways, via job postings, premium hiring, and sponsorship and marketing at events. Companies pay Geekli.st between $5,000-10,000 to sponsor their hackathons, or other activites, hundreds of which take place worldwide each year.
Katz told me that Geekli.st has over 50,000 developers representing over 5,000 unique companies. In addition to that, there are over 50 companies that have actively sought to join Geekli.st without any staff signing up; including eBay, Twilio, Amazon Web Services, Red Bull, Klout, and many others. With plenty of interest in the service, Geekli.st looks set for a bright future and, with supportive partners from services like Github, the founders are looking to develop a strong ecosystem that uses its data for quite some time.
The company initially announced that it had raised $600,000 in funding from angel investors, but when I spoke to the founders, they told me they have actually broken $1 million thanks to continued interest.
The company is doing pretty well thanks to its steady revenue stream and lean team of six full-time employees. However, its cause is also helped by the army of volunteers that help make the service better, from ambassadors to code contributors. Both Katz and Sanz tell me that they’re not interested in a quick sale of the company–they’re looking to build something long-term instead.
So what’s next after the API? Well, an iPhone application will make its debut sometime soon and you can expect additional versions for both Android and (yes) Windows Phone.
Geekli.st is now accepting signups for its global hackathon. If you’re interested in participating and have a great idea on how to use their data, you can sign up here.
Photo Credit: Gamma Ray Productions/Flickr
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