Matan Grinberg, CEO of the AI coding startup Factory, has dismissed board advisor Chris Degnan. Grinberg alleges that Degnan shared confidential information with Factory’s primary competitor, Cognition.
Two hours after the dismissal, Degnan announced his appointment as the chief revenue officer at Cognition. Previously, Degnan served as a partner at RPT Partners, an investor in Factory, and held roles at Snowflake and Iconiq.
Factory, a three-year-old San Francisco-based firm, recently secured $200 million in funding at a valuation of $5 billion. Its client list includes Nvidia, Blackstone, and Adobe.
Cognition, the developer of the Devin coding agent, recently raised $2 billion at a valuation of $48 billion. Its customers include NASA, Goldman Sachs, and Mercedes-Benz.
Grinberg stated that Degnan had previously denied interest in joining the competitor. However, after learning of ongoing discussions between Degnan and Cognition, Grinberg terminated his board position, citing a violation of confidentiality obligations.
