Wilco is joining Lemonade

At Wilco, we've always believed in the power of practical experience in software engineering. That's why we built a "flight simulator" for developers: a place where you can break things, debug messy systems, and handle real-world complexity... without causing any real damage.
Being a true AI-Native company means we built this with just a handful of people.
Today, we're excited to share that the team is joining Lemonade.

A brief history of Wilco

While coding received most of the attention, we saw it as just one of many skills - no more important than architecture, communication, and everything else that makes great engineers, whether "soft" or "hard".
While tutorials and toy problems were abundant, it was in real "oh sh*t" moments, the kind you only encounter over years in production, that developer experience was forged.
AI made it even clearer. Software engineers are building more complex systems than ever before, but their focus has completely shifted. Much like the loom of the early 19th century, AI is turning code writing into a Luddite skill, even as the demand for software is skyrocketing.
Wilco Quests chart the story of AI adoption in our field. Our first AI quest used the Dall-E API when it just came out. We then created a GitHub Copilot curriculum, followed by Cursor quests, and so on. At the same time, we ourselves leaned heavily into AI, both in how we build and in how developers interact with our product. The goal was always the same: make learning feel as close as possible to the real thing, and give developers a new kind of leverage.
But over time, we realized there was a bigger story unfolding. By mid-2023, we were already sharing our hypothesis that software engineering is turning from a profession to a skillset. We started thinking beyond developers: what teams of highly motivated makers can achieve once AI democratizes the creation of software systems.

A shared vision

Shai Wininger of Lemonade had been thinking along similar lines, and for us, it quickly became clear where this was going. Lemonade has been building an AI-native company from the ground up for more than ten years, not just in their product, but in how their teams operate.
We've known Shai for a while, and have long admired the way he builds: the focus on simplicity, the attention to detail, and the belief that small teams can achieve exceptional outcomes.
It felt like we were writing different chapters of the same story.

What we're doing together

Today, we're announcing that we're joining Lemonade.

Wilco started with a simple idea that engineers learn best by doing, not by reading. We’ve been focused on building environments that reflect the complexity of real-world systems and helping developers gain the kind of judgment that usually takes years to develop. Lemonade shares a similar belief in building with AI at the core and in empowering small teams to do outsized work. Joining forces lets us take what we’ve learned at Wilco and apply it at a much larger scale.

To the people along the way

Wilco wouldn't be here without the people who believed in it. The community of builders who pushed us, challenged us, and broke things (sometimes intentionally, often creatively). The team who built this with us - every single one of you left a mark. The amazing investors who backed us when all we had was a vision. The advisors, early supporters, and friends who pushed us forward when things weren't obvious. And our families, who supported this journey through all the late nights, early mornings, and everything in between.
You all shaped what Wilco became.
We love you! Thank you for making Wilco more awesome!

What's next

We'll keep building. We'll keep pushing AI forward. And we'll continue helping builders move faster, smarter, and with greater leverage.
But now, we'll do it at a larger, more ambitious scale.
Now, let’s make some Lemonade 🍋