Information about this business is also being searched all over social networks.

The developments surrounding the shocking affair between the CEO and HR director show no signs of cooling down. 

The two’s affectionate moment was captured by the kiss cam (a camera at an event randomly filmed a couple and projected onto a big screen). Although they quickly realized they were “caught red-handed” and avoided each other, many people immediately recognized them as Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot. Both currently hold senior positions at Astronomer.

The pair currently hold senior positions at tech startup Astronomer.

Therefore, besides the rumors about the couple’s relationship, many people also learn about Astronomer – a billion-dollar startup known as a “data unicorn” in the AI era, with annual revenue continuously exploding thanks to the AI wave. Recently, this startup has just been valued at nearly 1.3 billion USD (more than 32 trillion VND) after many rounds of capital calling.

Astronomer is an American technology startup, founded in Ohio in 2015 (later moved to New York). Andy Byron is not the founder or majority owner of Astronomer. He only took on the role of CEO in July 2023. However, Byron still plays an extremely important role – as CEO, the face of Astronomer.

Image inside the Astronomer office at its headquarters in downtown New York City, USA.

Astronomer specializes in providing a data management and operation platform called Astro, built on the open source Apache Airflow technology. Simply put, Astronomer helps businesses automate data processing, monitoring and analysis, acting as a kind of “data orchestration brain” in the ecosystem of large companies.

Astro is currently used by over 700 global companies, including big names like Apple, Uber, Bloomberg and Stripe. The company also played a key role in the development of Apache Airflow – one of the most widely used tools in the Data Engineering industry.

Before the shocking news of the male CEO’s affair was revealed, Astronomer was still on a very strong growth trajectory. 

Specifically, according to a press release on the company’s website, in May 2025, Astronomer announced that it had successfully raised $93 million in Series D funding (over VND2 trillion). The company’s total funding has now surpassed $300 million (about VND7 trillion), and its valuation after Series D has approached $1.3 billion (about VND32 trillion) – officially entering the ranks of “unicorns” – a term used in the technology industry to refer to startups valued at $1 billion or more that are not yet listed on the stock exchange.

Astronomer said it will use the funds to expand into the European market and boost R&D, especially integrating AI technology into the Astro platform.

On July 10, on its official website, Astronomer announced that it had signed a strategic partnership with AWS – Amazon’s cloud giant.

According to data from GetLatka, Astronomer’s revenue in 2024 will reach approximately $17.9 million, up more than 48% year-over-year. Since its launch in 2015, the company has recorded annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth of over 150% and customer retention of 130% – among the highest in the SaaS industry. Customer platform usage is also above 90%.

Astronomer’s revenue over the past few years. Source: GetLatka

While Astronomer was making a strong breakthrough, CEO Andy Byron was exposed for an affair that shocked the world. Photos of him and HR Director Kristin Cabot being intimate at a Coldplay concert spread all over social media.

At this time, many people who are believed to be former employees – who used to work under Andy Byron – also spoke up, sharing with the media, accusing him of being a toxic leader, often focusing on sales and lacking mental support for the team. Many employees said that this was not the first time there was drama within Astronomer. 

Byron previously caused controversy when he held the position of Chief Revenue Officer at cybersecurity company Cybereason (2017-2019). An investigation by The Information in 2018 said he was criticized for creating extreme growth pressure, replacing staff with acquaintances from his old company, and threatening to fire anyone who objected. When asked, Byron denied all of this and asserted that he was only making “difficult but necessary decisions” to promote organizational efficiency.

Up to now, Astronomer has not made an official statement about his shocking affair. CPO has also remained “absolutely silent”, not speaking or posting anything more.