MCP Startup Runlayer Sues Rippling, Alleging Trade Secret Theft After Year-Long Product Trial

Runlayer, backed by $42M from Khosla Ventures and Felicis, sued Rippling on July 28, 2026, alleging trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, and breach of contract. The complaint accuses Rippling of using nearly a year of engineering collaboration under a product trial and NDA to clone Runlayer's MCP gateway rather than license it. Rippling denies the allegations and is launching its own gateway.