Startups

MariaDB Raises $25M To Focus On Cloud Database

Enterprise open source database platform MariaDB has landed $25 million in new funding, bringing its total funding to $125 million.

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The funding, an extension of the company’s Series C round, was led by SmartFin Capital with participation from existing investors and new investor GP Bullhound, according to a statement from MariaDB.

MariaDB plans to use the money to focus on SkySQL, the company’s cloud database, CEO Michael Howard said in an interview with Crunchbase News. SkySQL, which was introduced at the end of March, has already become the fastest growing product MariaDB has ever had. Now, it’s time to put the spotlight on SkySQL.

“We have been taking a sort of back seat to the likes of Amazon and Google and Alibaba,” he said of MariaDB’s cloud offering.

The global nature of SkySQL has made it a success, Howard said, but it also requires a global structure for support. The new funding will help with that, and MariaDB plans on growing the SkySQL group two or three times over the next year to support the product.

The company now has $125 million in total funding. Howard declined to disclose the company’s valuation, but said it was two-times higher than its valuation after its previous round.

MariaDB initially raised $27 million for its Series C, which was led by Alibaba Group, in September 2017. Some of the company’s other backers include Intel Capital, European Investment Bank, ServiceNow and OnCorps, according to Crunchbase.

“I know that SkySQL is going to be the conduit to going IPO,” Howard said. “It’s going to be at least 25 percent of our business the next 16 to 18 months and it has all of the necessary business characteristics to make MariaDB one of the premiere databases and, for that matter, companies in the industry.”

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias

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