SkySQL, the global software vendor specialising in high performance open source databases, today announced it has secured $20 million in Series B investment from Intel Capital, California Technology Ventures, Finnish Industry Investment, Open Ocean Capital and Spintop Private Partners. The funding will be used to invest in the MariaDB open source project, to better support the company’s rapidly growing community and user base worldwide, and to develop commercial solutions for scaling the MariaDB database server.
The announcement follows SkySQL’s merger with Monty Program, the leading force behind MariaDB, in April 2013 that reunited the key members of the original MySQL AB team.
Industry analysts 451 Group attribute MariaDB’s increasing market share to it becoming the favoured SQL technology in popular Linux distributions such as OpenSUSE and Fedora. MariaDB’s traction with application developers and database administrators is due to its excellent reputation for performance and security, and its compatibility with multiple storage engines.
“Adoption of the MariaDB database server has grown explosively in the last year,” said Patrik Sallner, SkySQL CEO. “With the help of our loyal user base, we have built up significant market share when compared to other open source database technologies.
“We have raised this latest round of investment to enhance MariaDB’s position as the world’s fastest growing open source relational database and to continue to foster a vibrant community around the project.”
“For large-scale internet players like Google and Wikipedia, MariaDB database server delivers clear benefits over existing relational databases. With this funding we plan to deliver commercial solutions that make it even easier for enterprises of any size to run MariaDB databases at scale,” concludes Sallner.
“The combination of SkySQL’s solutions with MariaDB’s advanced features and large open source community is a compelling offering for enterprises. We are excited to amplify SkySQL’s growth through Intel Capital’s significant resources, expertise and broad enterprise ecosystem,” said Marcos Battisti, managing director for Intel Capital in Western Europe and Israel.
“The database software market has gone through tremendous change in the last several years, driven by changes in the nature of data and cloud computing, and by the need for organisations to both reduce administration costs and increase flexibility. SkySQL is in a position to be a key player in this field,” added Erik Jorgensen, director for Intel Capital.
Contacts:
Patrik Sallner, CEO, SkySQL
E-mail: patrik.sallner@skysql.com, tel: +358 40 544 3441
Camilla Tornblom, PR Manager, Intel Nordics
E-mail: Camilla.tornblom@intel.com, tel: +46 76 888 17 29
Juha Lehtola, Investment Director, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd
E-mail: Juha.lehtola@industryinvestment.com , tel: +358 40 064 7671
About SkySQL
SkySQL is a global software vendor specialising in high performance MySQL and MariaDB. With its head office in Espoo, Finland and team members circling the globe, SkySQL has over 350 customers in more than 30 countries worldwide including Booking.com, Craigslist, Disney, Electronic Arts, Fusion-io Google, Harvard University, HP and SAP.
SkySQL products and services bring ease of use and assistance 24/7, while providing an effective way to increase database productivity, reduce downtime, augment existing resources and prevent vendor lock-in. Members of the original MySQL AB team founded SkySQL in 2010.
For more information on SkySQL visit www.skysql.com or follow @skysql. For more information on MariaDB visit www.mariadb.com or follow @mariadb.
About Intel Capital
Intel Capital, Intel’s global investment and M&A organization, makes equity investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide. Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware, software, and services targeting enterprise, mobility, consumer Internet, digital media and semiconductor manufacturing.
Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US$10.9 billion in over 1,294 companies in 54 countries. In that timeframe, 202 portfolio companies have gone public on various exchanges around the world and 324 were acquired or participated in a merger. In 2012, Intel Capital invested US$352 million in 150 investments with approximately 57 percent of funds invested outside North America. For more information on Intel Capital and its differentiated advantages, visit www.intelcapital.com or follow @Intelcapital.
MySQL is a registered trademark of Oracle, and/or its affiliates. MariaDB and SkySQL are registered trademarks of SkySQL Corporation Ab. SkySQL and MariaDB are not affiliated with MySQL, or Oracle. Other names may be trademarks property of their respective owners.
About Finnish Industry Investment
Finnish Industry Investment Ltd is a government-owned investment company that promotes Finnish business, employment and economic growth through venture capital and private equity investments. Finnish Industry Investment invests in companies both directly and through private equity funds, together with and on the same terms as private investors. The investments of Finnish Industry Investment amount to 720 million euros. The company currently invests, directly and through funds, in altogether 510 companies that together employ some 50,000 people. For more information about Finnish Industry Investment, please visit www.industryinvestment.com, and follow @TesiFII.