MariaDB Announces $25 Million Funding Round to Scale SkySQL Operations

Funding accelerates SkySQL’s capacity to meet the rising demand for enterprise-grade cloud database solutions worldwide 

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and HELSINKI – July 9, 2020 – MariaDB® Corporation today announced a $25 million funding round supporting the company goals to expand the reach and development of its cloud database, MariaDB SkySQL. Led by SmartFin Capital, with participation from existing investors and new investor GP Bullhound, the round brings the total investment in MariaDB to over $125 million. 

“MariaDB continues to exceed our expectations,” said Jürgen Ingels, founding partner, SmartFin Capital. “The company’s innovation in cloud database technology will help support the rapid growth in IT modernization that businesses large and small are pursuing to keep up with the world around us. We feel MariaDB is well-positioned to take a large share of the growing cloud database market as companies continue to push forward into the cloud. We are proud to invest more in MariaDB to continue their exceptional growth.”

Companies are increasingly moving to the cloud as part of efforts to modernize their business and keep up with changing times. “By 2022, 75% of all databases will be deployed or migrated to a cloud platform, with only 5% ever considered for repatriation to on-premises,” according to Gartner¹. SkySQL is MariaDB’s database-as-a-service (DBaaS) built and managed by the creators of the database. It’s the only DBaaS to bring the full power of the MariaDB Platform to the cloud supporting a new generation of modern applications with fast transactions and real-time analytics. Built on a state-of-the-art, cloud-agnostic foundation with full customization capabilities, SkySQL lets customers pursue a cloud strategy that best meets their needs. The funding, part of an extension to the company’s series C funding, allows MariaDB to scale its SkySQL operations to more quickly support the growing demand for cloud databases.

“Expanding MariaDB SkySQL cloud operations is our key focus. There is an addressable and immediate market need with a growing number of companies who want to enable faster innovation and agility by adopting cloud technologies and shifting database management to DBaaS solutions,” said Michael Howard, CEO, MariaDB Corporation. “The funding extension gives us an immediate infusion to scale SkySQL faster, while doubling our valuation in a streamlined fundraising process that sets a path for our next steps.”

“MariaDB has risen to be a household name in the IT industry,” said Per Roman, co-founder and managing partner of GP Bullhound. “We have been particularly interested in MariaDB’s focus on bringing its flexibility, security and stability to the cloud. That’s why we’re excited to invest in MariaDB, as we see enormous opportunities for its SkySQL product.” 

MariaDB helps customers, big and small, realize the benefits of public and private clouds. MariaDB is everywhere, in every major public cloud, major Linux distribution and through SkySQL, reaching millions of technologists. DBS Bank, ServiceNow, Walgreens, Samsung and more than 75% of the Fortune 500 all run MariaDB, touching the lives of billions of people everyday. 

Additional Resources

¹Gartner “The Future of the DBMS Market Is Cloud,” Donald Feinberg, et al, 21 June 2019

About MariaDB Corporation

MariaDB frees companies from the costs, constraints and complexity of proprietary databases, enabling them to reinvest in what matters most – rapidly developing innovative, customer-facing applications. MariaDB uses pluggable, purpose-built storage engines to support workloads that previously required a variety of specialized databases. With complexity and constraints eliminated, enterprises can now depend on a single complete database for all their needs, whether on commodity hardware or their cloud of choice. Deployed in minutes for transactional, analytical or hybrid use cases, MariaDB delivers unmatched operational agility without sacrificing key enterprise features including real ACID compliance and full SQL. Trusted by organizations such as Deutsche Bank, DBS Bank, Nasdaq, Red Hat, ServiceNow, Verizon and Walgreens – MariaDB meets the same core requirements as proprietary databases at a fraction of the cost. No wonder it’s the fastest growing open source database. Real business relies on MariaDB™.

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