The new CEO of mariadb (Plc) says he wants closer collaboration with the foundation behind the open source database project of the same name. He cites the corporation's new stability following its recent acquisition by a private equity firm to explain why it should now be able to get a firmer footing.
It's been a turbulent two years for MariaDB, with its ill-fated public listing via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in 2022 sending the company into a tailspin from which it never fully recovered. Less than two years later, Redwood-based Metropolis took private K1 Investment Management in a $37 million liquidation sale that was significantly below its opening day market capitalization of $368 million. , which in turn was well below its peak private valuation of $672 million.
Last month's transaction means MariaDB shares are no longer trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), although the three-month delisting process means the company will technically remain public until early December. However, with a new CEO already in place in the form of former Micro Focus executive Rohit De Souza (pictured above), MariaDB is already preparing to become a private company again, and this will involve feeling more comfortable with the foundation that bears the same name.
“He [MariaDB’s] The reason the Foundation existed in the past was because there was a lot of uncertainty about the future of MariaDB,” De Souza told TechCrunch in an interview. “Today, with the support of K1, that uncertainty no longer exists.”
Hail MaryDB
Launched the initial MariaDB project in 2009 in response to MySQL falling under some corporate ownership. MySQL is the popular open source relational database management system created by Michael “Monty” Widenius, David Axmark and Allan Larsson in the mid-1990s, who sold the business company behind the project to Solar Microsystems for $1,000. million dollars in 2008. A year later, Oracle announced that it was acquiring Solar Microsystems for more than $7 billion, prompting Widenius to create MariaDB as a community-developed “fork” of MySQL.
Following the deal, Widenius formed a pair of organizations, one called SkySQL (focused on MySQL services) and another called Monty Program (for MariaDB), which were eventually merged and renamed MariaDB Corporation before raising $230 million in funding to sell services around the MariaDB project.
At the same time, the MariaDB Foundation (established in 2012) has been safeguarding the “interests of MariaDB users and developers” as an independent non-profit organization.
Today, MariaDB is the 15th most popular database, according to DB Engine Rankings, although that figure jumps to ninth place for relational databases and fourth place for open source relational databases.
There have been tensions between the two MariaDB bodies over the years, particularly around the corporate entity's focus on creating proprietary products and tools, which MariaDB Foundation CEO Kaj Arnö suggested has been to the detriment of the open source project. But after MariaDB named a new CEO and executive team last May, relations thawed, Arnö noting at the time that Plc and the Foundation were “resetting their entire relationship” with shared goals focused on cooperation and openness.
Twelve months later, MariaDB has another new CEO. But a possibly more important factor is that it now has the backing of a major private equity firm and no longer has to pander to the pressures of the public markets. This could give MariaDB a little more freedom to get back to basics, in cahoots with the Foundation.
“There are like a billion downloads [MariaDB database] and a large, vibrant community. Our intention is to grow that community and for the Foundation to be the engine that helps that community grow,” said De Souza. “We have pretty deep pockets 1728738247 — that doesn't mean we're going to go out and spend like sailors tomorrow, but together we can do a decent business. Closer involvement with the Foundation will help incorporate the things the community really needs into product development; It will help us understand the community and we could also use it more to test new concepts.”
On the Foundation's part, Arnö says that “shared strategy sessions” are now being held to find ways to support each other's efforts. He also echoed De Souza's sentiments, adding that he doesn't want to dwell too much on historical tensions.
“The past is behind us; I want to focus on the future and how we can all work together on a shared goal, and not elaborate on the past,” Arnö told TechCrunch. “I am now more optimistic than ever about the relationship between the Foundation and the MariaDB Company. taking over as CEO in 2019.”
Historically, the vast majority of the core MariaDB Server product code was provided by the MariaDB corporation, a dependency that led the Foundation to seek alternative sources. For example, last year it registered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its first “diamond” sponsor, committing 500,000 euros ($550,000) a year, more than any other sponsor. On top of that, the MariaDB Foundation is in the midst of bringing vector search (a major component of the AI revolution) to its core database, with Amazon being a major contributor along with the MariaDB corporation.
While the “restart of the relationship” between the two MariaDBs is surely positive for those in the community, the Foundation continues to lean on its relationship with Amazon, which is now one of its only ones. Largest corporations contributing code. outside of MariaDB Plc.
“AWS has recently taken a step forward to start contributing code to MariaDB Server,” Arnö said. “I find this interesting for several reasons, but in particular, of all the open source relational databases out there, AWS has specifically chosen to invest in MariaDB Server. MariaDB, as part of AWS service offerings, gives us great exposure to a large AWS user base, which fuels the common community and collaboration we are trying to drive.”
Lose weight, gain volume
Today, MariaDB Plc has around 200 employees, 40% of whom reside in North America, while almost half are located in Europe. This is slightly less than it was at the beginning of last year, with the company undergoing two rounds of layoffs equivalent to more than 100 employees, a third of the workforce. Additionally, part of this restructuring has involved ditching key products “unrelated to the core MariaDB Enterprise Server business.” including its SkySQL Cloud Database Service.
But despite all the cuts over the past 18 months, De Souza believes they will be more likely to see net growth in the coming months.
“There will always be places where we have invested too much or too little. There will always be some adjustments, but I expect MariaDB to grow; I hope to infuse new talents,” De Souza said. “I hope to increase the existing talent. There will be some areas where we will have to change things. Obviously, it hasn't worked in the past for some reason.”
MariaDB grew thanks to more than $200 million in venture capital, and its failure in the public markets can be attributed to many things: the macroeconomic situation at the time, the lukewarm financial results, and the fact that it went public through of the dubious SPAC. route before it was close to being profitable. Life as a private company, backed by private equity, couldn't be more different: private equity is about investing in underperforming companies that have the potential to stabilize and grow, and this usually starts with bringing in experienced management.
De Souza has a strong background in business, having previously worked at Intel, SAP, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, and most recently Micro Focus, where he was a senior executive during its $6 billion acquisition by OpenText. of dollars. He was also previously CEO and chairman of data management company Actian, which was acquired by HCL and private equity firm Sumeru Fairness Companions in 2018.
And it is this combination of experience and skills that De Souza considers one of the greatest assets he brings to MariaDB.
“It's everything from helping customers navigate, helping drive how products are developed and how you actually build a sales team,” De Souza said. “Each of them is necessary to build an enterprise software company. But really, it's about people: understanding the people you need within the company and how to stabilize and build those teams.”
While De Souza was hesitant to mention the SPAC IPO debacle his company suffered before joining, he said he was ultimately brought in to bring some “business rigor” to the mix, now that he's away from the pressures of being a company. public.
“You have to manage a company efficiently and profitably; “You don’t have to be a genius to run a loss-making company,” De Souza said. “That's part of why I'm here, is to bring some business rigor to the business: how we develop products, what we invest in, how we create some consistency and focus on communities.”