MemSQL Secured $35 million in Series B, Total at $45 Million

MemSQL, Inc., in distributed in-memory database technology for real-time big data analytics, has secured $35 million in Series B funding.

The investment, led by Accel Partners, will enable the company to expand product development, support its growing customer base and capitalize on the market for big data technologies, which is forecasted to reach $32.4 billion by 2017 or about six times the growth rate of the overall information and communication technology market, according to IDC study, Worldwide Big Data Technology and Services 2013-2017 Forecast.

The round included participation from Khosla Ventures and existing investors First Round Capital and Data Collective, as well as from several private financiers, and brings the total raised by MemSQL to $45 million.

The company was founded in 2011 by former Facebook engineers Eric Frenkiel and Nikita Shamgunov. The co-founders saw the flaws in legacy big data solutions and built an in-memory, clustered application that supports high-volume OLTP and OLAP workloads while providing a full SQL interface.

“Through Accel’s big data Fund, we see a very broad database landscape. We’ve backed breakout open-source leaders Couchbase on the transactional side and Cloudera, with its Enterprise Data Hub, on the analytic side, but we also believe there is a very distinct place for MemSQL in real-time analytics. No executive wants to wait for insights anymore, and MemSQL’s in-memory, SQL technology means they don’t have to,” said Kevin Efrusy, general partner, Accel Partners. “MemSQL has a strong team and a great track record for delivery, so we are thrilled to be their partner.“

In addition to being a fast in-memory database, MemSQL introduce JSON technology into its platform, combining structured and JSON data into a single database utilizing SQL, the most commonly used query language. This means that organizations can harness and combine two disparate data sources for operational analytics, network security, real-time recommendations and risk management.

Current MemSQL customers include Comcast, Zynga, Shutterstock and Ziff Davis, as well as many new mid-market customers.

“Demand for our in-memory database technology has been tremendous,” said Frenkiel, co-founder and CEO, MemSQL. “Customers are drawn to our solution because it delivers extremely fast performance on commodity hardware and has the ability to store and query multiple data formats in a single database. The result is an extremely fast big data solution with versatility and ease of use that lets customers see immediate ROI. This investment will help us grow our company and increase customer adoption.”

Big Data and real-time analytics impact the way organizations operate and engage with customers. However, there are challenges that prevent companies from fully extracting value from their data. Legacy database technologies are prone to latency, require complex and expensive architectures, and rely on slow disk-based technology. The result is an outdated computing infrastructure that cannot handle the velocity and volume of data in the timeframe required of a true real-time solution. MemSQL solves this performance bottleneck with its distributed in-memory computing model that runs on cost-effective commodity servers.

Based in San Francisco, CA, MemSQL is a Y Combinator company.