EnterpriseDB announced on Tuesday that it had raised $10 million from funders including IBM, which took a small but symbolically laden stake in the four-year-old open-source database maker.
EnterpriseDB's products are based around the open-source PostgreSQL technology, a rival to the more popular MySQL. For several years, Sun Microsystems had been one of the strongest supporters of PostgreSQL, bundling it with its Solaris 10 operating system and partnering with EnterpriseDB to provide support.
[ For an in-depth analysis of Sun’s MySQL acquisition, see “Analysis: Sun’s billion-dollar baby” ]
Sun bought MySQL AB in late January. Though Sun and EnterpriseDB executives both denied at the time that Sun's backing for PostgreSQL would weaken, EnterpriseDB CEO Andy Astor admitted in an interview last week that he no longer "has high expectations for Sun and Postgres."
"We will continue to have a relationship with Sun, and we will continue to support Postgres [for Sun], but frankly, if I paid $1 billion for MySQL, I know where I'd be paying attention," Astor said.
[ For EnterpriseDB CEO Andy Astor’s take on the open source landscape, see “The state of open source: Andy Astor” ]
IBM, meanwhile, is "very interested" in what EnterpriseDB is doing, Astor said. The company joins Charles River Ventures, Fidelity Ventures, and Valhalla Partners in this Series C funding round.
IBM did not return a request for comment. But Raven Zachary, an analyst with The 451 Group, said the investment "is a significant move."
"With MySQL as part of Sun now, IBM sees its open-source database future aligned with PostgreSQL through EnterpriseDB," he said. "IBM also gains in this move through EnterpriseDB's Oracle database compatibility, as IBM competes with Oracle via DB2. This is a smart move for IBM."
EnterpriseDB has now raised a total of $37.5 million in its four-year history. It claims 225 paying customers today. Asked why IBM did not simply buy EnterpriseDB, Astor answered, "Because we're not for sale."
The company already provides a version of its database for IBM's Z/OS mainframe platform. Astor said similar marketing partnerships with other partners are in the offing.
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