Hadoop distributor MapR announces $110m financing round

$80m equity funding led by Google Capital plus $30m debt facility with Silicon Valley Bank

Hadoop distributor MapR today announced a boost to its finances via an $80m investment led by growth equity fund Google Capital and supported by Qualcomm Ventures. Existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, NEA and Redpoint Ventures also participated in the funding round. Gene Frantz, general partner at Google Capital, will join the board of MapR as a director.

In adition to the venture funding, MapR has also secured a $30m debt facility with Silicon Valley Bank.

Commenting in a statement Frantz said: "MapR helps companies around the world deploy Hadoop rapidly and reliably, generating significant business results. We led this round of funding because we believe MapR has a great solution for enterprise customers, and they've built a strong and growing business."

MapR's links with Google go back to the company's formation. Founder and CTO M.C. Srivas worked on Google Big Table and the company's direct access NFS file system is built on that heritage.

Interestingly, while Google Capital is investing in MapR, rival distribution Cloudera has attracted funding from Google Ventures, which contributed to a $160m investment led by T. Rowe Price in March. Google Ventures focuses mainly on early-stage companies while Google Capital invests solely in technology companies as they hit their growth phase.

In a statement John Schroeder, CEO and co-founder of MapR, said: "Google has a long-standing commitment to Hadoop, making Google Capital an ideal investor for MapR. This investment round recognises our customers' rapid adoption, their tremendous results and ROI, and also the capital efficiency of our business model.

"It's extremely gratifying to bring these high-calibre strategic investors on board, including Qualcomm who is the leader in the mobile ecosystem and also at the forefront of the Internet of Things, to help us accelerate growth and position the company for global leadership. Our installed base of more than 500 paying licensees provides a strong foundation and we are excited to move forward with the tremendous resources from our new and current financial investors."