{"id":657793,"date":"2013-05-14T08:38:56","date_gmt":"2013-05-14T12:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=644753"},"modified":"2013-05-14T08:38:56","modified_gmt":"2013-05-14T12:38:56","slug":"cloudant-snares-12m-from-rackspace-and-others-to-build-awareness-for-its-cloudy-database","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/657793","title":{"rendered":"Cloudant snares $12M from Rackspace and others to build awareness for its cloudy database"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cloudant<\/a> which has been spreading its database layer across multiple clouds, just closed $12 million in Series B funding from investors including Fidelity-backed Devonshire Investors, Rackspace Hosting, and Toba Capital.<\/p>\n

\"Cloudant<\/a><\/p>\n

Cloudant CEO Derek Schoettle<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The money will mostly flow to add staff and infrastructure partners. \u00a0\u201dFirst, we need to invest in operational expertise around the world \u2014 we\u2019re building an office in San Francisco, we\u2019re based in Boston, and now we have presence in the U.K. and will open one in Hong Kong probably in the next 120 days \u2014 we need to staff that,\u201d Cloudant CEO Derek Schoettle said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Current staffing is at about 60 people, with plans to hit maybe 100 within the next year.<\/p>\n

Cloudant\u2019s\u00a0NoSQL database service runs on Rackspace, Softlayer, Joyent, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon cloud infrastructure so Rackspace\u2019s stake could raise eyebrows although \u00a0Schoettle was quick to say that won\u2019t make Rackspace the first among equals. \u201cThey see an advantage to partnering with us more closely than just reselling hardware to us. they\u2019ll more tightly integrate our service with their infrastructure offerings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This is a case of the coopetition fever that\u2019s gripping cloud companies. I. Another example is Dell and Intel took a stake in Mirantis<\/a>, self-proclaimed vendor agnostic OpenStack integrator.<\/p>\n

While Rackspace now owns a piece of Cloudant, it also fields several\u00a0database services. In February, for example, it bought a seat at the MongoDB table with its acquisition of ObjectRocket<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last month, Xeround, another database service provider, pulled the plug <\/a>in a move that causes some to question whether there\u2019s enough business for umpteen different players. Schoettle said Xeround\u2019s woes were company specific. \u201cXeround had two issues. First, MySQL is not ideal for next-gen mobile web apps and that\u2019s where the lion\u2019s share of opportunity is. Second, it\u2019s tough to start in 2005 with $30 million and then change course a number of times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cloudant has raised a total of about $16 million to date. Earlier investors including Avalon Ventures, In-Q-tel,<\/a> and Samsung Venture Investment also participated in this round. How companies are adopting cloud services \u2014 including databases \u2014 will be on the agenda at next month\u2019s Structure event<\/a> in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

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