Metapa Nets $8M Series C

Data center software startup Metapa has secured $8 million in series C funding, and it's using the funds to draft some new blood as it gets ready to attack the data warehouse market.

The funding round was led by Mission Ventures, EDF Ventures, and Dawntreader Ventures Group Inc., bringing the companys total funding to $28 million.

So, what does Metapa do? The Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based firm develops database software for data warehousing. Its core offering is Cluster DataBase (CDB), which supports the Linux, Solaris, and Unix operating systems.

Increasingly, companies are deploying clusters of low-cost servers from vendors such as Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq: DELL), IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM), and Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) in an attempt to boost their processing power (see Statoil Builds Dell Cluster and Clusters Make a Stand).

CDB works by splitting the databases up so that different parts run on separate nodes within a cluster. This means that queries and sub-queries of the data can run in parallel, providing much faster access to the information, according to Metapa execs.But Metapa is not the only company playing in this space, and CDB faces some stiff competition from established data warehouse specialist Teradata and database giant Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL).

Somewhat mysteriously, Metapa is keeping mum on its customers. Most startups are only too keen to blow their trumpets when it comes to customer wins, but Metapa president Scott Yara was unwilling to provide details on who is using the technology. Media firm E! Networks, however, has already deployed CDB running on x86 Solaris servers from Sun (see Sun, Metapa Go Large-Scale)

With another $8 million under its belt, Metapa is focused on product development and expanding its sales operation during the coming months. Major enhancements to CDB are scheduled for 2005, according to Yara, which include greater integration with third-party business intelligence tools.

The 20-person-strong company has also brought some new blood into the boardroom. Former MarketSoft Corp. veep Steve Millard has been appointed vice president of worldwide sales, and one-time Informix exec Gary Butler will now be responsible for worldwide systems engineering. Crucially, Millard was previously vice president of global strategic partners at Metapa’s rival, Teradata.

So, who are the people behind Metapa? The company was set up in 2000 by Yara, a former exec at network hosting firm Sandpiper and Luke Lonergan, the founder of database software vendor Didera.— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-gen Data Center Forum