Hadoop platform provider MapR Technologies is gearing up for an IPO as early as 2015, CBR has learned. An IPO will surely be eagerly anticipated, as Splunk recently raised $2.3bn in a related area of Big Data that perhaps even plays a less strategic role in the stack than MapR.
MapR’s technology adds enterprise-grade features such as improved fault tolerance, ease-of-use and speed to open source Hadoop, NoSQL, database and streaming applications in one unified Big Data platform. It says it’s invested over $30m in the technology.
In an interview with CBR, MapR Technologies’ co-founder and CEO John Schroeder said the firm has already "started the march" towards an IPO.
Its intent was signalled last month when the firm hired prominent CFO Michael Lehman to its board of directors. Lehman has previously helped Arista Networks and Palo Alto Networks prepare for their own IPOs.
Asked how soon MapR might be ready for an IPO, Schroeder told me it could be ready as early as 2015. However he also conceded that the firm is currently investing heavily for growth and therefore not yet profitable, something it may wish to change before it does the rounds with institutional investors.
MapR is VC backed, with investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, New Enterprise Associates and Redpoint Ventures.
