10Gen, Makers of MongoDB Raises Another 20m

There is probably no hotter space in the tech world today then the Big Data market.  Whether it be the NoSQL databases that serve it or Hadoop and the rest, it seems like VCs are lining up at the door to invest in the technologies that are allowing the big web based applications like Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare and the rest to serve (in the words of Carl Sagan) millions and millions and even billions and billions of customers, page views and data entries.  One of the biggest names in the NoSQL market is 10Gen, the makers of MongoDB.  Yesterday, 10Gen announced that they have rasied another 20 million dollar round, led by new blue chip investor, Sequoia Capital. Sequoia joins Union Square Ventures and Flybridge Capital as investors in 10Gen. This raises the total amount of capital invested in 10Gen to 31 million dollars, which believe it or not is about right for a software company under traditional VC models.

I had a chance to chat with Max Schireson, President of 10Gen about the significant new amount of capital.  I have spoken to Max before and was aware of the rapid growth of 10Gen and the widespread adoption of MongoDB.  Max and 10Gen CEO Dwight Merriman (who founded DoubleClick) have done a great job of driving Mongo to the top of the NoSQL heap (even if they don’t like the term NoSQL). In a case of success breeds success, Max said that raising this round right now was prudent, in that the demand for NoSQL, Big Data solutions is red hot and the money was available.  As someone once told me, the best time to raise money is when you don’t have to!

Max says that 10Gen will use these funds a little differently than past capital raised. The new money is going to be used predominantly to fund market expansion.  10Gen wants to increase their presence in both Europe and the Asian markets.  In the past money has been used to further develop the product.  While some of the new money will go into further development as well, Max and team believe the product is mature enough now, where market expansion is job number 1.

Of course the NoSQL market has other players. I am sure they will use the 10Gen raise as ammunition to further their own capital raising activities.  Expect to hear follow on announcements around that shortly!

Right now though if you want to play in a hot market, there is nothing hotter than Big Data and NoSQL.