MongoDB Files For IPO

MongoDB Inc. is the latest database software vendor to launch an initial public offering.

The New York-based NoSQL startup announced it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to take the company public. The number of shares to be offered on the tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange and the stock price have yet to be determined, the company said in a statement on Thursday (Sept. 21.)

MongoDB joins a growing list of cloud-oriented startups that have launched IPOs this year. Cloudera (NYSE: CLDR), the big data analytics and Hadoop software vendor, filed regulatory paperwork for stock offering in March that was expected to raise about $200 million.

MongoDB and other database vendors are hustling to raise cash as they meet stiff competition in the evolving database market from established players such as IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) along with leading cloud vendors Amazon Web Services (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Micosoft Azure (NASDAQ: MSFT).

MongoDB’s revenues have soared on an annual basis but it continues to burn through cash. According to the web site Crunchbase.com MongoDB has raised more than $300 million on equity markets since 2008.

Allen & Co., Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are jointly overseeing the MongoDB’s IPO.

The decision to offer its stock comes as MongoDB adds more analytics features to its core database platform. These and other recent stock offerings by Hadoop software vendors reflect a shift away from the analytics framework to AI-driven cloud platforms.

Moreover, the complexity of on-premises Hadoop deployments is accelerating the shift to public clouds as vendors begin replacing Hadoop, market analysts note.

The number of technology IPOs in 2017 “is indicative of a larger shift in the industry, particularly with regards to cloud technology,” noted Ramin Sayar, CEO of Sumo Logic, a MongoDB partner. “Now more than ever, the shift to the cloud and industry-wide adoption of other emerging technologies has created an opening for companies like MongoDB to move beyond legacy companies and databases and capitalize on the complex and evolving requirements of business applications.”

In a survey of public cloud deployments released this week, Sumo Logic reported that MongoDB accounts for an estimated 11 percent of database usage on Amazon Web Services.

Recent items:

MongoDB Pivots to Analytics

Cloudera IPO Reflects Hadoop Shifts