MemSQL Raises Series C from In-Q-Tel, Updates Database

Database startup MemSQL released version 3 of its database, combining in-memory row store with a flash-optimized column store, and announced strategic investment from In-Q-Tel.

A key feature of the new release is the ability to automate cross-data center replication to let businesses maintain a backup copy of data for disaster recovery or for use in read-heavy operations. The other big push to help improve performance is integrating a tiered storage architecture, which joins transactional in-memory row store and highly compressed flash or disk-based column stores.

The company said advanced data compression techniques and the use of flash, SSD or disk as a storage medium allowed itss column store to offer good price performance while maintaining MemSQL's data loading, concurrency and query execution speed.

Additional features include bulk data loading from a file system or Amazon S3 and support for views as well as table, column and row level security.

MemSQL also raised funds in a round led by In-Q-Tel, which has previously invested in various technology solutions, such as Palantir, in support of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

MemSQL said it has taken in $45 million over four rounds since it began in 2011 but did not disclose what the size of the latest round was. The company said the investment will help further develop in-memory databases for U.S. Government applications.

In-Q-Tel has reportedly invested $50 million in Big Data analytics company Palantir.

"MemSQL’s unique offering delivers fast data processing to allow organizations instant access to key information, while effectively managing their infrastructure and preventing anomalies,” said George Hoyem, partner on IQT’s investment team. “As Big Data analytics increasingly becomes a priority for the government agencies we support, we are confident MemSQL’s technical excellence and strong engineering team will provide our customers with the capabilities to extract greater value from their data.”