Introduction
Starburst, the well-funded data warehouse analytics service and data query engine based on the open-source Trino project, has announced its acquisition of Varada, a Tel Aviv-based startup that specializes in data lake analytics. This strategic move enables Starburst to extend its query engine capabilities by incorporating Varada’s proprietary indexing technology.
Expanding Capabilities and Challenging Market Leaders
With the addition of Varada’s indexing technology, enterprises can easily operationalize their data lakes. This seamless integration is expected to challenge market leaders like Snowflake and Databricks in the growing data analytics market. Starburst CEO Justin Borgman emphasizes that this powerful combination will enable data teams to better serve business needs by providing the right data at the right time.
"With the addition of Varada’s indexing technology, we can help data teams better serve the business, providing the right data right now. This powerful combination couldn’t come at a better time when an uncertain economy is forcing companies to reevaluate their budgets, as business demands only increase." – Justin Borgman, Starburst CEO
Varada co-founder and VP of R&D Roman Vainbrand also highlights the benefits of the combined companies:
"The combined companies will be able to deliver the best performance and cost benefits in the analytics query market, enabling organizations to accelerate time-to-insight while optimizing infrastructure operations and investments." – Roman Vainbrand, Varada Co-Founder and VP of R&D
Integration and General Availability
The engineering and product leadership teams from Varada will join Starburst. The two companies anticipate launching an integration between their products within the next month, with general availability expected by fall 2022. This integrated product is anticipated to significantly reduce cloud compute costs for users while improving query response times by up to 7x.
Acquisition Details and Market Consolidation
The acquisition price remains undisclosed. Varada had raised a $12 million Series A round led by MizMaa Ventures in 2020. The company underwent leadership changes, with co-founder David Krakov leaving the company in late 2021. The data analytics market is experiencing consolidation as underlying technologies mature and usage patterns become clearer.
Data Virtualization Service Varada Raises $12M
Varada, a data virtualization service, had raised a $12 million Series A round led by MizMaa Ventures in 2020. This investment highlights the growing demand for efficient and cost-effective data management solutions.
Conclusion
Starburst’s acquisition of Varada enhances its capabilities in data lake analytics, providing enterprises with seamless access to their data lakes. The combined companies aim to challenge market leaders while enabling organizations to accelerate time-to-insight and optimize infrastructure operations. This strategic move marks an important milestone in the consolidation of the data analytics market.
