The archive · Developer & Business Tools · Strategic decision · 2018–2020
Hasura raises $9.9M on a bet that instant GraphQL APIs beat backend glue
After a Kubernetes-tools start, Hasura pivoted to an open-source GraphQL engine turning databases into instant APIs; 29M downloads by its 2020 Series A
Hasura
What the business is
Open-source developer service that finds your databases and, with a little configuration, generates a performant and secure GraphQL API, saving back-end teams from manually wiring data sources to apps.
Starting capital：$1.6M seed (announced 2018-04-25); about $11.5M total raised by 2020-02-26
How it started
Hasura, led by CEO and co-founder Tanmai Gopal, raised a $1.6M seed in 2018 for a developer-focused Kubernetes solution. While working on simplifying Kubernetes, the team decided data access was the bigger problem: application developers need data sitting in databases, and back-end developers were spending large amounts of time manually connecting applications to data sources for front-end teams. So Hasura built an open-source service that finds your databases, takes a little configuration, and generates a GraphQL API that is performant and secure — what Gopal called a kind of Data as a Service API.
What happened
By February 2020 the open-source engine had passed 29 million downloads, and the San Francisco company had 40 employees. On 2020-02-26 TechCrunch reported a $9.9M Series A led by Vertex Ventures US, with participation from SAP.iO Fund and existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Strive VC, bringing total funding to about $11.5M. An enterprise version was in testing, and the company planned to expand the tool's capabilities, support a wider range of database types, and grow headcount.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
Hasura is a developer-tools company whose open-source GraphQL engine connects to a database, takes a little configuration, and auto-generates a performant, secure GraphQL API — what CEO and co-founder Tanmai Gopal called 'a kind of Data as a Service API.' On 2020-02-26 TechCrunch reported a $9.9M Series A led by Vertex Ventures US, with SAP.iO Fund and existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Strive VC participating, bringing total funding to about $11.5M.
The company started after a $1.6M seed, announced 2018-04-25, building developer tools to simplify Kubernetes. Gopal told TechCrunch that the team over time realized data access was a bigger problem: application developers need data sitting in databases, and back-end developers were spending large amounts of time manually connecting applications to data sources for front-end teams. Hasura's service turned that work into generated code front-end developers could drop into their application.
By the time of the Series A the open-source engine had passed 29 million downloads, the San Francisco company had 40 employees, and an enterprise version was in testing. The plan was to expand the tool's capabilities, support more database types, and hire. The TechCrunch story drew 378 points and 194 comments on Hacker News on 2020-02-27.
The bet, as reported, was that the pain worth owning was data access rather than Kubernetes: prove demand through open-source adoption, then sell an enterprise edition on top of the installed base. As of the article that sequence had delivered roughly 29 million downloads before the paid product was out of testing.
What has to be true
- TechCrunch reported 29M+ downloads before the paid enterprise product shipped — open-source adoption was the demand proof behind the round.
- The pivot kept the team and the developer-tools domain while moving the wedge from Kubernetes chores to the data-access layer developers touch daily.
- Existing backers Nexus Venture Partners and Strive VC re-upped alongside Vertex and SAP.iO, funding a proven wedge rather than a fresh idea.
- GraphQL gave Hasura a rising protocol to ride: the engine plugged into an ecosystem developers already wanted instead of asking them to learn a new language.
What can be applied
A pivot can keep the team and change the bet: Kubernetes tooling bought the ticket, but open-source data access was the product developers pulled in themselves, so adoption led the enterprise sale
Aftermath
The material's record ends on 2020-02-27: Hasura was live and scaling at 40 employees, its open-source engine had passed 29 million downloads, the enterprise edition was in customer testing, and the new round was earmarked for broader database support and hiring. The same TechCrunch story drew 378 points and 194 comments on Hacker News. No later outcome is recorded in this material.
Sources
- Hasura raises $9.9M Series A to simplify GraphQL for developers
- Hasura snares $1.6M seed for developer-focused Kubernetes solution
- Hasura raises $9.9M to simplify GraphQL (Hacker News discussion)
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