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MariaDB took its MySQL fork public via a $672M SPAC with Angel Pond
Open-source database company MariaDB merged into SPAC Angel Pond at a $672M valuation to fund its cloud push; HN scored the news 362 points.
MariaDB Corporation Ab
What the business is
MariaDB Corporation Ab sells the open-source MariaDB database's enterprise edition and SkySQL database-as-a-service, positioning it as a drop-in, lower-cost alternative to proprietary databases and cloud lock-in.
Starting capital：The transaction included a concurrent $104M Series D private placement (with $43M from existing investors and $27M from an Angel Pond affiliate) and an $18M committed PIPE; Angel Pond's trust held $265M in cash, implying up to $317M net proceeds before any shareholder redemptions.
How it started
MySQL creator Michael 'Monty' Widenius had watched Sun buy MySQL AB for $1B in 2008 and Oracle then absorb Sun in 2010; distrusting Oracle's stewardship of MySQL, he forked it into MariaDB, named after his daughter, and the fork spread through Linux distributions that made it their default MySQL. Around it grew MariaDB Corporation Ab, which sold MariaDB Enterprise and SkySQL, acquired scale-out database vendor Clustrix, and counted blue-chip customers including Samsung.
What happened
On 2022-02-01 MariaDB announced a merger agreement, signed 2022-01-31, with NYSE-listed blank-check company Angel Pond Holdings, co-founded by former Goldman Sachs partner Theodore Wang and Alibaba co-founder Simon Xie. The deal implied a pro forma enterprise value of about $672M, 14.2x expected fiscal 2022 revenue of $47.4M, and planned to list the combined company as MariaDB plc on the NYSE under CEO Michael Howard, with a concurrent $104M Series D and $18M PIPE. The Hacker News thread drew 362 points and 220 comments, mixing praise for Widenius 'selling MySQL twice' with skepticism about MariaDB's growth claims and the economics of SPACs.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
MariaDB Corporation Ab is the company behind the open-source MariaDB database, a fork of MySQL created by MySQL's original author. It sells MariaDB Enterprise and the SkySQL managed database service, competing as a lower-cost, drop-in alternative to proprietary and cloud databases, with customers including Samsung, DigiCert and Oppenheimer.
The lineage shaped the bet: after Sun paid $1B for MySQL AB in 2008 and Oracle absorbed Sun in 2010, Michael 'Monty' Widenius forked MySQL into MariaDB, and Linux distributions such as RHEL 7 made it their default 'mysql'. The company's gamble was that this free, compatible installed base would convert into paid enterprise subscriptions and cloud database revenue.
On 2022-02-01 MariaDB announced it would go public by merging with NYSE-listed SPAC Angel Pond Holdings, at a pro forma enterprise value of roughly $672M, 14.2x expected fiscal 2022 revenue of $47.4M, with a $104M Series D and an $18M PIPE attached. The combined company was to list as MariaDB plc on the NYSE under CEO Michael Howard.
Hacker News gave the announcement 362 points and 220 comments on 2022-02-01: some commenters admired Widenius for effectively selling MySQL twice, while others questioned whether MariaDB was really 'fast growing' next to MySQL, PostgreSQL and MongoDB, and warned that SPAC structures tend to enrich sponsors and fall in the aftermarket.
What has to be true
- The fork inherited a massive free installed base through Linux distributions, giving the commercial company distribution most database startups can only buy.
- Oracle's ownership of MySQL made MariaDB the natural home for users who wanted a MySQL-compatible database without Oracle, a switch the company could sell against.
- Cloud migration gave the pitch urgency: the company argued proprietary databases cost up to 90% more and that a public listing would fund its DBaaS push into a market it sized at $33B by 2025.
- A SPAC offered speed and a war chest: Angel Pond's $265M trust plus the concurrent Series D and PIPE promised up to $317M without a traditional IPO roadshow.
- The announcement invited public scrutiny of open-source growth claims, since HN readers could and did benchmark MariaDB's popularity against rivals on the spot.
What can be applied
An open-source installed base is distribution, not a business: MariaDB spent years as Linux's default MySQL, yet its SPAC pitch still had to argue growth at 14.2x revenue.
Aftermath
As of 2022-02-01 MariaDB had signed but not closed the Angel Pond combination; the press release expected closing in the second half of fiscal 2022 (ending September 2022), subject to shareholder approvals, an effective SEC Form S-4 and NYSE listing approval. The Hacker News thread, captured at 362 points and 220 comments, was still debating the valuation, SPAC fees and MariaDB's position in the database market. The sources reviewed here do not cover whether the deal closed or what followed, so this entry stops at the announcement.
Sources
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