The archive · Developer & Business Tools · Financial decision · 2012
Typesafe's 2012 bet: raise $14M to commercialize open-source Scala
Typesafe raised $14M in Aug 2012 to sell support, training and ops tools for Scala, betting enterprises would pay for a supported open-source stack.
Typesafe
What the business is
Typesafe packaged Scala with the Akka middleware framework and the Play web framework into a Java-compatible Typesafe Stack, then sold commercial subscriptions with support, maintenance and operations tools, plus training and consulting, for building large-scale data-rich applications in Java and Scala.
How it started
Typesafe was founded by the creators of the Scala programming language and the Akka framework to turn Scala's growing adoption into a business. It assembled the Typesafe Stack — Scala, the Akka middleware framework and the Play web framework — as a Java-compatible platform for large-scale, data-rich applications in cloud and virtualized enterprise datacenter environments.
What happened
On 2012-08-22 Typesafe announced a $14 million Series B led by Shasta Ventures, with Greylock Partners, Juniper Networks' Junos Innovation Fund and former Verisign, Broadvision and Oracle executive François Stieger participating. Shasta managing director Jason Pressman cited the 'massive market adoption of Scala' as the opportunity; the Typesafe Subscription added commercial support, maintenance and operations tools, and Typesafe also sold training and consulting to push adoption of Akka, Play and Scala.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
Typesafe, founded by the creators of the Scala programming language and the Akka framework, was building a business out of an open-source language. Its product was the Typesafe Stack — Scala, the Akka middleware framework and the Play web framework, kept compatible with Java — for building large-scale, data-rich applications in cloud computing and virtualized enterprise datacenter environments.
The company monetized around the stack rather than the code: the Typesafe Subscription added commercial support, maintenance and operations tools, and Typesafe sold training and consulting to help enterprises adopt Akka, Play and Scala. TechCrunch's framing was that Typesafe does for Scala what Cloudera does for Hadoop — building a vendor business on support around an open-source platform.
On 2012-08-22 Typesafe announced a $14 million Series B led by Shasta Ventures, with Greylock Partners, Juniper Networks' Junos Innovation Fund and François Stieger joining. Shasta's Jason Pressman called Scala's adoption 'massive,' and the bet of the round was that enterprises would pay for a supported, hardened version of a free language. The same day the story drew 157 points and 101 comments on Hacker News (item 4416866).
What has to be true
- Scala had real developer momentum: Shasta's Jason Pressman called its enterprise adoption 'massive,' and the round funded a team to capture that demand.
- The stack stayed Java-compatible, so Scala could be introduced inside existing Java shops instead of requiring a rewrite of the Java infrastructure.
- Revenue design copied Cloudera's Hadoop play — sell support, maintenance, training and operations tooling around open source instead of selling the language itself.
- The unproven bet was willingness to pay: enterprises had to decide a supported Scala subscription was worth money when the language was free.
What can be applied
An open-source project's business is the guarantee around it: Typesafe sold support, maintenance, training and ops tooling for Scala the way Cloudera sold them for Hadoop — not the code itself.
Aftermath
As of 2012-08-22 Typesafe had just announced the $14 million Series B and was operating the business TechCrunch described: a Java-compatible Typesafe Stack, commercial subscriptions with support and operations tools, and training and consulting led by CEO Mark Brewer. What happened to Typesafe after the announcement — the size of the subscription business and the company's later course — is beyond this batch's sources.
Sources
- Typesafe Raises $14M From Shasta, Greylock, And Juniper To Commercialize Scala
- HN discussion: Typesafe raises $14M to commercialize Scala
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