Cloudera, the startup that distributes and services Apache Hadoop-based data-management software and services, has raised $160 million led by T. Rowe Price, and including an investment by Google Ventures and an affiliate of MSD Capital, L.P., the private investment firm for Michael S. Dell. This brings the company’s total funding to $300 million.
Essentially Cloudera helps manage big data in a company, offering software, services and support for databases. When a user needs to analyze raw data to find a trend or to see if they can find valuable answers in unused data, Cloudera (built on top of Hadoop) allows them to complete more efficient queries.
Hadoop is a Java software framework born of an open-source implementation of Google’s published computing infrastructure which is fostered within the Apache Software Foundation. Hadoop supports distributed applications running on large clusters of commodity computers processing enormous amounts of data. Cloudera helps distribute Hadoop, and provides practical services around the technology, similar to what Red Hat does for the Linux framework.
Cloudera’s customer base includes AOL (TechCrunch’s parent company), CBS, eBay, Morgan Stanley, and The Walt Disney Company. The company has a number of partnerships in place, including one with Dell, which offers a Cloudera Hadoop configuration packaged with its servers.
The new funding will be used to support global expansion into Europe and Asia, scale the field and engineering organizations, and hire additional talent.
In the last funding round, Cloudera was valued at $700 million, so the company could be part of the $1 billion club with this new round.