As the demand for AI grows, so does the demand for expertise in maintaining databases. Databases are a critical part of any AI pipeline. They store the information used to train, run, and fine-tune AI systems. And good data management has been proven to smooth the path to AI adoption in the enterprise.
One vendor benefiting from the database boom is Tembo, a startup building a platform that lets developers deploy different flavors of the open source database system Postgres in cloud and local environments. On Monday, Tembo announced it had raised $14 million in a funding round led by GreatPoint Ventures, with participation from Venrock, Grand Ventures, Wireframe Ventures, Defined VC and Cintrifuse Capital.
“We're leveraging the power of Postgres for everyone,” Tembo founder and CEO Ry Walker told TechCrunch. “Tembo enables companies to minimize the number of databases to reduce costs and reduce the complexity of their data pipelines to increase efficiency.”
Walker studied computer science at the University of Cincinnati but dropped out in the '90s to start the web agency Sharkbite, and after selling his first company, he founded the venture studio Differential, which spawned the open-source data engineering pipeline Astronomer, which Walker co-founded.
Walker says he realized he had a passion for early-stage ventures shortly after launching Astronomer, so he founded Tembo. “After building Astronomer and working on open source passion projects, I realized we could have an even bigger impact by applying the Astronomer model to the database industry,” he says.
Tembo offers managed, pay-per-use SaaS (Software as a Service) Postgres services, as well as self-hosted software for setting up and orchestrating Postgres databases, allowing customers to launch databases with features such as auto-scaling and soon-to-be-introduced auto-tuning for self-maintenance.
Recently, Tembo launched its Machine Learning Stack, which enables developers to leverage workflows and databases to build and deploy AI models, including open generative AI models that Tembo offers as a service.
“Astronomical data growth has led to large-scale data sprawl that is inefficient and extremely costly,” said Walker. “Tembo enables companies to minimize the number of databases to reduce costs and reduce the complexity of their data pipelines to increase efficiency.”
Cincinnati-based Tembo has $20 million in capital and a team of about 25 people, and plans to focus on product development, hiring and promotion, Walker said. The challenge will be to keep up with rivals such as Postgres creator Mike Stonebraker's new startup, DBOS, but Walker said Tembo is well equipped to handle it.
“We're at a critical inflection point in leveraging Postgres to address all of an enterprise's growing data capture and storage needs and support their strategy,” said Walker. “The global database market is growing 15% year over year and is expected to reach $200 billion by 2027, and this is just the tip of the iceberg over the next decade. Our goals are as ambitious as the opportunity. We're leveraging the power of Postgres to make it available to everyone.”