Wedonay.com Report on Mar 7th, US database company MariaDB announced the acquisition of in-memory computing technology developer GridGain, the creator of the open-source project Apache Ignite. This transaction combines MariaDB's relational database with GridGain's in-memory data grid software, aiming to build low-latency infrastructure supporting artificial intelligence and real-time applications.
The two companies have signed a definitive agreement, and the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. MariaDB originated from the MySQL ecosystem, offering a proprietary platform alternative. GridGain is known for its Apache Ignite technology, which is used for distributed in-memory processing and storage and is adopted by organizations requiring fast data access.
This acquisition primarily targets the data access latency issues in AI applications. MariaDB points out that AI systems are shifting from chatbots to "agentic" systems capable of performing multi-step tasks, which require frequent calls to data stores during workflows. MariaDB's core product is an ACID-compliant transactional relational database with native vector capabilities and AI support. GridGain's software focuses on in-memory operations, reducing data retrieval and processing times, making it suitable for high-throughput applications such as fraud detection, pricing, personalization, and telecommunications network operations.
MariaDB CEO Rohit De Souza stated: "The rise of agentic workloads places unprecedented demands on enterprise infrastructure, leading to a surge in demand and requiring scale and sub-millisecond latency levels that traditional systems cannot handle." He added: "By combining our platform with GridGain's in-memory data grid, we are entering a new heavyweight category. This allows us to provide a high-performance, scalable, open alternative to Oracle's rigid lock-in and the fragmented complexity of hyperscale cloud providers."
MariaDB is used by thousands of enterprises and millions of developers, positioning itself as an upgrade option from Oracle MySQL. GridGain's customers include companies in data-intensive industries such as financial services and telecommunications. Post-acquisition, the combined platform will support brands including American Express, Barclays, Citi, HPE, Motorola Solutions, and Nokia. In logistics and services, it involves American Airlines, UPS, and others. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The combined product will offer a unified platform across hybrid environments, covering transactional, analytical, and AI-related workloads, with deployment spanning on-premises and cloud environments. Customers can receive support from a single vendor. GridGain CTO Lalit Ahuja noted: "Today's enterprises cannot afford the latency introduced by siloed data architectures. With MariaDB and GridGain, enterprise customers will get a unified platform that offers the best of both worlds—performance and scale—without sacrificing persistence." He added: "The combined technology stack will unlock one of the key enablers for the agentic enterprise: high-performance and reliable data processing that supports next-generation AI applications."
The agreement advances MariaDB's strategy for AI-ready data infrastructure, combining in-memory processing with transactional persistence. The two companies will integrate their products upon completion of the transaction.
