MariaDB will incorporate GradGain’s in-memory data processing technology within its popular relational database to provide “sub-millisecond data infrastructure” for the AI agentic era, according to the company.
Relational database developer MariaDB has struck a deal to acquire in-memory computing tech developer GridGain Systems in a move to boost the performance of data infrastructure for AI agentic computing.
MariaDB, in the deal announcement, said the combination of the MariaDB and GridGain technologies will create a “unified, hybrid-cloud platform” that can handle transactional, analytical and AI use cases “in a single, high-velocity system.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed and MariaDB did not provide a timetable for completing the acquisition, other than to say the deal is subject to customary closing conditions.
[Related: MariaDB Buys Back SkySQL In Database Flexibility Push]
“The rise of agentic workloads has placed unprecedented demands on enterprise infrastructure, causing requirements to explode and requiring a level of scale and sub-millisecond latency that traditional systems simply weren’t built to handle,” said MariaDB CEO Rohit de Souza (pictured) in a statement.
The acquisition comes as the wave of AI development and deployment is putting more demands on IT infrastructure, especially legacy databases and other data management tools, because AI applications and agentic systems require huge volumes of low-latency data to function.
“By uniting MariaDB’s platform with GridGain’s in-memory data grid, we are entering a new weight class. This enables us to provide a high-performance, scalable, open alternative to the rigid lock-in of Oracle and the fragmented complexity of hyperscalers,” de Souza said.
MariaDB said it is particularly targeting the combination of its database with GridGain’s technology as an alternative to the “separate, disconnected” data services offered by the cloud hyperscalers.
GridGain’s “extreme-scale” in-memory technology makes it possible to process massive amounts of data in real-time. It enables sub-millisecond data processing by storing more data for compute tasks—including AI—in a computer’s memory rather than relying on slower disk drives.
GridGain, headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., is also the original developer of Apache Ignite, an open-source, distributed, memory-centric database and data caching platform for high-performance computing, according to a description by the Apache Software Foundation.
“Enterprises today cannot afford the latency introduced by siloed data architectures,” said GridGain CTO Lalit Ahuja in a statement. “The combined [MariaDB and GridGain] technology stack will unlock one of the key enablers for agentic enterprises: high performance and reliable data processing that powers the next generation of AI applications.”
The GridGain acquisition is the latest chapter in the history of MariaDB, which was founded in 2012 by the original developers of the open-source MySQL database.
MariaDB, headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., acquired SkySQL and its cloud-based database-as-a-service last August in a move the company said provided more flexible deployment options for customers.
MariaDB originally developed SkySQL but spun it off as a separate business in 2023. That came amid MariaDB’s financial problems following a bid to go public in December 2022. MariaDB has been on the rebound after it was acquired in September 2024 by private equity firm K1 Investment Management.
