Finnish Software Firm Aiven Raises Cash at $800 Million Value

(Bloomberg) -- Aiven, a Finnish company that makes open-source software to manage databases, has raised funding at a valuation of more than $800 million, a roughly fourfold increase since its last round a year ago.

It’s raised $100 million to bring new products to market and further expand internationally, the Helsinki-based company said in a statement Tuesday.

The company plans to double its staff to about 300 by the end of this year, expand its existing business in areas like retail and enter new sectors, such as financial services, Chief Executive Officer Oskari Saarenmaa said in an interview.

The company is also planning to expand into Asia-Pacific, he said. Aiven serves companies, including Comcast Corp. and delivery startup Wolt, offering technology that helps them manage their data on major cloud providers. The company focuses on open source technology, which makes it easier for customers to adapt software to their needs and work with other developers.

“It’s a very exciting space where we are in, and I think we are very well positioned to continue growing independently,” Saarenmaa said, adding that any potential initial public offering is at least a couple of years away.

Venture capital firm Atomico led the fundraising, and was joined by new investors Salesforce Ventures and World Innovation Lab. Previous backers Earlybird Venture Capital and IVP also participated.

Hiro Tamura, a partner at Atomico, said he expects Aiven will be able to keep up its fast growth as it works at the intersection of trends in data, cloud and open source technology.

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