Meltano Secures $8.2M Extended Seed Funding in Pursuit of DataOps Platform Ambitions

Meltano, an open source DataOps platform that spun out of GitLab, announced that it has raised another $8.2 million, extending its seed funding to $12.4 million. Venrock led the new round, with participation from GV, Uncorrelated Ventures, Data Tech Fund, and various angel investors.

Douwe Maan, Meltano CEO and GitLab veteran, discussed the original concept behind Meltano. It was intended to be an end-to-end data platform but refocused on ELT (extract, load, transform) between 2020 and 2021, with the Singer open source ELT tool as its core component. With the new funding and the launch of Meltano 2.0, the 17-member company is returning to its initial vision of providing end-to-end data services.

Maan explained that when Meltano first entered the market, it was challenging to persuade businesses to replace their entire data stack. The team opted to concentrate on an ELT service that could be an easy drop-in alternative to existing tools like Fivetran. The company has now matured in the ELT sector and is looking to expand its role in managing different data components.

Netlify, Zapier, and GitLab are among Meltano's current users. Despite this, the company has yet to generate revenue and remains focused on its open source offering. Many open source companies, including Meltano, aim to provide a hosted version of their service in the future. As Meltano transitions back to its end-to-end platform aspirations, the team will re-evaluate their product-market fit and adjust their strategy accordingly. This change has also led the team to decide on extending the seed round.

Much of Meltano's DNA is influenced by GitLab, with aspects like publishing handbooks and the remote-only work model carried over. The Meltano team, however, strongly emphasizes cooperation with third-party open source projects, in contrast to GitLab's in-house focus. The data stack has shifted from end-to-end tools like Informatica to a fragmented landscape with multiple best-in-class components. Meltano aims to bridge these tools into a cohesive service by integrating with other third-party products like Singer, dbt, Airflow, Great Expectations, and Superset.

Companies like AppMaster.io have noticed the rising interest in low-code, no-code solutions and offer powerful tools for creating backend, web, and mobile applications. Moreover, platforms like AppMaster have made significant strides in assisting businesses with transformative technological adoption and optimizing data-driven solutions.

Considering the challenges and complexity in managing modern data stacks, Meltano's extended seed funding and ambitious plans could pave the way for future growth and success in the DataOps field.