Cloud DBaaS Platform SkySQL Joins Forces with MariaDB to Strengthen Product Offerings

MariaDB, a US-based provider of an open source database, recently re-acquired SkySQL Inc., which it had previously spun off as a separate company.  The acquisition brings the SkySQL AI-powered, serverless database-as-a-service (DBaaS) platform and its entire tech teams under the MariaDB corporate umbrella, fortifying MariaDB's capabilities in product development and market strategy with enhanced DBaaS technologies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed to the public. 

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Founded in 2023 and based in San Francisco, CA, SkySQL was originally part of MariaDB’s cloud offering and was initially the name for MariaDB Corporation’s cloud DBaaS offering, which was first introduced in March 2020 on Google Cloud. In December 2023, MariaDB spun off SkySQL into an independent company—SkySQL Inc.—and transferred all rights to the DBaaS product to SkySQL. 

SkySQL’s flagship offering is a cloud-based Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform, built with AI-driven capabilities and a serverless architecture. It has been recognized for its multi-modal support—combining transactional and analytical database modes—along with hybrid and multi-cloud deployment options across Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and, later, Microsoft Azure. 

After its spinout, SkySQL has focused on expanding its platform with new AI innovations such as semantic agents and SkyCopilot, followed by the launch of a serverless offering. In December 2024, the company secured $6.6 million in seed funding, which was led by seed-stage investor Eniac Ventures, known for early bets on Airbnb and Reddit, to bring conversational AI technology to databases. 

MariaDB itself traces its roots back to 2010, when it was founded by Michael "Monty" Widenius and other original MySQL developers as a community-driven, commercially supported fork of MySQL. The company has headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, with a U.S. base in Redwood City, California—though recent CRN reports indicate its main office has shifted to Milpitas, California. MariaDB went public in December 2022 through a SPAC merger before being taken private in September 2024 by Irish private equity firm K1 Investment Management.

According to MariaDB CEO Rohit de Souza, the acquisition strengthens MariaDB Cloud by integrating SkySQL’s advanced agentic AI features and serverless technologies. The SkySQL deal follows MariaDB’s June 2025 acquisition of Galera Cluster and the January 2025 launch of the upgraded MariaDB Enterprise Platform, underscoring its accelerated strategy in cloud and AI-driven database innovation.