Cloudera raises $25M to help deal with the enterprise data deluge

Cloudera, a maker of data-management software for large companies, announced today that it has raised $25 million in its third round of funding to help build its Hadoop-based software architecture.

Hadoop is an open-source data-management software framework. But Cloudera provides a version that is specifically for enterprise users, coupled with IT support and management. The software provides analytics and storage options for large-scale networks that have thousands of nodes and process petabytes (that’s 1,000 terabytes) at any given second.

The Cloudera software actually consists of 11 different open-source Hadoop projects lashed together into a single enterprise software service. It’s similar to how some companies operate with Linux — the software is open source. Its main software offering for the enterprise, Cloudera Enterprise, also provides users with resource management and real-time monitoring of applications.

The funding is pegged for further research and development and marketing of the Hadoop software architecture for enterprise usage.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company was founded in 2008 and has so far raised $36 million. It has around 40 employees, and its clients include RapLeaf and Bank of America. Its most recent round of funding was led by Meritech Capital Partners, though existing investors Accel Partners and Greylock Partners also participated in the round. Yahoo, Google and Facebook all also use Hadoop to power some of their services.

[Photo: mfrascella]