Actian acquires big data startup ParAccel

Database vendor Actian has acquired “big data” and analytics startup ParAccel, the two companies announced today.

ParAccel caught our eye last year as one of 10 startups leading the way in big data. We specifically liked ParAccel’s leadership in the high-performance analytics space and its work in “pre-crime,” where it helps predict criminal activity before it happens. ParAccel customers include Amazon, The Royal Bank of Scotland, OfficeMax, and MicroStrategy.

Actian believes the acquisition of ParAccel will complement its position as a strong infrastructure player and bring more customers into the fold. Bloor Group chief analyst and co-founder Robin Bloor agrees.

“Actian is building a modern, highly innovative end-to-end database, integration, and analytics solution aimed squarely at solving today’s growing data challenges,” Bloor said in a statement. “With the ability to capture, ingest, analyze, and take action on data at scale, Actian is now very powerfully positioned in the big data and data analytics markets.”

ParAccel told us back in October that it intended to remain an independent company. That said, the decision to be acquired makes some sense because major competitors Vertica and Netezza were purchased by HP and IBM, and that sort of backing helped strengthen their services.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Prior to acquisition, ParAccel had raised more than $90 million in funding from investors including Amazon, Menlo Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Bay Partners, Walden International, Tao Venture Partners, and Silicon Valley Bank.

Top photo via ParAccel