Acquiring DuckLabs: Bringing DuckDB’s Team into the Cloud Data Revolution

Amazon Acquires DuckLabs, the Company Behind DuckDB

Amazon has made a significant move by agreeing to acquire DuckLabs, the company responsible for DuckDB, an open-source database that has gained popularity among developers seeking to analyze large amounts of data without the complexity of a cloud data warehouse.

As part of the acquisition, employees of DuckLabs, including co-founders and DuckDB creators Hannes Mühleisen and Mark Raasveldt, will join Amazon Web Services. They will continue to lead the team and guide the technical direction of the project from their base in Amsterdam.

It’s important to note that Amazon is not taking over the DuckDB open-source project itself. DuckDB will remain freely available under the MIT license, overseen by the nonprofit DuckDB Foundation. This includes related projects like DuckLake and Quack.

The financial details of the acquisition have not been disclosed, but both Amazon and DuckLabs expect the deal to close soon, with DuckLabs becoming part of AWS in early September.

Larger Shifts in Cloud Data

The acquisition of DuckLabs aligns with Amazon’s strategy to enhance its flagship cloud storage service, S3, into a platform for data analysis rather than just storage. This move reflects the industry trend towards keeping data in open formats in cloud storage for direct querying, eliminating the need for separate data warehouses.

This shift puts pressure on companies like Snowflake and Databricks, which provide computing and governance services on top of stored data. With the rise of AI, the volume of data in the cloud has increased, driving up the cost of analysis. DuckDB is seen as a natural fit for AI applications due to its optimized performance.

Amazon’s Vice President of cloud data services, Mai-Lan Tomsen Bukovec, highlighted DuckDB’s compatibility with AI agents that interact with data similarly to humans, making it a valuable asset for AWS.

DuckLabs has collaborated closely with AWS on projects such as DuckDB support for S3 Tables and SageMaker Lakehouse, showcasing their shared commitment to advancing cloud data solutions.

‘That’s Amazon’s Playbook’

Seattle-based company MotherDuck, which offers a cloud service built on DuckDB, sees Amazon’s acquisition as following a familiar pattern. CEO Jordan Tigani noted that Amazon tends to acquire successful open-source projects to launch them as services, anticipating a similar fate for DuckDB.

Tigani believes that Amazon’s financial interest in DuckDB’s success will drive competition and innovation in the market. He also reassured that DuckDB’s integrity and control will be maintained under Amazon’s ownership.

Furthermore, MotherDuck now provides enterprise support for DuckDB with the approval of DuckLabs, expanding their services in alignment with the acquisition.

Five Years of Growth Without Venture Capital

DuckLabs’ journey over the past five years has been remarkable, as the company grew organically without venture capital funding. By staying independent and employee-owned, DuckLabs managed to expand its team in Amsterdam through contract support and feature development.

Recognizing the need for additional resources to support DuckDB’s growth, the founders decided to join forces with Amazon to maintain the project’s momentum. The upcoming DuckDB 2.0 release promises new features like Quack for network data sharing and enhanced query performance against object storage.

Looking ahead, DuckLabs plans to establish a technical advisory board within the DuckDB Foundation to guide the project’s future direction. This inclusive approach aims to foster community collaboration and innovation within the DuckDB ecosystem.