News
Big Data Pioneer MapR Facing Financial Peril, Uncertain Future
- By Becky Nagel
- May 30, 2019
The future Silicon Valley-based Big Data unicorn MapR appears to be in crisis.
Founded in 2009 and once worth more than $1 billion, the company's staff is facing layoffs and could very well close its Santa Clara, Calif., headquarters, news reports say.
MapR's platform had shifted last year to take advantage of providing data services for the enterprise AI and analytics markets, stating, "MapR's newest innovations enable data scientists and developers to power distributed AI and analytics by leveraging all data for more impactful results," but it doesn't appear that the shift resonated with clients quickly enough for the company's bottom line.
According to this report today from Silicon Angle's Paul Gillin, the company had "extremely poor results" in the last quarter, and the company also lost a hoped-for investor.
Some salespeople have already been laid off, reports state.
Despite the dire news, the company appears to be continuing improvements to its products, recently announcing new AI and machine learning enhancements for the platform and improving integration with Kubernetes.
More information on MapR's platform and offerings can be found here.
About the Author
Becky Nagel serves as vice president of AI for 1105 Media specializing in developing media, events and training for companies around AI and generative AI technology. She also regularly writes and reports on AI news, and is the founding editor of PureAI.com. She's the author of "ChatGPT Prompt 101 Guide for Business Users" and other popular AI resources with a real-world business perspective. She regularly speaks, writes and develops content around AI, generative AI and other business tech. Find her on X/Twitter @beckynagel.