Insight Partners Invests $30M in Metabase - Business Intelligence

Metabase Secures $30 Million in Series B Funding

Metabase, an open-source business intelligence firm, revealed Thursday that it has successfully closed a $30 million Series B funding round. The investment was spearheaded by Insight Partners.

Investment Details and Company History

This funding round saw participation from existing investors, including Expa and NEA. To date, the San Francisco-based company has accumulated a total of $42.5 million in funding since its inception in 2015.

Previously, Metabase secured $8 million in Series A funding in 2019, with NEA leading that round.

Origins and Core Functionality

Developed initially within the Expa venture studio, Metabase was created to provide a simplified method for individuals to engage with data sets. This is according to co-founder and CEO, Sameer Al-Sakran, in a statement to TechCrunch.

Al-Sakran explained that users often possess data but lack the expertise to effectively analyze it. Metabase offers a self-service platform allowing users to pose questions, analyze data, and generate reports—including dashboards—without requiring extensive database expertise or analyst intervention.

Evolution of Business Intelligence

Al-Sakran pointed out a relative stagnation in the business intelligence landscape since the emergence of Tableau over 15 years ago. He believes modern computing capabilities can significantly enhance the end-user experience, particularly in anticipating user needs.

He further emphasized the growing preference for open-source solutions for software and information access, especially for users who desire direct data control.

Insight Partners' Perspective

George Mathew, Managing Director at Insight Partners, posits that the business intelligence sector is entering its third generation. This evolution follows centralized enterprise systems like SAP, then self-service tools such as Tableau and Looker, and now companies like Metabase that prioritize rapid insight discovery.

Mathew stated that this new generation is driving the push towards actionable insights and tangible value. He also highlighted the importance of cloud migration for BI tools and the advantages of the current open-source model.

User Base and Growth

As of this announcement, Metabase has been downloaded 98 million times and is currently utilized by over 30,000 companies spanning 200 countries.

The company initiated a new funding round following the successful launch of its commercial offering, Metabase Enterprise.

Future Plans

The newly acquired funding will be allocated to expanding the sales team and continuing product development for both Metabase Enterprise and Metabase Cloud. Recognizing that Metabase is often a user’s initial foray into business intelligence, the company is also increasing resources dedicated to customer education.

Al-Sakran affirmed the importance of transparency in open-source software, stating that users deserve visibility into the systems they operate. The company remains committed to innovation, performance improvements, and enhancing the overall user experience to shape the future of business intelligence.