Cloud Computing Unicorn Valued at $12.4 Billion
The cloud is the future, and database providers are among the most important elements of software on the cloud. Snowflake, one of the newest cloud database companies, has announced that in its latest round of funding, it’s managed to raise a whopping $12.4 billion. The valuation makes Snowflake one of the top ten unicorn tech companies within the US. If anything, Unicorn’s massive appeal to investors shows that many of these venture capitalists are still chasing huge gains from cutting-edge technology companies. With the debacle that was WeWork, more tech investors are keeping their sights fixed on companies with provable and believable potential.
Technology Designed For the Cloud
Snowflake isn’t unique in what it offers – it’s a cloud database software that can compete head-to-head with the likes of companies such as Oracle as a database solution. What sets the software apart is the design process. Most of the database solutions that users utilize in the cloud have to be adapted to be used with such a connection. Snowflake’s development team decided that it should be built from the ground-up within the cloud. The usability of the software means that the tiny Snowflake poses a threat to massive cloud computing companies such as Amazon and Google. It is likely that, if the company were to start seeing financial difficulties, it would be acquired by one of these big players, removing an upstart from the board.
A Consumer As Well as a Supplier
It’s not all doom and gloom for Snowflake, however. The company serves as an excellent intermediary for getting new business onto the cloud. Snowflake itself rents cloud space from enterprise cloud providers on behalf of their clients. Snowflake believes it has the potential to bring more customers to the cloud, and as a consumer itself, they may find themselves immune from acquisition for the time being. The company’s chief executive has stated that Snowflake might have its eye on having a public offering if the conditions seemed right, potentially earning it enough capital to remain independent of other cloud suppliers.
