NocoDB takes on Airtable with open supply no-code platform that connects to manufacturing databases • TechCrunch

A brand new firm is getting down to problem Airtable, the 10-year-old firm just lately valued at a whopping $11 billion, with a barely completely different tackle what it means to be a no-code database platform.

NocoDB is one in every of numerous startups to emerge on the scene with plans to usurp the mighty Airtable, with an open supply basis serving as a core promoting level. Whereas NocoDB works similarly when it comes to permitting non-technical customers to create recent databases, its twist is that it additionally works straight on stay “manufacturing” knowledge that resides in databases comparable to Postrgres, MySQL, or MariaDB, or knowledge warehouses, and turns them into what it calls a “sensible spreadsheet”.

This enables anybody to leverage legacy databases without having IT’s enter — no SQL queries or code required. It’s all about enabling enterprise, finance, and even advertising and marketing groups to connect with stay knowledge and collaborate with builders to construct no-code functions.

U.Okay.-based founder and CEO Naveen Rudrappa claims that the core open supply undertaking has already been utilized by greater than 2,000 corporations together with behemoths comparable to Google, Walmart, American Categorical, and McAfee.

“The adoption we’ve seen has been actually unprecedented — we’ve had 7 million Docker downloads inside one yr of launch and greater than 30,000 GitHub stars, placing us amongst the highest 350 open supply tasks on this planet,” Rudrappa instructed TechCrunch.

A little bit greater than a yr on from its inception, the corporate is asserting a sizeable seed funding spherical from a veritable who’s who from the angel funding world.

The funding has actually dripped in over a few tranches since its incorporation in June final yr, however in whole the spherical quantities to round $10.5 million, with institutional backers together with Decibel, OSS Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, and Collectively.fund. The angel aspect, in the meantime, contains YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley; WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg; RedHat cofounder Bob Younger; early Google investor Ram Shriram; and founders from Cloudera, CockroachDB, PipeDream, Talend, AngelList, BrightRoll, and Freshworks.

The story thus far

The genesis of NocoDB could be traced again to 2017, when Rudrappa was engaged on a associated open supply database “ardour undertaking” underneath a distinct title, one which was purely a backend with no person interface in any respect. The issue he was attempting to resolve concerned creating APIs to entry a MySQL database of U.Okay. actual property knowledge — one thing that wasn’t simple to attain.

“I spotted that the elemental downside of creating a database API-accessible nonetheless remained unsolved,” Rudrappa mentioned. “So, I constructed a prototype, launched it on GitHub, and the subsequent morning woke as much as see a thousand GitHub stars for my undertaking. The issue was far more widespread than I had imagined and my preliminary prototype had struck a chord with the customers. This pastime undertaking obtained 1 / 4 of one million downloads, then I made a decision to crew up with a pal and began constructing NocoDB.”

When NocoDB arrived on GitHub final yr, Rudrappa mentioned that it garnered greater than one million downloads inside the first ten weeks.

“Reside manufacturing knowledge shops, like MySQL or Snowflake, are intimidating for enterprise customers, and even to builders who aren’t used to working with the backend tech stack,” he mentioned. “However they want entry to this knowledge so as to construct helpful functions shortly. NocoDB makes it attainable to attach any organizational knowledge supply to the universally well-understood spreadsheet interface, permitting customers with zero coding expertise to construct workflows and automations that work in live performance with actual enterprise knowledge.”

With $10.5 million within the financial institution, and the assist of among the greatest names from the expertise sphere, NocoDB is well-positioned to construct out a industrial part to the primary open supply undertaking. This features a new premium incarnation that’s presently in personal beta, one that permits corporations to connect with Oracle Database and Snowflake.

“This industrial model is a request from the shopper aspect, as they want a working contract with us after they use the software program,” Rudrappa defined. “Enterprise prospects want completely different assist, and we need to accommodate that whereas additionally balancing the wants of our open supply group.”

On prime of that, NocoDB can be engaged on a managed and hosted cloud model, replete with enterprise-grade options together with connectors, single sign-on (SSO), entry management, auditing, and extra.