10 Top Database Startups to Watch in 2024

Every year, new startups pull to the forefront of their industry through exciting innovation and industry-disrupting business models. We’ve rounded up the best database startups of 2024 that startup lovers, investors, and aspiring entrepreneurs should follow. 

Disclaimer: With so many exciting startups launching and growing worldwide, we aren’t able to cover them all. Furthermore, the startups that are listed below are not officially ranked and are listed in no particular order.

• Location:  Silicon Valley (Mountain View, California)
• Founders: Jitendra Vaidya, Sugu Sougoumarane
• Founded In: 2018
• Funding: $105 Million
• Investors Include: Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz, SignalFire

PlanetScale specializes in providing a serverless MySQL database solution to their customers. As the name suggests, they’re best at delivering scale, performance, and reliability by presenting easy-to-use features such as horizontal sharding and nonblocking schema changes. 

A unique feature that especially draws people in is the ability to 'branch' your database schema, much like branching code, creating isolated copies for testing. This allows for deploying changes to production without data loss or downtime. 

PlanetScale caters to not just local but globally distributed applications with read-only regions and essential tools for managing, monitoring, and optimizing the database. Their goal is simplifying databases for startups, and they’re well on the way to achieving that goal.

• Location: Silicon Valley (Menlo Park, California)
• Founders: Daniel Ceperley, Edward T. Lu, John Buonocore, Michael Nicolls
• Founded In: 2016
• Funding: $82 Million
• Investors Include: Velvet Sea Ventures, Insight Partners, Airbus Ventures

Unlike conventional database companies, LeoLabs uses its database “prowess” to provide space situational awareness and operations services, essentially servicing satellite operators, enterprises, and government agencies. Their platform called Vertex integrates how organizations track and manage missions in low Earth orbit. 

They offer a suite of services ranging from real-time satellite tracking, collision avoidance alerts, and launch support services to mission risk assessments. LeoLabs leverages its comprehensive database capabilities to deliver reliable space-centric data through its global phased array radar network. Database startups like LeoLabs are redefining the traditional boundaries of data management by merging it with innovative sectors like space operations.

• Location:  San Francisco, California
• Founders: Anton Vaynshtok, Boris Jabes, Bradley Buda, Sean Lynch
• Founded In: 2018
• Funding: $80.3 Million
• Investors Include: Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, Tiger Global Management

Census is a data integration and activation platform that connects customer data from warehouses to numerous marketing, sales, and analytics tools in an innovative “Reverse ETL.” Its primary value prop lies in fast and reliable data connectors that reduce the need for custom code or pipelines. 

Marketing teams can easily tap into entire data warehouses and build complete customer profiles that sync across tools for a unified view. Census ensures the elimination of data silos by providing access to the same customer data across teams. Their platform brings the power of personalization at scale, omnichannel marketing, and a 360-degree customer view. They simplify pipeline setup and have provided numerous clients with considerable reductions in customer acquisition costs.

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Founders: Anthony Wilson, Paul Copplestone
• Founded In: 2020
• Funding: $116.1 Million
• Investors Include: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Felicis, Coatue

Supabase, an open-source alternative to Firebase, stands out among most of today’s database startups. They offer a comprehensive suite of features such as a full Postgres database, authentication features, file storage, real-time capabilities, and more through a unified API. 

Users can take advantage of row-level security along with user sign-ups and logins for added authentication, and developers can write custom code without deploying or scaling servers. It supports storing, organizing, and serving large files and also allows for data synchronization in real time. Additional tools for integrating popular machine learning (ML) models make Supabase a highly appealing pick for startups.

• Location: Central Region, Singapore
• Founders: Prukalpa Sankar, Varun Banka
• Founded In: 2018
• Funding: $69 Million
• Investors Include: Peak XV Partners, Insight Partners, Salesforce Ventures

Atlan is a third-generation data catalog that serves as a point of convergence where teams can discover, trust, and understand data. This startup database company quite ingeniously integrates with users’ tools and connects it with Atlan through partnerships. By doing so, they cleverly bring together all data stacks and teams. 

Atlan reduces friction between data producers and consumers by providing excellent improved documentation, and the product is designed with a human-centric approach, offering out-of-the-box solutions, plug-and-play functionality, and a pay-as-you-go pricing model.

• Location: Oslo, Norway
• Founders: Trygve Karper, Martin Røed, Viral Shah, 
• Founded In: 2021
• Funding: $5.1 Million
• Investors Include: Skyfall Ventures, Arkwright X, Maki.vc

Databutton is an AI-based application development platform that offers the opportunity for users to construct apps without requiring a developer team. The primary functionality of the Databutton platform comes from “prompting,” which is an innovative technique that acts as the new form of “programming” or “controlling” the desired output of an AI model. 

This startup database company has recently secured a sizable $5.1 million in a seed funding round. Its main objective is to allow users to translate their AI app ideas into reality without any hiccups, and Databutton is an excellent platform for users with no coding experience who want to create AI apps.

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Founders: Nicolas Hourcard, Tancrede Collard, Vlad Ilyushchenko
• Founded In: 2019
• Funding: $14.3 Million
• Investors Include: 7percent Ventures, Uncorrelated Ventures

QuestDB is an open-source database specializing in time series data that aims at delivering high-performance data ingestion and speedy SQL analytics. This startup database company is known for its ability to query large datasets at lightning-fast speeds, and with QuestDB, you can manipulate time-stamped data, query data within a designated time range, sample data averages over time intervals, and retrieve the latest data partitioned by a field.

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Founders: Brant Hwang
• Founded In: 2016
• Funding: $15.4 Million
• Investors Include: Y Combinator, Mirae Asset Capital, KB Investment

Ready to step into the world of cloud data protection with QueryPie? This startup gives businesses an opportunity to secure sensitive data without the need to alter their existing data environment. 

QueryPie seamlessly integrates identity and access management (IAM) with security information and event management (SIEM). This integration enhances both data accessibility and security – all the while reducing the chance of a data breach. The platform is also compliant with industry regulations, helping users meet data privacy and security standards.

• Location: Montréal, Canada
• Founders: Max Musing
• Founded In: 2020
• Funding: $4.5 Million
• Investors Include: Matrix Partners, Y Combinator, Form Capital

Basedash exists to simplify and streamline data accessibility for businesses. As a growing startup in the database sector, it provides an admin panel and a CRM tool that allows users to gain an insightful understanding of their customers. One of its primary selling points is allowing users to manipulate data without having to build custom software. 

Since nontechnical teammates can easily access and query production data, it bridges the gap between complex data analysis and user-friendly software. Its distinguishing features, like a dashboard and chart builder, SQL editor, and the ability to create and edit records, have made it a favorite among product teams that thrive on collaboration. Basedash emphasizes security with offerings like single sign-on, two-factor authentication, on-premise hosting, and security integrations.

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Founders: Ayazhan Zhakhan, Jimmy Chan
• Founded In: 2020
• Funding: $1.8 Million
• Investors Include: Gradient Ventures, Y Combinator, Liquid 2 Ventures

Embracing the ethos of quick and efficient data management, Dropbase is another impressive player in the database startup arena. It's a powerful tool designed to facilitate the creation of internal apps, such as admin panels and dashboards, using Python and SQL in mere minutes. Through Dropbase's innovative Smart Tables feature, users have the flexibility to edit data across SQL joins, significantly speeding up the process of admin panel creation. 

It also allows for the use of any Python library, offering unprecedented code flexibility. Dropbase Studio works as an all-in-one space for writing, debugging, and previewing apps. Even better, with built-in code completion tools, development is sped up even more. Dropbase embraces its role as a database startup by offering instant app deployment and client-server shared state without requiring React.

Recommended: Check out our full list of the top startups to watch!