IPOs 2021: Couchbase Goes Public in Crowded Database Market

The global NoSQL market size is projected to grow at 28% CAGR to reach $13.6 billion by 2027 from $2.3 billion in 2020. Couchbase (Nasdaq: BASE), a leading vendor in the market, went public earlier this year.

Couchbase’s Offerings

Founded in 2011 by Chris Anderson, Damien Katz, Dustin Sallings, James Phillips, Jan Lehnardt, and Steve Yen, Santa Clara-based Couchbase is a NoSQL vendor that was set up with a mission to empower enterprises to build, manage and operate mission-critical applications. Couchbase was initially incorporated in 2008 as NorthScale. In 2010, it renamed itself to Membase. A year later, it merged with CouchOne and rebranded to Couchbase.

Today, Couchbase provides a leading modern database for enterprise applications. Its database works in multiple configurations including cloud to multi- or hybrid-cloud to on-premise environments. Its cloud-native platform provides a database that serves the needs of both enterprise architects and application developers.

The Couchbase Server is an open-source, NoSQL, document-oriented database is optimized for interactive applications. Its NoSQL mobile solution is made up of Couchbase Server, Couchbase Sync Gateway, and Couchbase Lite, its lightweight NoSQL database. Couchbase’s platform provides agility and manageability, regardless of the scale to create a personalized customer experience.

Couchbase realizes that legacy applications in enterprises must be re-architected to handle user growth and provide always-available experiences. This modernization is complex, costly, and challenging, and requires enterprises to upgrade all aspects of their legacy software, infrastructure, and development processes. Couchbase has been designed to give enterprises a database for the modern cloud world to handle the limitations of legacy database technologies and deliver high performance, scalable, and agile systems needed for mission-critical applications.

Recently, Couchbase announced the launch of Couchbase CapellaTM, its new Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) on AWS. The service provides database flexibility for developers and performance at a scale for enterprise applications. It is fully managed and automated, allowing customers to focus on development, improving applications, and reducing the time to market.

Couchbase’s Financials

Couchbase has seen strong adoption of its offerings. Its revenues in 2021 grew 25.16% to $103.29 million from $82.52 in 2020. By segment, license revenues grew from $11.1 million to $14 million and support revenues grew from $65.5 million to $82.9 million. Services revenues increased from $5.9 million in 2020 to $6.3 million for fiscal 2021. Net loss grew from $29.26 million in 2020 to $39.98 million in 2021.

Recently, Couchbase announced its second-quarter earnings. Revenues grew 18% to $29.7 million. Total ARR grew 20% to $115.2 million, and subscription revenues grew 19% to $28 million.

Couchbase went public in July this year. Prior to going public, it raised $251 million in eight rounds of funding, with the most recent round being held in May 2020 for $105 million. It was listed at $24 to raise $200 million and was valued at $1.4 billion. It is currently trading at $31.97 with a market capitalization of $1.43 billion. 

Couchbase is not the only vendor in the operational Database and the No-SQL database market. It has to compete with big names like Microsoft and Oracle along with other niche players like MongoDB, CloudDB, and MarkLogic to name a few.

Disclosure: All investors should make their own assessments based on their own research, informed interpretations, and risk appetite. This article expresses my own opinions based on my own research of product-market fit, channel execution, and other factors. My primary interest is in product strategy. While this may have bearing on stock movements, my writings tend to focus on long-term implications. The information presented is illustrative and educational, but should not be regarded as a complete analysis nor recommendation to buy or sell the securities mentioned herein. I am not a registered investment adviser and I am not receiving compensation for this article.

Photo Credit: Esa Riutta from Pixabay

This segment is a part in the series : IPOs 2021