Yahoo and Benchmark Capital have teamed up to invest in a new independent company dedicated solely to the development of Yahoo-led, open source Apache Hadoop technology.
When it is ready to launch (although a specific road map hasn’t been disclosed), Hortonworks will be a primary contributor to the Apache Hadoop platform as well as deploy solutions to enterprise vendors.
Yahoo touts Apache Hadoop as a more efficient and cost-efficient option for processing and analyzing data at “supercomputing speed.”
Apache Hadoop, one of Yahoo’s more popular projects with developers and even other tech giants such as IBM and Facebook, is an open source platform that can be utilized for storing and managing big data as well as for the tech trend du jour: cloud computing. For example, the platform has already been integrated by Amazon Web Services.
Other Silicon Valley players/Hadoop fans are already chiming in, including NetApp, which develops storage and software solutions for data storage, has shown favor for HortonWorks on its official blog as it “boasts the most desirable providence and pedigree of Hadoop talent and influence in the industry.”
Benchmark Capital has already shown interest in open-source platforms with an investment in Red Hat.
Yahoo and Benchmark Capital’s joint investment in Hortonworks is still subject to customary closing conditions, but the deal is expected to close by the end of July. Once it is official, Eric Baldeschwieler, formerly VP of software engineering for the Hadoop team at Yahoo, will lead Hortonworks as CEO of the start-up.
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