Amazon is acquiring DuckLabs, the company behind DuckDB, while leaving DuckDB, DuckLake and Quack free, MIT-licensed and independently governed by the DuckDB Foundation.
Amazon has acquired Amsterdam-based DuckLabs, the company behind the development of the open-source analytical database DuckDB. However, the acquisition does not include DuckDB, DuckLake or Quack, which will remain free and open source under the MIT licence.
The three projects will continue to be independently governed by the non-profit DuckDB Foundation, separating Amazon’s ownership of DuckLabs from ownership and governance of its core open-source projects.
DuckLabs co-founders and DuckDB creators Hannes Mühleisen and Mark Raasveldt will continue leading the company’s staff and the technical direction of its source projects.
Amazon said integrating DuckLabs into AWS is intended to make its analytics offerings “faster, simpler, and more cost-effective for customers.” For DuckLabs, the acquisition provides access to AWS resources and reach, allowing its technology to reach more developers and organisations.
“Joining AWS gives us the resources and reach to bring this technology to many more developers and organizations and to pursue ideas at a scale that would have been difficult for us to reach alone,” said Hannes Mühleisen and Mark Raasveldt, co-founders and creators of DuckLabs.
Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal therefore represents a corporate acquisition of the company and its talent, rather than control of the open-source projects themselves, which remain MIT-licensed and independently governed.
