MapR Technologies Inc. missed a self-imposed July 3 deadline to secure new funding or find a buyer, but said it’s continuing discussions with a potential funding source that could keep the big-data company in business.

“MapR is making meaningful progress toward a strategic transaction,” David H. Greenberg, vice president or legal at MapR, said in a prepared statement. “Due to the sensitivity of the discussions, we cannot provide more details at this time.”

Any transaction is unlikely to be completed until after the July 4 holiday in the U.S.

Two weeks ago, the company said it had signed a letter of intent with a potential acquirer that is “currently in the due diligence of the company’s business,” Cindy Arthur, MapR vice president of human resources, wrote in the letter to the California Employment Development Department. The company earlier had said that it would have to lay off 122 employees and close its Santa Clara, California headquarters if an investor wasn’t found.

MapR is under no legal obligation to take action regarding the disposition of its business because it missed the deadline. Recent notifications have been filed under California’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification laws, which requires businesses to give affected employees and government agencies notice in advance of a plant closing or layoff that affects more than 50 employees in a 30-day period.

The company had raised $280 million in venture funding, attracting a blue-chip roster of customers that includes Cisco Systems Inc., Novartis AG and SAP SE. Six weeks ago, it shocked customers and investors when it said unexpected “extremely poor results” had forced it to seek additional investment.

MapR blamed “last-minute and unexpected postponement of several customers’ timelines to make a purchasing decision,” reflecting an overall malaise in the market for big-data software based upon open-source platforms. Competitor Cloudera subsequently reported lower-than-expected earnings and revenues and drastically reduced guidance for the full year.

Both companies are also believed to be struggling as a result of cloud computing providers such as Amazon Web Services Inc. and Microsoft Corp. providing similar services as part of their broad offerings.

Photo: MapR