Couchbase Inc., the maker of the popular NoSQL database of the same name, reportedly has filed confidential paperwork for an initial public offering that could value it at as much as $3 billion. 

That’s according to a report today from Reuters, which attributed the information to multiple sources. Another detail shared by the sources: Couchbase has reached annual revenues of over $100 million. That’s a sales target many tech firms eyeing the stock market seek reach before putting their IPO plans in motion.

Couchbase’s namesake database is used by about a third of the Fortune 100 to power a variety of business applications. The database can store unstructured data such as text, as well as relational records and semistructured information like sensor measurements. Moreover, though Couchbase competes in a part of the market known as the NoSQL segment, it allows users to employ SQL commands to manipulate data.

The company provides the feature through a query language called N1QL that uses the SQL syntax. Couchbase Chief Executive Matt Cain explained the role of the technology in the company’s go-to-market strategy during an interview on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE.

“You know that language that you’ve been speaking the whole time, talking to your old database? Well, you can speak with that same language on your new database,” Cain said. The technology, he explained, allows companies to adopt Couchbase’s platform “in a way that they’re comfortable with and is aligned to the skill sets they have,” since many organizations already have analysts familiar with SQL. 

Over the last two years, Couchbase has worked to address another key aspect of enterprises’ technology roadmaps: the shift to the cloud. Couchbase debuted a managed version of its database last June that runs on Amazon Web Services. This year, it added support for Microsoft Corp.’s rival Azure platform.

Couchbase’s growing roster of capabilities for cloud-based use cases will no doubt feature prominently in its pitch to investors ahead of its expected IPO. Snowflake Inc., another player in the data management market that provides its software via the cloud, is seeing strong revenue growth.

Today’s report didn’t provide additional information on Couchbase’s growth besides stating that its annual sales have passed $100 million. However, in May 2020, on the occasion of a $105 million funding round, Couchbase disclosed it had seen customers’ total contract value increase 70% over the preceding year. That was before it introduced its managed database service on AWS that June.

Couchbase’s Couchbase Autonomous Operator product, another component of its cloud strategy, appears to be seeing strong growth as well. The product makes it easier to deploy its database on Kubernetes, a staple of enterprises’ public cloud environments. The company said in October that Couchbase Autonomous Operator reached more than 120 customers less than two years after launching.

Last May, at the time of its $105 million funding round, Couchbase had a total of more than more than 500 paying customers.

Reuters’ sources didn’t specify if the company is profitable or how much capital it might be looking to raise in the IPO. They said that Couchbase could list in the first half of this year.

Photo: Couchbase