Streaming graph application platform startup Memgraph Ltd. announced today that it has closed on a $9.34 million seed funding round.

The round, which came as the company launched Memgraph 2.0, was led by Microsoft Corp.’s venture fund M12, with participation from Heavybit Industries, In-Q-Tel, Counterview Capital, ID4 Ventures and Mundi Ventures.

Memgraph is the creator of an in-memory graph database that can be used by developers to create so-called graph applications. They leverage real-time data streamed from multiple sources such as enterprise file systems, Amazon Web Services Inc.’s S3 storage service and Apache Kafka.

The Memgraph database ingests that data and transforms it into a graph model that can feed advanced algorithms. They power everything from dashboards, visualizations and permission modeling to recommendation and fraud detection systems.

The company offers two versions of its platform: the Community Edition, which is completely free to use under a Business Source License, and the Enterprise Edition, which adds features such as role-based access controls, full activity auditing, encryption and advanced password policies for companies that require more security.

Graph databases such as Memgraph differ from conventional relational and NoSQL databases in that they document connections between data elements. They enable organizations to map relationships that would be impractical or impossible to represent in other database engines. It’s a distinctive capability that means graph databases are increasingly being used in artificial intelligence scenarios.

However, they’re equally well-suited to scenarios in which decisions made by an algorithm must be explained. For example, if a bank customer contests a denied loan application, then both the bank and regulators will want to know why the algorithm made that decision in the first place.

The release of Memgraph 2.0 allows developers to feed algorithms such as PageRank, Community Detection, Breadth-First Search, which is a model for searching a tree data structure for nodes that satisfy a given property, and Depth-first search, which traverse or searches tree and graph data structures. Developers will now be able to build a new breed of applications that take advantage of those algorithms, Memgraph said.

“With today’s launch, Memgraph empowers all developers — from the open-source hobbyist to engineers at large enterprises — to stream, graph and build in minutes,” said Dominik Tomicevic, co-founder and chief executive officer of Memgraph.

The company said the ability to create applications based on those algorithms was previously a privilege enjoyed by only the biggest and most well-funded corporations, owing to the complexity of managing high-speed data flows.

That’s no longer the case. Lubrication Specialties, Inc., a company involved in chemical research and development and nano-additive product formulation, taps Memgraph’s database to organize its scheduling process. It’s an extremely complex operation that requires multiple contingencies to be managed, such as chemical ingredients, storage capacities and a finite number of reactors and other equipment.

LSI Director of Global Operational Technology Tobias Merz said he was able to model an entire production site using a graph database powered by Memgraph. “It’s a huge innovation for use that helped us better understand these inter-dependencies and make the right decisions to provide a reliable service to our customers,” he said.

M12 Managing Director and U.K. Lead Matthew Goldstein said Memgraph makes it possible for smaller organizations to go from “data overwhelm” to profitable insights. “Analytics capabilities that were once exclusive to tech giants are now accessible across industries with Memgraph,” he said.

Memgraph said it will use today’s funding to expand its teams and accelerate its research and development to drive greater adoption among the developer community and bring more features to market.

Image: Memgraph