In a strategic move to enhance its data observability capabilities, Datadog, a leading cloud monitoring and security platform, has announced the acquisition of Metaplane, an AI-driven data observability startup. The financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.
This acquisition signifies Datadog’s commitment to expanding its services into the data observability domain, building upon its existing suite of monitoring tools. Metaplane will continue to operate under the new branding of Metaplane by Datadog, ensuring uninterrupted support for both existing and new customers.
Michael Whetten, Vice President at Datadog, emphasized the growing importance of observability beyond traditional IT and development teams. He stated, Observability is no longer just for developers and IT teams; it’s now an essential part of data teams’ day-to-day responsibilities as they manage increasingly complex and business-critical workflows. This complexity will become even more pronounced as more businesses deploy AI applications. By unifying observability across applications and data, Datadog will help organizations build reliable AI systems.
Founded in 2020 by MIT graduate Kevin Hu, former HubSpot engineer Peter Casinelli, and ex-Appcues developer Guru Mahendran, Metaplane initially focused on customer success products aimed at analyzing company data to prevent customer churn. However, after participating in Y Combinator and adapting to the challenges posed by the pandemic, the company pivoted to develop tools centered on data analytics.
Metaplane’s platform leverages AI models trained on historical metadata to monitor data systems. It establishes data lineages within data warehouses and alerts stakeholders to anomalies through preferred communication channels such as Slack or PagerDuty. Users can interact with these alerts, marking them as expected changes or issues, allowing the system to learn and improve over time.
Prior to the acquisition, Metaplane had secured $22.2 million in funding from investors including Khosla Ventures, Y Combinator, Flybridge Capital Partners, Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch, and HubSpot CTO Dharmesh Shah. As of January 2023, the Boston-based startup employed approximately 10 individuals.
Kevin Hu, CEO and co-founder of Metaplane, expressed enthusiasm about the acquisition, stating, Our mission at Metaplane is to help companies ensure trust in the data that powers their business. Joining forces with Datadog enables us to bring data observability to tens of thousands more companies, while bringing data teams and software teams closer together.
This acquisition marks Datadog’s second of the year, following the January purchase of Quickwit, an open-source, cloud-native search engine for logs. The move underscores Datadog’s strategic focus on enhancing its observability offerings to meet the evolving needs of businesses in an increasingly data-driven landscape.
The data observability market is experiencing significant growth. According to Grand View Research, the market was valued at $2.14 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.2% between 2024 and 2030. This expansion reflects the increasing reliance of businesses on data-driven decision-making and the necessity for robust data monitoring solutions.
Datadog’s acquisition of Metaplane positions the company to capitalize on this growing market by offering integrated observability solutions that cater to both application performance and data quality. By combining Metaplane’s AI-driven data monitoring capabilities with its existing infrastructure, Datadog aims to provide a comprehensive observability platform that addresses the complex needs of modern enterprises.
In summary, Datadog’s acquisition of Metaplane represents a strategic enhancement of its observability offerings, enabling the company to provide more comprehensive monitoring solutions that encompass both application performance and data quality. This move aligns with the broader industry trend of integrating AI-driven tools to manage the complexities of modern data ecosystems, ensuring that businesses can maintain trust in their data as they continue to scale and innovate.
