SurrealDB is helping developers consolidate their databases

by with No Comment Tech

Drawing of various file cabinets opened to symbolize a lot of data.

Image Credits: 3alexd / Getty Images

Brothers Tobie Morgan Hitchcock and Jaime Morgan Hitchcock spent years building cloud-based software-as-a-service systems together, ranging from tools to let golf courses measure “golfer engagement” to online platforms designed to assess job candidates. While the systems they built had wildly different functions, the unifying thread running through all of them was a dependence on databases that could allow the systems to grow while remaining performant.

Managing databases isn’t as challenging as it used to be. But at scale, it can be a different story — and Tobie says he and Jaime experienced many of the common pain points firsthand while building out SaaS systems.

“Developers spend excessive time on infrastructure management and ensuring that the data in their applications is consistent across multiple different databases and system types with different characteristics and guarantees,” Tobie told TechCrunch. “In addition to this, they need to learn new programming and query languages while working with many different client libraries, leaving less time for application development and leading to reduced performance and more complex application deployments.”

The Hitchcock brothers’ solution was a database architecture called SurrealDB, maintained by a startup of the same name Tobie and Jaime co-founded in 2015. (We covered SurrealDB’s seed in January 2023.) SurrealDB allows developers to model data using multiple different data models at once, and to deploy databases across both cloud and on-premises environments.

“As a multi-model database, SurrealDB helps organizations looking to consolidate the numbers of databases they own and manage,” Tobie said. “We believe that an important part of each database is the ability to easily and effortlessly control each aspect of the database.”

SurrealDB
SurrealDB’s online configuration dashboard.
Image Credits: SurrealDB

The database architecture SurrealDB, which was built in the programming language Rust, shares certain characteristics in common with relational databases. But it features added functionality like security controls and granular access permissions management.

SurrealDB also ships with a tool, Surrealist, that lets developers perform certain database management tasks visually, without having to write code.

SurrealDB the company is currently pre-revenue. However, the plan is to make money through Surreal Cloud, a fully managed version of SurrealDB that launched in beta early this month.

VCs have faith in the brothers’ roadmap. SurrealDB this week closed a $20 million funding round led by FirstMark and Georgian, with participation from Crew Capital and Alumni Ventures, bringing the 32-person, London-based startup’s total raised to $26 million.

Tobie says that the proceeds will go toward product development and “sustainable” hiring.

“SurrealDB has emerged as the choice for organizations burdened by the cost of managing multiple databases,” Tobie added optimistically. “With organizations looking to reduce the cost of the tech stacks, we see this as an opportunity for SurrealDB.”

US charges Russian civilian for allegedly helping GRU spies target Ukrainian government systems with data-destroying malware

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a screenshot of the FBI's wanted poster of AMIN STIGAL, a Russian man accused of conspiracy to hack Ukrainian government systems.

Image Credits: FBI | Screenshot: TechCrunch

The Department of Justice has charged a Russian civilian with conspiracy to destroy Ukrainian government computer systems as part of a widespread hacking effort by Russia ahead of its illegal invasion of Ukraine. 

U.S. prosecutors in Maryland said Wednesday that Amin Stigal, 22, is wanted for helping to set up servers used by Russian government hackers that were used to launch destructive cyberattacks on Ukraine government ministries in January 2022, a month before the Kremlin ordered tanks and troops to cross Ukraine’s borders.

The cyberattack campaign, known as “WhisperGate,” relied on so-called wiper malware that masqueraded as ransomware but deliberately and irreversibly scrambled the data on infected devices. Prosecutors said the cyberattacks were designed to “sow concern” among Ukrainian civil society about the safety of their government’s systems.

Stigal is also accused of helping the hackers working for Russia’s military intelligence unit — known as the GRU — to target allies of Ukraine, including the United States, according to the indictment against Stigal that was unsealed on Wednesday.

According to the unsealed indictment, Stigal allegedly used cryptocurrency to pay for and set up servers from an unnamed U.S.-based company, which allowed the Russian GRU hackers to launch their cyberattacks targeting the Ukrainian government with the data-destroying malware. 

The Russian hackers stole reams of data during the cyberattacks, including citizens’ health data, criminal records and motor insurance data from Ukrainian government systems, the indictment alleges. The hackers later advertised the data for sale on known cybercrime forums.

U.S. prosecutors say the Russian hackers also targeted an unnamed U.S. government agency based in Maryland dozens of times between 2021 and 2022 prior to the invasion, allowing prosecutors in the district to take jurisdiction over the case and seek to charge Stigal. 

Later in October 2022, the Russian hackers used the same servers set up by Stigal to target the transportation sector of one unnamed central European country, which U.S. prosecutors said delivered civilian and military aid to Ukraine following the invasion. The incident matches the timing of an October 2022 cyberattack in Denmark, which caused mass outages and delays across the country’s railway network at the time.

The U.S. government said it’s offering a $10 million bounty for information leading to the whereabouts or capture of Stigal, who remains at large and is believed to be in Russia.

Stigal faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

US says destructive wiper malware targeting Ukraine could ‘spill over’ to other countries

Justice Department sues RealPage over allegedly helping landlords collude to drive up rents

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Image Credits: Jonathan Chiang/Scintt / Getty Images

RealPage, which makes property management software, was sued Friday by the U.S. Justice Department and eight attorneys general for allegedly helping apartment and building managers around the country collude to drive up unit prices.

The Richardson, Texas-based outfit is accused of contracting with rival landlords to absorb info about their rates and lease terms to train RealPage’s recommendation algorithms, and in the process discouraging competition among property owners who defer to the company’s recommendations on pricing and other terms.

It’s the DOJ’s first big algorithmic collusion case and comes as rent in the U.S. skyrockets, climbing 33% since March 2020, according to Zillow.

RealPage, which was acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo in 2021 for $10.2 billion, commands 80% of the market for commercial revenue management software for conventional multi-family housing rentals in the U.S., according to the lawsuit. The company denies any wrongdoing.

SurrealDB is helping developers consolidate their databases

by with No Comment Tech

Drawing of various file cabinets opened to symbolize a lot of data.

Image Credits: 3alexd / Getty Images

Brothers Tobie Morgan Hitchcock and Jaime Morgan Hitchcock spent years building cloud-based software-as-a-service systems together, ranging from tools to let golf courses measure “golfer engagement” to online platforms designed to assess job candidates. While the systems they built had wildly different functions, the unifying thread running through all of them was a dependence on databases that could allow the systems to grow while remaining performant.

Managing databases isn’t as challenging as it used to be. But at scale, it can be a different story — and Tobie says he and Jaime experienced many of the common pain points firsthand while building out SaaS systems.

“Developers spend excessive time on infrastructure management and ensuring that the data in their applications is consistent across multiple different databases and system types with different characteristics and guarantees,” Tobie told TechCrunch. “In addition to this, they need to learn new programming and query languages while working with many different client libraries, leaving less time for application development and leading to reduced performance and more complex application deployments.”

The Hitchcock brothers’ solution was a database architecture called SurrealDB, maintained by a startup of the same name Tobie and Jaime co-founded in 2015. (We covered SurrealDB’s seed in January 2023.) SurrealDB allows developers to model data using multiple different data models at once, and to deploy databases across both cloud and on-premises environments.

“As a multi-model database, SurrealDB helps organizations looking to consolidate the numbers of databases they own and manage,” Tobie said. “We believe that an important part of each database is the ability to easily and effortlessly control each aspect of the database.”

SurrealDB
SurrealDB’s online configuration dashboard.
Image Credits: SurrealDB

The database architecture SurrealDB, which was built in the programming language Rust, shares certain characteristics in common with relational databases. But it features added functionality like security controls and granular access permissions management.

SurrealDB also ships with a tool, Surrealist, that lets developers perform certain database management tasks visually, without having to write code.

SurrealDB the company is currently pre-revenue. However, the plan is to make money through Surreal Cloud, a fully managed version of SurrealDB that launched in beta early this month.

VCs have faith in the brothers’ roadmap. SurrealDB this week closed a $20 million funding round led by FirstMark and Georgian, with participation from Crew Capital and Alumni Ventures, bringing the 32-person, London-based startup’s total raised to $26 million.

Tobie says that the proceeds will go toward product development and “sustainable” hiring.

“SurrealDB has emerged as the choice for organizations burdened by the cost of managing multiple databases,” Tobie added optimistically. “With organizations looking to reduce the cost of the tech stacks, we see this as an opportunity for SurrealDB.”

US charges Russian civilian for allegedly helping GRU spies target Ukrainian government systems with data-destroying malware

by with No Comment Tech

a screenshot of the FBI's wanted poster of AMIN STIGAL, a Russian man accused of conspiracy to hack Ukrainian government systems.

Image Credits: FBI | Screenshot: TechCrunch

The Department of Justice has charged a Russian civilian with conspiracy to destroy Ukrainian government computer systems as part of a widespread hacking effort by Russia ahead of its illegal invasion of Ukraine. 

U.S. prosecutors in Maryland said Wednesday that Amin Stigal, 22, is wanted for helping to set up servers used by Russian government hackers that were used to launch destructive cyberattacks on Ukraine government ministries in January 2022, a month before the Kremlin ordered tanks and troops to cross Ukraine’s borders.

The cyberattack campaign, known as “WhisperGate,” relied on so-called wiper malware that masqueraded as ransomware but deliberately and irreversibly scrambled the data on infected devices. Prosecutors said the cyberattacks were designed to “sow concern” among Ukrainian civil society about the safety of their government’s systems.

Stigal is also accused of helping the hackers working for Russia’s military intelligence unit — known as the GRU — to target allies of Ukraine, including the United States, according to the indictment against Stigal that was unsealed on Wednesday.

According to the unsealed indictment, Stigal allegedly used cryptocurrency to pay for and set up servers from an unnamed U.S.-based company, which allowed the Russian GRU hackers to launch their cyberattacks targeting the Ukrainian government with the data-destroying malware. 

The Russian hackers stole reams of data during the cyberattacks, including citizens’ health data, criminal records and motor insurance data from Ukrainian government systems, the indictment alleges. The hackers later advertised the data for sale on known cybercrime forums.

U.S. prosecutors say the Russian hackers also targeted an unnamed U.S. government agency based in Maryland dozens of times between 2021 and 2022 prior to the invasion, allowing prosecutors in the district to take jurisdiction over the case and seek to charge Stigal. 

Later in October 2022, the Russian hackers used the same servers set up by Stigal to target the transportation sector of one unnamed central European country, which U.S. prosecutors said delivered civilian and military aid to Ukraine following the invasion. The incident matches the timing of an October 2022 cyberattack in Denmark, which caused mass outages and delays across the country’s railway network at the time.

The U.S. government said it’s offering a $10 million bounty for information leading to the whereabouts or capture of Stigal, who remains at large and is believed to be in Russia.

Stigal faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

US says destructive wiper malware targeting Ukraine could ‘spill over’ to other countries

SurrealDB is helping developers consolidate their databases

by with No Comment Tech

Drawing of various file cabinets opened to symbolize a lot of data.

Image Credits: 3alexd / Getty Images

Brothers Tobie Morgan Hitchcock and Jaime Morgan Hitchcock spent years building cloud-based software-as-a-service systems together, ranging from tools to let golf courses measure “golfer engagement” to online platforms designed to assess job candidates. While the systems they built had wildly different functions, the unifying thread running through all of them was a dependence on databases that could allow the systems to grow while remaining performant.

Managing databases isn’t as challenging as it used to be. But at scale, it can be a different story — and Tobie says he and Jaime experienced many of the common pain points firsthand while building out SaaS systems.

“Developers spend excessive time on infrastructure management and ensuring that the data in their applications is consistent across multiple different databases and system types with different characteristics and guarantees,” Tobie told TechCrunch in an interview. “In addition to this, they need to learn new programming and query languages while working with many different client libraries, leaving less time for application development and leading to reduced performance and more complex application deployments.”

The Hitchcock brothers’ solution was a database architecture called SurrealDB, maintained by a startup of the same name Tobie and Jaime co-founded in 2015. (We covered SurrealDB’s seed last January.) SurrealDB allows developers to model data using multiple different data models at once, and to deploy databases across both cloud and on-premises environments.

“As a multi-model database, SurrealDB helps organizations looking to consolidate the numbers of databases they own and manage,” Tobie said. “We believe that an important part of each database is the ability to easily and effortlessly control each aspect of the database.”

SurrealDB
SurrealDB’s online configuration dashboard.
Image Credits: SurrealDB

The database architecture SurrealDB, which was built in the programming language Rust, shares certain characteristics in common with relational databases. But it features added functionality like security controls and granular access permissions management.

SurrealDB also ships with a tool, Surrealist, that lets developers perform certain database management tasks visually, without having to write code.

SurrealDB the company is currently pre-revenue. However, the plan is to make money through Surreal Cloud, a fully managed version of SurrealDB that launched in beta early this month.

VCs have faith in the brothers’ roadmap. SurrealDB this week closed a $20 million funding round led by FirstMark and Georgian with participation from Crew Capital and Alumni Ventures, bringing the 32-person, London-based startup’s total raised to $26 million.

Tobie says that the proceeds will go toward product development and “sustainable” hiring.

“SurrealDB has emerged as the choice for organizations burdened by the cost of managing multiple databases,” Tobie added optimistically. “With organizations looking to reduce the cost of the tech stacks, we see this as an opportunity for SurrealDB.”

Philip Krim onstage at Disrupt

Casper's co-founder is helping launch an incubator for climate tech startups

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Philip Krim onstage at Disrupt

Image Credits: Noam Galai / Getty Images

Hundreds of climate-related startups have been founded in recent years, but for Casper co-founder Philip Krim, that’s not nearly enough.

“We need a lot more zero-to-one founders in this ecosystem,” he told TechCrunch. Relative to other industries, “very few folks are doing it in the climate space.”

Krim, who launched Casper in 2014, is no stranger to entrepreneurship. After taking the mattress company public in 2020 and then selling it to private equity in 2021, he turned his attention to incubating new businesses, including Haven, which helps people install home batteries. “I ultimately got bit by the climate bug and fell in love with the space.”

Through that journey, Krim met Evan Caron, a former commodity trader, and then Sharo Atmeh, a lawyer and portfolio manager. They quickly realized that they all wanted to foster the sort of fast-moving, asset-light, entrepreneurial ethos that has gripped other parts of the tech world.

One path, which is particularly well-trodden, is to start a venture fund. The trio felt they had plenty of ideas themselves, but not enough time to turn them into a reality. Instead of launching a VC fund, they’re starting with an incubator called Montauk Climate, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.

The incubator model isn’t new, but there aren’t many that are dedicated to climate. Some incubators accept founders and help them shape companies very early in their development, while others, like Atomic, Idealab and Flagship Pioneering, take the startup studio approach and conceive of the businesses themselves. Montauk Climate is one of the latter.

“We author the businesses that we want to create,” Krim said. “We’re not looking at other people’s ideas. We’re really putting together the idea, and then we bring in talent to help run that team.”

Evan Caron, Philip Krim, and Sharo Atmeh pose in front of the New York City skyline.
Montauk Climate is led by CIO Evan Caron, CEO Philip Krim and COO Sharo Atmeh. Image Credits: Montauk Climate

Many climate tech companies focus on problems that require hardware to solve. The Montauk team is taking a different approach. The new incubator wants to create businesses that complement those hardware-heavy efforts while also playing to their strengths around energy, software and infrastructure.

“The core science projects are either on their way or have been invented,” Atmeh said, citing wind, solar, hydrogen and geothermal. “Those kinds of bricks are now in place, and there’s a lot of room to kind of generate the mortar that needs to fit between those bricks to create connectivity between consumers, between utilities and renewables, and to help operationalize what is now a really fragmented system.”

Montauk Climate is launching with $8.5 million, led by a $7 million investment from Sheel Tyle, managing partner at Amplo. The firm will explore business opportunities in house, and once they feel like an opportunity is ripe, they’ll hire a team and commit some initial capital to the company.

“Once we have a team, once we have a business plan that we feel is really vetted and then fully underwritten, we’ll then go out to venture firms that we have relationships with to fund that business and spin it out,” Krim said. Montauk Climate will remain shareholders in its spinout companies and have seats on their boards.

The team is focusing on a handful of sectors, Caron said, including energy use in data centers, electrification incentives, weather data aggregation and insurance. Expect them to be software or platform plays. The insurance idea is the furthest along, Krim said, with a veteran industry CEO in place and a model that focuses on helping business owners manage risks from climate change.

“We should have a handful of incubated businesses launched in Q2, Q3 of this year,” he said. As the number of incubated companies expands, Montauk Climate expects to raise its own venture fund to help support them.

If those new businesses can take root, they’ll be growing in a potentially fertile landscape. Low-carbon investments were $900 billion in 2020, but they’ll need to rise to $5 trillion by 2030, according to the International Monetary Fund. With sums like those, it’s shaping up to be a founders’ market.