It’s a game-changing moment for the modern data stack: SDF, one of RTP’s portfolo company, has been acquired by the pioneers of analytics engineering, dbt Labs, to supercharge the future of data transformation.
You can read more about the acquisition on dbt Labs’ blog.
Why does this matter?
We’re at a pivotal moment in enterprise data infrastructure. As data volumes and complexity skyrocket, businesses need tools to scale their data infrastructure and ensure large volumes of messy, unstructured data are managed, transformed – and secured – properly.
But today’s tools are struggling to keep up and a new approach is needed.
This isn’t just a technical challenge—it’s a business necessity. Companies vie to unlock value from their data to stay ahead of the competition. They’re also grappling with soaring warehouse costs that directly impact their bottom line. What’s missing is a data transformation layer that enables organizations to manage their entire data pipeline.
And that’s where SDF comes in
Founders Lukas Schulte, Wolfram Schulte, Michael Y. Levin and Elias DeFaria created a system that helps software developers manage their enterprise data warehouse systems. At its core is a cutting-edge SQL compiler that truly understands data workflows, catching issues like inefficient code or potential privacy risks before they cause problems in production.
Inspired by the founders’ vision and recognizing SDF’s potential, RTP Global consequently led their Seed round just one year ago.
Want to read the investment memo we drafted for SDF? Check it out here.
dbt x SDF = a complete solution
A pioneer in analytics engineering, dbt Labs enables data teams to transform data in-warehouse, and deploy analytics code following software engineering best practices.
Now, by bringing SDF into the fold, dbt Labs has added an additional data transformation layer that lets companies look at the data warehouse from ingestion to consumption and write semantically agnostic programs to the compute engines that are underneath them. This paradigm shift of “write once, transform everywhere” is the step-function improvement in data engineering that SDF (Semantic Data Fabric) has pioneered.
Andrea Funsten led RTP Global’s investment in SDF and said: “Merging SDF’s cutting-edge multi-dialect compiler and execution engine with the incredible platform that dbt Labs has built, as the pioneers in analytics engineering, was a perfect fit.
“This is the birth of the third generation of the modern data stack tools, right at the inflection point. Companies are increasingly competing on their ability to derive value from data, accelerated by the growth of AI, while managing mounting warehouse costs that materially impact their bottom line. Together, SDF and dbt Labs will become the most complete solution on the market.”
This marks an exciting new chapter for Lukas and team. We can’t wait to watch the company go from strength to strength.
Read more about the news here.
