MySQL AB is seeking a $16 million Series B round of funding to accelerate its growth strategy. As the world's most popular open source database, MySQL has over 4 million installations and is included in most Linux distributions. MySQL AB employs a dual licensing model, offering the software under an open source license and commercially. The funding will allow the company to further enter the enterprise market and maintain its leadership position across web, embedded, and enterprise databases which represent a potential $9 billion market opportunity.

MySQL's early pitch deck captures the founders' vision of making database management more accessible and efficient by developing an open-source relational database system. Recognizing the limitations and costs associated with existing proprietary databases, MySQL set out to provide a high-performance, reliable, and scalable solution that developers could use without licensing fees. The deck highlights the market need for a flexible and cost-effective database system, the technical advantages that set MySQL apart, and the strategies that would help it become one of the most widely used database systems in the world, empowering developers and businesses to build robust applications.