MLab.com

mLab, formerly known as MongoLab, was a cloud database service company that provided fully managed MongoDB databases. Founded in 2011 by Will Shulman, Jared Cottrell, and Angela Kung Shulman, the company was established to simplify the process of deploying, managing, and scaling MongoDB databases for developers. The firm's Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform was built on cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. This allowed developers to focus on their applications rather than on database administration tasks such as provisioning, scaling, backup, and recovery.

The company's business model was centered on providing its DBaaS platform through various subscription tiers, including free and paid options. This catered to a wide range of clients, from individual developers and startups to larger enterprises. In May 2011, the company, then MongoLab, secured $3 million in its first funding round from investors including Foundry Group, Baseline Ventures, and Upfront Ventures. It received a follow-on investment of $5 million in October 2012. In February 2016, MongoLab rebranded to mLab to reflect an expanded focus beyond database management.

A significant milestone in the company's history was its acquisition by MongoDB Inc. The deal, valued at $68 million, was announced in October 2018 and closed on January 31, 2019. The acquisition was a strategic move by MongoDB to scale its own cloud database service, MongoDB Atlas, and deepen its relationship with developer-centric startup communities where mLab had a strong presence. Following the acquisition, mLab's services and customers were transitioned to the MongoDB Atlas platform, and the mLab team was invited to join MongoDB Inc.

Keywords: Database-as-a-Service, DBaaS, MongoDB hosting, cloud database, managed database service, MongoLab, Will Shulman, automated provisioning, database scaling, database backup, database recovery, MongoDB Atlas, cloud infrastructure, developer tools, NoSQL database