Fivetran Acquires Census for Complete Data Integration
▼ Summary
– Fivetran has acquired Census to enhance its data integration capabilities, combining Fivetran’s data extraction expertise with Census’s reverse ETL technology.
– Census, founded in 2018, had raised over $80 million and was valued at $630 million in 2022; its team will integrate into Fivetran post-acquisition.
– The acquisition was driven by shared customer bases and product philosophies, emphasizing simplicity and automation over complex solutions.
– The merger allows Fivetran to offer comprehensive data orchestration, providing customers with smoother workflows and a unified data management approach.
Fivetran has expanded its data integration capabilities by acquiring Census, marking a strategic move to provide customers with comprehensive data movement solutions. The acquisition brings together two complementary platforms: Fivetran’s expertise in extracting and loading data into cloud databases and Census’s reverse ETL technology, which pushes data from warehouses back into operational tools.
Founded in 2018, Census had secured over $80 million in funding from top-tier investors, including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Tiger Global. While financial details remain undisclosed, Census was last valued at $630 million in 2022. Post-acquisition, its team will join Fivetran, and the brand will eventually merge into the larger platform.
George Fraser, Fivetran’s CEO, emphasized that the deal aligns with customer demand for reverse ETL functionality. After exploring in-house development, the company concluded that acquiring an established player like Census was the smarter path. “The technical challenges differ significantly between forward and reverse ETL,” Fraser noted. “Census had already solved those problems elegantly.”
Beyond technology, the acquisition was driven by shared customer bases and product philosophies. Fivetran and Census cater to similar audiences, favoring simplicity and automation over complex, custom-built solutions. Fraser highlighted that their compatibility extends to company culture, with long-standing relationships between the founding teams. Both Fraser and Census CEO Boris Jabes were part of Y Combinator’s 2013 cohort, maintaining ties even before Census launched.
“We joked years ago that this might happen,” Fraser recalled. “The synergy was always there.” The merger positions Fivetran to offer end-to-end data orchestration, eliminating the need for businesses to stitch together disparate tools. For customers, it means smoother workflows and a unified approach to managing data across their entire stack.
(Source: TechCrunch)
