Rethinking Database
Performance for
Modern Hardware

Our Story

CedarDB originated from the Umbra research project at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), where we set out to rethink database performance for modern hardware. Since 2017, our team has been pushing the limits of multicore processors, memory, and fast storage to build the next generation of efficient, high-performance database systems.

In 2024, we spun off from TUM to bring these innovations to the real world. CedarDB is built by the same researchers behind Umbra, with a single mission: delivering high-performance database technology without compromises.

Meet our Team

Moritz combines a solid technical background with savvy entrepreneurial skills. His doctoral research at TUM focused on seamlessly integrating diverse programming languages with SQL, aiming for zero overhead. Alongside his technical expertise, Moritz developed a keen interest in business leadership, underlined by his pursuit of an economics degree and previous role as CFO of a small IT business.

Moritz Sichert

Co-Founder & CEO

Lukas is an expert in storage solutions for both relational database systems and key-value stores, where he applies his organizational skills and structured approach. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from TUM, where he focused on the adaptation of modern storage hardware and CPUs for database systems, complemented by the experience he gained during his time at Salesforce.

Lukas Vogel

Co-Founder

Christian is passionate about making CedarDB the best possible product for our customers and helping them succeed with it. He combines industry insights from Oracle Labs with a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Technical University of Munich, where his research focused on the optimal use of dynamic data and operational environments for relational database systems in the cloud.

Christian Winter

Co-Founder

Dominik has strong expertise in the intersection of cloud infrastructure and database systems. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science at TUM, a degree in Technology Management from CDTM, and gained practical experience at SAP and Microsoft. Dominik is passionate about transforming cloud-based analytics, exemplified by his work on high-performance and cost-effective storage engines and novel approaches to accelerate semi-structured data analytics.

Dominik Durner

Co-Founder

Philipp is the mastermind behind CedarDB's query optimizer and compiling execution engine, both of which he developed during his Ph.D. studies at the Technical University of Munich. With a meticulous focus on performance optimization, he works tirelessly to enhance CedarDB's capabilities, striving to build it into the database system of tomorrow.

Philipp Fent

Co-Founder

Max brings his knowledge from both database technology and also the entrepreneurial side to CedarDB. Along his studies and PhD, he gave classes on how to make prototypes reality and founded a company that makes customer ideas tangible in both hard- and software. After the leaving the company, Max wanted get back into the more technical realm and helps CedarDB grow both as a product and a company.

Maximilian Bandle

Founding Engineer

Elena recently graduated from the Software Engineering program at TU Munich, LMU, and University of Augsburg. She wrote her master's thesis at the Database Architectures group at CWI.

Elena Krippner

Software Engineer

Michael brings 25 years worth of experience in software development and database technology. He collaborates with our customers to understand their data challenges and how CedarDB can be applied to overcome them. He finds text and geospatial problems especially interesting.

Michael Goddard

Principal Solutions Architect

Our Investor and Advisors

Amplify invests in technical founders building the next generation of applications, tools, and platforms for developers, data teams, ML engineers, and everything in between. Amplify partners Sarah Catanzaro and Lenny Pruss work closely with us to show the world how our revolutionary database system can overcome decades-old data processing barriers that have been considered inescapable for decades.

Amplify Partners

Investor

Thomas Neumann is professor for Data Science and Engineering at TUM. He is known for his work on query optimization and efficient query processing. Thomas invented HyPer, which pioneered compiling database systems and was later sold to Tableau, and is leading the development of its successor, Umbra, the core technology behind CedarDB. Thomas is the recipient of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize and several other awards for his contributions to the database systems research community.

Prof. Thomas Neumann

Advisor

Alfons Kemper is a distinguished computer scientist and professor for database systems at TUM. He made significant advancements to the development of object and in-memory database management systems and won multiple awards for his research. Together with Thomas, he invented and successfully commercialized HyPer. His contributions to the field led to his appointment as an ACM Fellow.

Prof. Alfons Kemper

Advisor

Chris Bach

Angel Investor
Co-Founder of Netlify

Hanno Renner

Angel Investor
Co-Founder & CEO of Personio

Ioannis Papapanagiotou

Angel Investor

Jens Krüger

Angel Investor
CEO of NEWWORK

Jonathan Sanders

Angel Investor
Founder & CEO of Light

Jordan Tigani

Angel Investor
Co-Founder & CEO of Motherduck

Rob Benson

Angel Investor

Wes McKinney

Angel Investor
Composed Ventures