Dive Brief:

• NBCUniversal alum Christine Napoli is now serving as CFO for open source software and data storage provider MariaDB Corporation, the company announced Tuesday. Napoli started in the position July 11, according to the company.
• Napoli is joining the firm in advance of it going public, with MariaDB announcing its intention to do so via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with Angel Pond Holdings in February.
• “With MariaDB announcing its intention to go public via SPAC earlier this year, my main focus is to reinforce our solid foundation and to apply, scale, and operationalize strategy and financial process that prepares us to enter the public market,” Napoli said of the move. “This is a pivotal stage in the company’s maturation. I’m looking forward to building off of the excellent work that the team already in place has accomplished as we lead MariaDB to an even brighter future.”

Dive Insight:

A 25-year veteran of NBCUniversal, Napoli has served as CFO for the company’s Peacock streaming service for three years. She previously served within the company as their CFO for digital enterprises as well as SVP and CFO for television and new media distribution and has held other varying executive roles during her tenure at the company, according to her LinkedIn profile.  

MariaDB provides both an enterprise cloud database to clients called SkySQL, as well as a free open source relational database for developers. CFOs who understand the benefits of the cloud over the next few years will be better prepared to meet the needs of their organizations and customers, Napoli said.

“We fully expect business’ cloud migration plans will continue to move forward, but economic factors like inflation mean resilient, easily scalable, and cost effective solutions are crucial,” Napoli said.

Napoli is “hitting the ground running” as CFO of a firm in the midst of finalizing its public debut, she said. MariaDB’s planned merger with Angel Pond comes attached with an implied enterprise value of $672 million, according to its February announcement. The transaction also included a $104 million private placement of Series D preferred shares for the firm, as well as a $43 million commitment from new and existing investors as well as $27 million from an Angel Pond affiliate.

Maintaining a relationship between finance and operations will be critical as the company moves forward with its plans to go public, Napoli said.

“That relationship is crucial as we chart the path to our north star — a robust, successful public debut and a thriving financial future that always puts our customers and their innovations first,” she said.

The company also announced Christine Russell, who is currently serving as director for several key technology firms such as iCoin Technology — a digital currency wallet provider specializing in cold storage — as well as semiconductor manufacturer AXT, Inc., will serve as a member of the MariaDB board in advance of its move to become a public company. Russell has also held several CFO positions at companies such as UniPixel and pricing software optimization provider Vendavo, according to her LinkedIn.

The SPAC transaction is expected to close at an undisclosed date in the second half of 2022, the company wrote at the time of the announcement. SPACs have since experienced several ups and downs since February, with regulators taking a closer look at such mergers following a rush of such deals in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic.

Banks JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs announced their intention to pull out of the cloud storage provider’s SPAC in early May, according to a May 24 filing by Angel Pond to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). JPMorgan terminated its role as joint co-placement agent, per the filing, while Goldman Sachs resigned from its position as capital markets advisor earlier the same month.

The withdrawal followed approximately two months after the SEC proposed new regulations on March 30, including adding requirements for additional disclosures relating to fairness during such transactions.