Immerok: Berlin start-up sold to Confluent

The Berlin-based start-up Confluent, which offers extensions for the open source framework Apache Flink, has been bought by the US company Confluent. The total purchase volume is said to be $100 million, according to Finance Forward. The company was not founded until 2022.

Extensions for open source frameworks

Founded in Berlin by Holger Temme, Konstantin Knauf and Johannes Moser, Immerok produces extensions for the open source Apache Flink framework. These extensions are used to simplify execution in a cloud. They are offered as a managed service – which is how Immerok continuously earns money. According to the company, the extensions also help automate maintenance tasks.

To date, around $17 million has already been invested in the start-up, which also operates a branch in New York. Most of the investment has come from Cusp Capital, 468 Capital, Essence Venture Capital, Cortical Ventures and Stephan Ewen, who founded Data Artisans. All three of Immerok’s founders previously worked for Data Artisans.

Purchase price to be $100 million

The companies involved did not provide details on the purchase price. However, the trade magazine Finance Forward reported a purchase price of 100 million US dollars. The high takeover price is surprising primarily because the company was only founded in May 2022 – and accordingly has not yet been able to establish itself on the market.

However, Confluent apparently sees great potential in Immerok. Confluent has been developing commercial extensions for Apache Kafka, an open-source tool that can process large data streams. After the takeover, Confluent additionally wants to offer its own Apache Link service – and thus build on Immerok’s offering.