AWS to acquire DuckLabs, the company behind DuckDB

Amazon Amazon.com, Inc. ↘ 1.41% announced on Wednesday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire DuckLabs, the Amsterdam-based company behind DuckDB, one of the fastest-growing open-source analytical databases in data engineering. The transaction is expected to close in early September, subject to customary closing conditions, after which the DuckLabs team will join AWS.aboutamazon+1

The deal does not include the DuckDB open-source project itself. DuckDB, along with related projects DuckLake and Quack, will remain freely available under the MIT license, governed independently by the non-profit DuckDB Foundation.seekingalpha+1

A Collaboration Turned Acquisition

AWS and DuckLabs have worked together since early 2025, integrating DuckDB with AWS services including Amazon S3 and SageMaker Lakehouse. That collaboration apparently progressed well enough for AWS to pursue a full acquisition.cryptobriefing

"For almost a decade, the DuckDB team has worked with the idea of building a tool that lets people work with data, with confidence," said Andy Warfield, Amazon vice president and distinguished engineer. "We've been working closely with the DuckLabs team for the past two years, and I am so excited at the opportunity to work with them even more closely."aboutamazon

DuckDB co-founders Hannes Mühleisen and Mark Raasveldt will continue leading the team after joining AWS and will oversee the technical direction of the open-source project.kucoin+1

Open Source Stays Independent

DuckLabs, originally called DuckDB Labs, rebranded on May 27, 2026, to reflect its broader scope beyond the core database project. The company was bootstrapped and built DuckDB into a widely used in-process analytical database that lets developers run complex queries on large datasets without requiring a separate server.cryptobriefing

AWS emphasized that DuckDB users will experience no changes before or after the transaction. The DuckLabs team will remain based in Amsterdam and is not relocating.cryptonomist+1

Cloud Data Landscape Shifts

The acquisition comes amid what GeekWire described as a "broader shakeup in cloud data," as major cloud providers seek to bring popular open-source data tools closer to their platforms. AWS said it aims to combine DuckLabs' expertise in database engineering to further enhance the speed, usability, and cost-efficiency of its data analytics services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.investing