ABSTRACT
Invention is the crucial source of development and competitive gains in tech segment of the industry specifically artificial intelligence domain. In the context of aggressive hi-tech rivalry, augmenting innovation competencies is strategic factor to accomplish even for mature big tech firms. To enhance innovation capabilities the big tech companies are following the path of mergers and acquisitions to get hold of external technologies. In this context, this deal in Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) domain is a landmark deal. The research contents of this article present the motivation (acquiring external technologies in short time) of MongoDB which has grown organically in the past, acquiring a high-tech startup Voyage AI at a very high exit evaluation cost. The research article concluded that the acquisition strategy of MongoDB is more similar to horizontal acquisition. Post-merger integration model of MongoDB is in sync with theories such as Resource Based View, Knowledge Based View, Open Innovation Theory, and Absorption Capacity Theory. This is because of technological, financial capabilities, and market reach of MongoDB (Colombo et al., 2021). The integration of technologies of two firms will reduce hallucination in AI applications and provide a platform for future innovations in AI domain. It will fill the technological gaps for MongoDB and may create technological disruption in future if MongoDB able to innovate with acquired new skills
REFERENCES
Aarsen, T., Joshua, & Sanseviero, O. (2024, February 23). Introduction to matryoshka embedding models. Hugging Face Blog. https://huggingface.co/blog/matryoshka
Aiello, C. (2025, February 24). Voyage AI just sold for $220 million after launching less than two years ago. Inc. https://www.inc.com/chloe-aiello/voyage-ai-just-sold-for-220-million-after-launching-less-than-two-years-ago/91151766
Andre, D. (2024, October 4). Voyage AI develops RAG tools to reduce AI hallucinations. All About AI. https://www.allaboutai.com/ai-news/voyage-ai-develops-rag-tools-to-reduce-ai-hallucinations/
Bae, Y., Lee, K., & Roh, T. (2020). Acquirer’s absorptive capacity and firm performance: The perspectives of strategic behavior and knowledge assets. Sustainability, 12(20), 8396. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su12208396
Bodner, J., & Capron, L. (2018). Post-merger integration and organizational design: Toward a behavioral theory of the firm. Journal of Organization Design. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41469- 018-0027-4
Business Wire. (2023, May 23). Elastic unveils the Elasticsearch Relevance Engine for artificial intelligence. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230523005378/en/Elastic-Unveils-the-Elasticsearch-Relevance-Engine-for-Artificial-Intelligence
Carbone, P. (2011). Acquisition integration models: How large companies successfully integrate startups. Technology Innovation Management Review, 1(2), 26–31.
Chan, R. (2019, April 24). MongoDB is acquiring the startup that powers mobile apps from Starbucks, Netflix, and McDonald’s for $39 million. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.in/mongodb-is-acquiring-the-startup-that-powers-mobile-apps-from-starbucks-netflix-and-mcdonalds-for-39-million/articleshow/69027655.cms
Chesbrough, H. W. (2003). Open innovation: The new imperative for creating and profiting from technology. Harvard Business School Press
Chowdhry, A. (2025, March 1). Why MongoDB is buying Voyage AI in a $220 million deal. Pulse 2.0. https://pulse2.com/why-mongodb-is-buying-voyage-ai-in-a-220-million-deal/
Cohen, W. M., & Levinthal, D. A. (1990). Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(1), 128–152.
Colombo, M. G., Messeni Petruzzelli, A., & Piva, E. (2021). The impact of absorptive capacity on acquisition performance: Evidence from high-tech mergers and acquisitions. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 170, 120882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120882
Datta, T., & Hu, K. (2023, June 26). Databricks strikes $1.3 billion deal for generative AI startup MosaicML. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/databricks-strikes-13-bln-deal-generative-ai-startup-mosaicml-2023-06-26
de Barsy, L., & Gautier, A. (2024). Big Tech acquisitions and innovation: An empirical assessment (CESifo Working Paper No. 11025). CESifo Working Paper Series. https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/ cesifo1_wp11025.pdf
Dineshwori, L. (2019, April 25). MongoDB to acquire mobile database startup Realm for $39 million. Open Source for You. https://www.opensourceforu.com/2019/04/mongodb-to-acquire-mobile-database-startup-realm-for-39-million/
Eastland, M. (2025, March 17). MongoDB buys Voyage AI for $220 million to bolster AI search. MSN. https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/artificial-intelligence/mongodb-buys-voyage-ai-for-220-million-to-bolster-ai-search/ar-AA1zGasK
EY. (2025). Deal activity rebound: Marked increase in deal value and volume in 2024. https://www. ey.com/content/dam/ey-unified-site/ey-com/en-in/insights/mergers-acquisitions/documents/ey-connecting-the-dots-m-a-deals-in-technology-services-in-2024.pdf
Ferguson, M. (2025, February 25). MongoDB snags Voyage AI for $220M: A strategic leap in generative AI. OpenTools AI. https://opentools.ai/news/mongodb-snags-voyage-ai-for-dollar220m-a-strategic-leap-in-generative-ai
FinSMEs. (2025, February 25). MongoDB acquires Voyage AI. https://www.finsmes.com/2025/02/ mongodb-acquires-voyage-ai.html
Folta, T. B. (1998). Governance and uncertainty: The tradeoff between administrative control and commitment. Strategic Management Journal, 19(11), 1007–1028.
Genig, H. (2018, October 10). MongoDB acquires mLab, expands global cloud database. Yahoo Finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mongodb-acquires-mlab-expands-global-141142065. html
Ghoshal, A. (2024, May 22). Snowflake acquires TruEra’s AI observability platform. InfoWorld. https://www.infoworld.com/article/2336899/snowflake-acquires-truera-s-ai-observability-platform.html
Ghoshal, A. (2025, February 24). MongoDB acquires Voyage AI to reduce hallucinations in AI applications. InfoWorld. https://www.infoworld.com/article/3831631/mongodb-acquires-voyage-ai-to-reduce-hallucinations-in-ai-applications.html
Gisca, O., Matinmikko-Blue, M., Ahokangas, P., Yrjölä, S., & Gordon, J. (2023). Regulatory challenges and implications of the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) for local mobile communication network business. Telecommunications Policy, 47(10), 102651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2023.102651
Gluck, E., & Agarwal, P. (2026, January 5). Unlocking AI search: Introducing automated embeddings in MongoDB vector search. MongoDB Blog. https://www.mongodb.com/company/blog/ product-release-announcements/unlocking-ai-search-introducing-automated-embedding-in-mongodb-vector-search
Gonsalves, A. (2023, November 22). Broadcom completes VMware acquisition, promises investment.
TechTarget. https://www.techtarget.com/searchDataCenter/news/366560755/Broadcom-completes-VMware-acquisition-promises-investment
Graebner, M. E. (2004). Momentum and serendipity: How acquired leaders create value in the integration of technology firms. Strategic Management Journal, 25(8–9), 751–777
Database-as-a-Service (DaaB) Sector Expansion: MongoDB’s Acquisition of Voyage AI Tech Startup to Moderate Hallucination
GreyB. (n.d.). MongoDB patents. https://insights.greyb.com/mongodb-patents
Griffith, E. (2024, October 2). Venture capital firm CRV planning to do something rare: Give money back. Business Standard. https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/venture-capital-firm-crv-planning-to-do-something-rare-give-money-back-124100200967_1.html
Gugler, K., Szücs, F., & Wohak, U. (2025). Start-up acquisitions, venture capital and innovation: A comparative study of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 98, 103134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2025.103134
Hagedoorn, J., & Duysters, G. (2002). External sources of innovative capability: Innovations and acquisitions in the international computer industry. Research Policy, 31(2), 167–188.
iDiyas. (n.d.). MongoDB. https://idiyas.com/company/mongodb
Ism, I. (2024). Reranking explained: Why it matters for RAG systems. Chatbase. https://www.chatbase.co/blog/reranking
Investing.com. (2025, September 11). MongoDB at Piper Sandler: Embracing AI for future growth. https://in.investing.com/news/transcripts/mongodb-at-piper-sandler-embracing-ai-for-future-growth-93CH-5002433
Ittycheria, D. (2025, February 24). Redefining the database for AI: Why MongoDB acquired Voyage AI. MongoDB Blog. https://www.mongodb.com/blog/post/redefining-database-ai-why-mongodb-acquired-voyage-ai
Kak, A., West, S. M., & Whittaker, M. (2023, December 5). Make no mistake—AI is owned by Big Tech. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/12/05/1084393/ make-no-mistake-ai-is-owned-by-big-tech/
Kerner, S. M. (2024, October 3). Voyage AI’s multilingual embeddings boost Snowflake’s Cortex AI for improved enterprise RAG. VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/ai/why-snowflake-is-backing-embedding-startup-voyage-ai-to-improve-enterprise-rag/
Kharpal, A. (2023, August 16). Intel scraps $5.4 billion acquisition of Tower Semiconductor after regulators fail to approve deal. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/16/intel-scraps-5point4-billion-acquisition-of-tower-semiconductor.html
Koi-Akrofi, G. Y. (2016). Mergers and acquisitions: Post-merger and acquisition integration strategies. International Journal of Economics, Finance and Management, 5(2), 49–56.
Kong Inc. (2024, November 19). Kong secures $175 million new financing at $2B valuation to power the API world. https://konghq.com/company/press-room/press-release/kong-secures-175-million-new-financing
Larson, J., & Truitt, S. (2024, February 13). GraphRAG: Unlocking LLM discovery on narrative private data. Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
Louise, N. (2025a, January 3). Databricks and Snowflake in talks to buy AI search startup Voyage. TechStartups. https://techstartups.com/2025/01/03/databricks-and-snowflake-in-talks-to-buy-ai-search-startup-voyage-reports/
Louise, N. (2025b, March 11). Top 10 tech acquisitions worth $100M+ in Q1 2025 (so far). TechStartups. https://techstartups.com/2025/03/11/top-10-tech-acquisitions-worth-100m-inq1-2025-so-far/
Ma. (2025, February 24). Stronger together: Why we choose to join MongoDB. Voyage AI Blog. https://blog.voyageai.com/2025/02/24/joining-mongodb/
MacColl, M. (2024, October 23). Flock Safety paid over $300M for 17-month-old drone startup Aerodome. TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/23/flock-safety-paid-over-300-million-for-17-month-old-drone-startup-aerodome/
MacDowell, S. (2024, January 9). A look at HPE’s acquisition of Juniper Networks. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevemcdowell/2024/01/09/a-look-at-hpes-acquisition-of-juniper-networks
Mali, S. (2025, February 13). Adobe’s USD 20 billion acquisition of Figma: A strategic expansion into cloud-based design. Cognitive Market Research. https://www.cognitivemarketresearch. com/blog/adobes-usd-20-billion-acquisition-of-figma-a-strategic-expansion-into-cloud-based-design
MarketScreener. (2018, November 31). MongoDB, Inc. completed the acquisition of ObjectLabs Corporation from Baseline Ventures and others. https://ca.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/ MONGODB-INC-45064741/news/MongoDB-Inc-completed-the-acquisition-of-ObjectLabs-Corporation-from-Baseline-Ventures-and-others-34530406/
McCarthy, K. J., & Aalbers, H. L. (2016). Technological acquisitions: Managing the risks of knowledge transfer. Journal of Strategy and Management, 9(3), 268–291.
Merritt, R. (2025, January 31). What is retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)? NVIDIA Blog. https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/what-is-retrieval-augmented-generation/
Mishra, P., Singh, N. P., & Farooq, A. (2025). Regulatory disruptions in the Indian telecommunications industry. International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, 21(8), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219877024300076
MongoDB. (2014, December 16). MongoDB acquires WiredTiger Inc. https://www.mongodb.com/ company/newsroom/press-releases/wired-tiger
MongoDB. (2025, February 24). MongoDB announces acquisition of Voyage AI to enable organizations to build trustworthy AI applications. https://investors.mongodb.com/news-releases/ news-release-details/mongodb-announces-acquisition-voyage-ai-enable-organizations
ODSC Team. (2025, February 24). MongoDB acquires Voyage AI to enhance trustworthy AI applications. OpenDataScience (ODSC). https://opendatascience.com/mongodb-acquires-voyage-ai-to-enhance-trustworthy-ai-applications/
Orbach, M. (2023, December 23). Coralogix acquires Aporia in $50M deal to boost AI system transparency. Calcalist Tech. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/5y3de8pii
Patel, K. (2025, January 12). Upcoming mergers and acquisitions in 2025 + recent big deals. Dealroom. https://dealroom.net/blog/upcoming-m-a
Petković, M., Jambal, E., Mesa, C. B., & Emdadi, F. (2023). The odyssey of strategic investing in artificial intelligence (AI) startups. In FINIZ 2023: Sustainable development as a measure of modern business success (pp. 131–136). https://doi.org/10.15308/finiz-2023-131-136
Pillay, S., Chiba, M. D., Verachia, A., & Mthombeni, M. (2021). Mergers and acquisitions in emerging markets: What drives absorptive capacity in target firms? South African Journal of Business Management, 52(1), a2039. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajbm.v52i1.2039
Database-as-a-Service (DaaB) Sector Expansion: MongoDB’s Acquisition of Voyage AI Tech Startup to Moderate Hallucination
PitchBook (2025). Voyage AI Overview. https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/539347-96#overview
PlainPatent. (n.d.). MongoDB Inc. https://plainpatent.com/company/mongodb-inc/
PR Newswire. (2025, February 24). MongoDB announces acquisition of Voyage AI to enable organizations to build trustworthy AI applications. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ mongodb-announces-acquisition-of-voyage-ai-to-enable-organizations-to-build-trustworthy-ai-applications-302382979.html
PR Newswire. (2026, January 15). MongoDB sets a new standard for retrieval accuracy with Voyage 4 models for production-ready AI applications. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ mongodb-sets-a-new-standard-for-retrieval-accuracy-with-voyage-4-models-for-production-ready-ai-applications-302662558.html
Prado, T. S., & Bauer, J. M. (2022). Big tech platform acquisitions of start-ups and venture capital funding for innovation. Information Economics and Policy, 59, 100973. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoecopol.2022.100973
Ranft, A. L., & Lord, M. D. (2002). Acquiring new technologies and capabilities: A grounded model of acquisition implementation. Organization Science, 13(4), 420–441.
Richards, D. (2025, August 3). The GraphRAG revolution: How Microsoft’s knowledge graph architecture is crushing traditional RAG systems. RAG About It. https://ragaboutit.com/the-graphrag-revolution-how-microsofts-knowledge-graph-architecture-is-crushing-traditional-rag-systems/
Roll, R. (1986). The hubris hypothesis of corporate takeovers. Journal of Business, 59(2), 197–216.
Roush, T. (2023, October 13). Microsoft finally buys Activision for $69 billion after regulatory approval. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/10/13/microsoft-closes-69-billion-acquisition-of-activision-following-regulatory-approval
Sahm Capital. (2025, February 26). Voyage AI acquisition adds advanced tech, talent to MongoDB’s AI capabilities: Analyst. https://www.sahmcapital.com/news/content/voyage-ai-acquisition-adds-advanced-tech-talent-to-mongodbs-ai-capabilities-analyst-2025-02-25
Sharma, S. (2024, May 22). Snowflake acquires TruEra to deliver LLM observability inside data cloud. VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/ai/snowflake-acquires-truera-to-deliver-llm-observability-inside-data-cloud
Singh, N. P. (2011). Critical analysis of expansion strategies of SAP, IBM, Oracle and Microsoft in the area of business intelligence. International Journal of Strategic Information Technology and Applications, 2(2), 23–43.
Singh, N. P. (2019). Oracle acquired AI startup DataFox. Industrija, 47(2), 77–95. https://doi. org/10.5937/industrija47-20182
Singh, N. P., & Singh, E. (2020). IIoT and machine learning technology: A case of investment of TVS Motors Limited (India). Industrija, 48(1), 81–108.
Singh, N. P. (2025). Growth of Matryoshka embedding models [Unpublished teaching note]. SolarWinds. (2017, June 14). Why WiredTiger is the default MongoDB storage engine. Orange
Matter. https://orangematter.solarwinds.com/2017/06/14/why-wiredtiger-is-the-default-mongodb-storage-engine/
Sourabhkv. (2024, November 12). What is retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)? Microsoft Tech Community. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/educatordeveloperblog/ what-is-retrieval-augmented-generation-rag/4286747
Strechay, R. (2025, February 24). A win for MongoDB as it acquires Voyage AI. The CUBE Research. https://thecuberesearch.com/a-win-for-mongodb-as-they-acquire-voyage-ai/
Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18(7), 509–533
Van de Vrande, V., Lemmens, C., & Vanhaverbeke, W. (2006). Choosing governance modes for external technology sourcing. R&D Management, 36(3), 347–363
Vassolo, R. S., Anand, J., & Folta, T. B. (2004). Non-systematic risk in strategic alliances: New technology ventures as an option portfolio. Strategic Management Journal, 25(11), 1045–1062.
Voyage AI. (2024, October 3). Announcing our $28M fundraise. https://blog.voyageai. com/2024/10/03/series-a-funding/
Walter, S. (2025, March 3). MongoDB’s Voyage AI acquisition: Database AI’s turning point?. Hyperframe Research. https://hyperframeresearch.com/2025/03/03/mongodbs-voyage-ai-acquisition-database-ais-turning-point/
Whiting, R. (2026, January 15). MongoDB aims for production-ready AI apps with new model capabilities. CRN. https://www.crn.com/news/ai/2026/mongodb-aims-for-production-ready-ai-apps-with-new-model-capabilities
Wiggers, K. (2024, October 3). Voyage AI is building RAG tools to make AI hallucinate less. TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/03/voyage-ai-is-building-rag-tools-to-make-ai-hallucinate-less/
Wilde, K. (2025, February 24). MongoDB AI hallucination: Solving challenges with RAG. Tempemag. https://tempemag.com/mongodb-ai-hallucination-solving-challenges-with-rag/
Zahra, S. A., & George, G. (2002). Absorptive capacity: A review, reconceptualization, and extension. Academy of Management Review, 27(2), 185–203.
Zilliz. (2024, June 13). Voyage AI embeddings and rerankers for search and RAG. Medium. https://medium.com/@zilliz_learn/voyage-ai-embeddings-and-rerankers-for-search-and-rag-587d9bfff877