Open-source software start-up bags $5 million

Pentaho, a company that has created open-source business intelligence software, has landed $5 million in series A funding, the company said Thursday. Investors are New Enterprise Associates (NEA), which led the round, and Index Ventures. NEA partner Vladimir Jacimovic will join Pentaho's board.

Business intelligence tools are for querying corporate databases, analyzing results and generating reports. Pentaho's revenue model is to have a free low-end product and to charge for more functional versions of the product. The company also charges for support services. The free version is designed to serve between 300-500 people, according to a company spokesperson.

Vendors, such as SAS, Business Objects and Cognos, have been in the market for many years, but a handful of open-source companies are trying to break in. These include Jaspersoft and Greenplum, which have developed open-source business intelligence products. The Eclipse open-source foundation also launched a business intelligence project, started by Actuate.