Apple strikes deal to acquire Canadian database software startup Kuzu

Kitchener-Waterloo-based database software startup Kuzu has quietly signed a deal to be acquired by American technology giant Apple.

Apple confirmed the deal in a disclosure to the European Union (EU) that was first reported by AppleInsider yesterday. That filing indicates that on Oct. 9, 2025, Apple struck an agreement to buy all shares and hire select employees of Kuzu, which develops “lightweight embedded database technology,” through an unnamed subsidiary, but does not share any further details.

On Oct. 9, 2025, Apple struck an agreement to buy all shares and hire select employees of Kuzu.

Meanwhile, Kuzu’s software repository on Github was archived on Oct. 10 and, as of today, the company’s website is no longer operational.

Apple rarely speaks publicly about its acquisitions. But the EU’s Digital Markets Act requires large tech firms to disclose all intended mergers with other digital services providers regardless of whether they meet standard review thresholds.

BetaKit has reached out to Kuzu and Apple for additional details regarding the apparent acquisition and comment on the rationale behind it.

Kuzu was founded in 2023 by a group including former CEO Semih Salihoğlu, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Waterloo. The startup had been developing fast, flexible graph databases. Kuzu’s LinkedIn page called the company “an embedded graph database built for query speed, scalability, and [ease] of use.”

While Apple’s motivation for purchasing Kuzu remains unclear, as The Verge notes, the Silicon Valley company could use Kuzu’s graph databases in its FileMaker Pro, Freeform, or iWork apps, or use it for social features in other apps like Apple Music or Apple Games.

Apple already has across-platform relational database called FileMaker, operated by subsidiary Claris, but as AppleInsider notes, the company has kept it at arm’s length from iWork to date.

This appears to mark Apple’s second acquisition of a Kitchener-Waterloo startup since 2024, when it purchased DarwinAI, which had developed a platform that applies AI to visual quality inspection for manufacturers.

Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Photo by Jimmy Jin.