The days when SQL was one of the main flash points in the Hadoop ecosystem are long gone, with every major distributor now offering its own implementation in one form or another. But a startup called JethroData Ltd. now hopes to bring structured queries back to the forefront with the help of $8.1 million in fresh funding.

The capital will go toward fueling the development of its namesake SQL-on-Hadoop platform, which JethroData says can deliver results much faster than the native query functionality in the top Hadoop distributions. It does that by using a column store that acts as a sort of buffer for requested information.

The system pre-organizes the contents of Hadoop clusters into indexes that group related data points for easier search and only retrieves the subsets specified in a query. That avoids the need to scan through all of the information the environment, which can amount to many petabytes on the top end of the spectrum, for every request.

Coupled with a built-in cache that stores intermediate result and data mappings for reuse, that approach enables the engine to execute some queries up to 100 times faster than alternatives, according to JethroData. Analysts can take advantage of the performance using their existing business intelligence tools through a standard connector.

That integration, which works with popular solutions from MicroStrategy, Inc., Qlik, Inc. and Tableau Software, Inc., makes it possible to interact with Hadoop just like the conventional relational systems historically do on the back end. JethroData supports common SQL operations and can use multiple indexes in conjunction to accommodate complex queries.

The startup is betting that this combination of relative ease-of-use and performance will help its engine succeed where Hadapt, Inc., Drawn to Scale and other SQL-on-Hadoop startups have not. But as compelling as it may be, the technology doesn’t change the market conditions that led to their demise.

The functionality that JethroData offers addresses a fairly narrow use case at a similarly narrow subset of organizations that are using Hadoop in production, some of which, like Airbnb, Inc., have built their own in-house solutions to help employees interact with the platform. But investors nonetheless appear to share JethroData’s confidence about its growth prospects.

The new $8.1 million round, which was led by Square Peg Capital with participation from Pitango Venture Capital, brings the startup’s total raised to over $12 million. Besides funding development efforts, the new capital will also help expand scale and marketing operations.

Photo by Barry Lewis via Flickr