Running application locally with external MS SQL DB

I am able to run the application locally with a local DB, however when I connected to an external sql database I get the below error during the build:

Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector.M2EEException: Request <{"action":"start","params":{}}> failed:  ---> System.Net.WebException: The underlying connection was closed: A connection that was expected to be kept alive was closed by the server.
   at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetResponse()
   at Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector.M2EERequest.DoHttpRequest(String json, Int32 timeout) in c:\jenkins\workspace\AppStudio-Modeler\src\Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector\M2EERequest.cs:line 153
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector.M2EERequest.DoHttpRequest(String json, Int32 timeout) in c:\jenkins\workspace\AppStudio-Modeler\src\Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector\M2EERequest.cs:line 168
   at Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector.M2EERequest.Execute(Int32 timeout) in c:\jenkins\workspace\AppStudio-Modeler\src\Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector\M2EERequest.cs:line 62
   at Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector.M2EEClient.Start() in c:\jenkins\workspace\AppStudio-Modeler\src\Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector\M2EEClient.cs:line 171
   at Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector.StartupManager.StartRuntime(IM2EEClient client, StartupInfo info) in c:\jenkins\workspace\AppStudio-Modeler\src\Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector\StartupManager.cs:line 75
   at Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector.StartupManager.PerformStartup(StartupInfo info, IM2EEClient client) in c:\jenkins\workspace\AppStudio-Modeler\src\Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector\StartupManager.cs:line 47
   at Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector.RuntimeController.Start(StartupInfo info, LogLevel autoSubscribeLogLevel) in c:\jenkins\workspace\AppStudio-Modeler\src\Mendix.Modeler.M2EEConnector\RuntimeController.cs:line 139
   at Mendix.Modeler.Utility.BackgroundUtil.<>c__DisplayClass6`1.<Do>b__4(Object s, DoWorkEventArgs e) in c:\jenkins\workspace\AppStudio-Modeler\src\Mendix.Modeler.Utility\BackgroundUtil.cs:line 28
   at System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker.WorkerThreadStart(Object argument)