Egnyte Gets $16 Million for Hybrid Cloud Storage

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A diagram of how Egnyte's hybrid cloud storage works. Click for a larger version of this image.

Investors are hot for hybrid cloud, and some of Silicon Valley's best-known names are betting that Egnyte will be a winner with its cloud storage offering for enterprise customers.

Egnyte, which provides hybrid cloud file sharing solutions for businesses, has closed a $16 million round of Series C financing led by Google Ventures with additional support from existing investors, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) and Polaris. The funds will be used to expand sales and marketing efforts, and accelerate development of cloud technologies.

Egnyte's approach combines the accessibility and flexibility of cloud storage with the robust performance offered by local storage. Egnyte stores identical data in two synchronized clouds - one in an enterprise office or data center, and another on a cloud-based file server. Local staff have have high-speed access to the on-site private cloud, while branch offices, remote workers and partners can access files via the cloud.

Egnyte provides secure access to business files from iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Mobile, HP webOS, or any smartphone as well as Mac or Windows computer. It integrates with Microsoft Outlook, Salesforce.com, Google Apps and many other third-party apps.

Business Success in a Consumer-Dominated Market

"Egnyte's hybrid cloud approach stands out in a market that until now has focused on consumer solutions," said Matt Murphy, a partner at Kleiner Perkins. "With nearly one million seats deployed, Egnyte has proven to be the leading solution for enterprise-grade cloud and hybrid cloud storage. As cloud adoption hits an inflection, enterprises are clamoring for a solution purpose built for their needs.”

“Hybrid cloud is going to become an important component for global enterprises to run their mission-critical applications,” said Karim Faris, Partner at Google Ventures. “Egnyte’s market momentum, technology strengths, and vision for the future were key in our decision to lead the round. Egnyte is developing a new approach to cloud computing and we are excited to be working with them.”

Egnyte recently announced major customer wins including a 25,000 seat enterprise deal with Y&R group, the largest deal in the space, as well as a case study with Balfour Beatty, whose use of Egnyte’s hybrid cloud offering saved them over $5 million.

“Hybrid cloud is the right strategy for running mission-critical applications in the enterprise," Vineet Jain, CEO of Egnyte. "Our vision and execution in the hot cloud computing space reflects that belief and has kept us in a leading position."