SOASTA Raises $30 Million to Expand Cloud Testing

SOASTA-CloudTest-Lite

SOASTA offers tools for cloud application performance testing. The company has received $30 million in investment, with Macquarie Capital and ROTH Capital joining the company's existing investors.

Cloud and mobile testing provider SOASTA has raised its largest round yet, closing $30 million in a growth-stage investment. New investors Macquarie Capital and ROTH Capital join existing investors Canaan Partners, Formative Ventures and Pelion Venture Partners.

The funds will be used to expand globally with additional marketing, sales, and development resources. Mountain View-based SOASTA says  it sees opportunity in Asia and Europe in particular. The company also wants to expand within the channel, which will be a big focus going forward. It will look to expand relationships with channel providers, as well as direct sales, to maintain current momentum in the channel. The company touts MARS Curiosity, Netflix and the London Olympics as customers.

“Delivering quality online user experiences are a critical component to sustaining one's brand.  said SOASTA CEO Tom Lounibos. "As demands of online users continue to grow, we stay ahead of the market by providing companies with predictive analytics to better understand what real users actually experience. This round of funding will accelerate our current expansion around the globe.”

Part of what will help that global expansion is the expertise of investors, including its newest backers.

"SOASTA is uniquely positioned at the intersection of software and cloud computing, mobile and big-data analytics," said Tej Shah, Senior Vice President at Macquarie Capital. "Macquarie has a global presence, unique insights into the Asia-Pacific region and a strong institutional understanding of the technology sector.  Our investment will help accelerate SOASTA’s growth plans as it delivers leading-edge cloud and mobile testing solutions to organizations worldwide."

SOASTA has had a solid year. It was positioned as a Leader in Gartner’s 2013 Magic Quadrant for Integrated Software Quality Suites. It won top honors for its Real User Monitoring product mPulse at the 2013 Velocity Conference held in June, and it was names to the SD Times Top 100, as well as the AlwaysOn Global 250 Top Private Companies.

“SOASTA is a fast-growing company leading the charge in delivering high quality web and mobile applications,” said John Balen, General Partner, Canaan Partners. The company’s proven track record and customer validation gives us confidence that it will continue to dominate the market and maintain its leadership in cloud and mobile testing.”

Cloud Driving Innovation in Application Testing

The space is being driven by disruptive startups utilizing the cloud to change how software and application quality is made available and affordable. The cloud opens up the market so that it’s no longer the territory of big enterprise; testing can be leveraged by everyone from single developers to big companies.

Cloud computing has been a disruptive force in innovation across the board. It was at least part of the impetus for competitor Keynote going from public to private; it’s much easier to move strategically as a private company, as the company has better flexibility to invest and maneuver. Tom Lounibos, SOASTA CEO predicted Keynote going private in a blog post back in May.