Bright Computing Raises $14.5M for OpenStack, Hadoop, HPC Cluster Management

Bright Computing raised a $14.5 million Series B funding round to accelerate its High Performance Computing (HPC), Hadoop and OpenStack cluster management software business. The company designs software that makes it easy to deploy and manage Linux server clusters in your data center. The round was co-led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and DFJ Esprit, with participation from Prime Ventures and existing shareholder ING Corporate Investments.

The money will go toward investing in Bright Computing's flagship cluster management technology. It will focus on especially on serving the emerging Hadoop and OpenStack ecosystems, which the company considers its major growth markets.

Founded in 2009, Bright Computing today touts more than 400 customers, including 20 of the Fortune 500.

The timing is good for a cluster management product. “Bright is in markets as competitive as we’ve ever been, especially in the Big Data, Hadoop and OpenStack private cloud spaces,” wrote CEO Matthijs van Leeuwen. “I believe we will thrive in these markets because we are bringing years of relevant experience to bear in new ways that will accelerate the adoption of these new technologies.”

Partnerships with Dell, Cisco, Cray, HP and others are one avenue Bright Computing reaches customers. The company will extend its channel by adding partners as well as providing higher levels of support to its direct enterprise accounts.

This is yet another investment into a company that eases management of big scale computing. Just as management platforms like RightScale rode the coattails of the rise of cloud, companies like Bright Computing have an opportunity to ride coattails of big computing. This has been the summer of big computing management, with many investments going into enterprise technology that enables operating at large scales.

Startups like CoreOS, which also has a product that makes it easy to set up and manage compute clusters, have generated a lot of buzz and attracted a lot of venture-capital cash. Companies building businesses around Hadoop, such as Hortonworks and Cloudera, have seen major recent wins as well. The OpenStack ecosystem is thriving, with backing from a multitude of companies large and small.

"Data analysis has become the lifeblood of modern business, but it can be complex and challenging for corporations to manage,” said Alexander Ribbink, partner at Prime Ventures. "Using Bright Cluster Manager to manage clouds, clusters and data infrastructure can turn this challenge into a strategic advantage. This round of funding will help bring that advantage to more customers around the world.”