SimpliVity becomes US$1 billion company
SimpliVity has been operating in Australia and New Zealand since August 2014 and the company has aggressive growth plans in this market.
It is set to double the local headcount by the end of April, with further growth by the end of year, which the new round of D funding will accelerate.
This comes just 23 months after general availability of OmniCube, its flagship product.
Waypoint Capital, the business enterprise for the Bertarelli family's investments and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, led the round.
Prior investors Accel Partners, Charles River Ventures, DFJ Growth, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) and Meritech Capital Partners also contributed to the round. SimpliVity's total venture funding is now $276 million.
Waypoint was inspired to make the investment after transforming its own IT environments across five global sites with SimpliVity's hyperconverged infrastructure solution, according to a company statement.
Waypoint Capital chief information officer, Frederic Wohlwend, said the company experienced first-hand the transformational impact of SimpliVity's hyperconverged infrastructure.
"After a thorough analysis of alternatives, we were convinced SimpliVity is technologically superior, and that its unique data architecture is years ahead of the market," he said.
"When we learned SimpliVity was raising capital, we insisted on taking the lead. We see enormous potential in a company revolutionizing IT, and growing faster than any infrastructure company in recent history."
SimpliVity chief executive, Doron Kempel, said it was is a unique and valuable opportunity to have an investor who was truly a customer first -- with hands-on SimpliVity product experience.
"The continued support from our existing investors is incredibly appreciated," he said.
"Together, these investors give us the greatest strategic latitude for the business as we continue to optimise during this time of hyper growth."
The financing will be used to fund the rapid expansion of the company and address market opportunity.
Gartner predicts total integrated system spending will grow by a 24 percent CAGR from 2013 through 2018, reaching a total of $19 billion.
SimpliVity launched its hyperconverged infrastructure platform in April 2013 and delivered record growth in 2014.
In 2014, SimpliVity grew revenues by more than 500 percent year over year; expanded with resellers into 50 countries and employees in 18; and grew its employee base to more than 400 worldwide.
SimpliVity also partnered with Cisco in August 2014 in order to expand its global reach.
Morgan Stanley served as the sole placement agent for SimpliVity.