Thursday, July 18, 2013

SaaS Pioneer Open-Xchange Raises $20M To Expand Its Cloud-Based Services

, a maker of Web-based communication, collaboration and office productivity open-source software, has received $20 million in funding from United Internet, former Deutsche Bank COO Hermann-Josef Lamberti and existing shareholders. Part of the proceeds will be used for a secondary transaction. The startup also announced two new additions to their supervisory board: Lamberti and Dr. Oliver Mauss, the CEO of United Internet subsidiary United Internet Ventures.



This investment round is notable because it's the first time Open-Xchange has announced new funding since 2008, when it raised a $9 million Series B. The company has delivered Open-Xchange in the form as software-as-a-service (SaaS) for six years, making them pioneers in that area, and it's now poised to take advantage of the shift toward cloud office systems, which Gartner will rise from 50 million users today to 695 million by 2022.




"Open-Xchange has the potential to disrupt the cloud market in the coming years. Its technology will change how businesses and private users will buy and consume cloud services. Open-Xchange is uniquely positioned in this market, enabling telcos, web hosters, mobile and cable operators alike to successfully compete with over-the-top giants like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft," said Lamberti in a statement.



Open-Xchange says that its revenue and user base has grown 50% year-over-year in the last three years, and is now used by 80 million people, including customer accounts of telcos, hosting providers and ISPs.



"Open-Xchange s vision of becoming the web desktop for cloud services makes this one of the most exciting software investment opportunities," says Dr. Oliver Mauss, CEO United Internet Ventures.



The German startup plans to use the funds to invest in software development, professional services and international business development, as well as marketing and sales.



Open-Xchange launched OX App Suite earlier this year, an integrated Web desktop that shares information and files across devices, allowing users to manage their files, email and contacts. In March, the company also introduced OX Text, the first application of its Cloud-based office productivity suite OX Documents, which was built by original members of the OpenOffice team and enables document editing in browsers. Open-Xchange plans to complete the software suite with spreadsheet and presentation editing apps within the next 12 months.For more than a decade, Open-Xchange has been delivering innovative, cost effective, open source collaboration alternatives for email, calendar, contacts and document management. The company is a pioneer in SaaS and now a leading email and groupware cloud application, which provides integration with social and business networks, as well as mobile access. Open-Xchange is used by the largest web host providers in the world, as well as on-premises by some 3,500 businesses, governments and educational institutions. Open-Xchange AG is...
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