Open Source Cloud and Middleware Company WSO2 Attracts $20 Million in Funding

Funding from Pacific Controls and Toba Capital will fuel expansion of WSO2’s global initiatives to help enterprises fast-track business and IT innovation via APIs, IoT, mobile, and the cloud

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WSO2 today announced that it has closed a $20 million funding round led by Pacific Controls, a global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions, and joined by Toba Capital. The investment comes in the wake of increasing demand for WSO2’s comprehensive, open source middleware platform for building, integrating, managing, securing and analyzing companies’ APIs, applications, and Web services—on-premises, in the cloud, on mobile and IoT devices.

WSO2, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary this month, now has 2.2 trillion customer transactions per year running through the company’s award-winning cloud and enterprise middleware. The growth comes as more enterprises worldwide rely on WSO2 to achieve greater agility and fast-track their innovation. WSO2 ranked 211 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™ for 2014.

“Ten years ago, we saw that the rapid business and IT changes facing enterprises would be best supported by redefining middleware as an open modular platform that could be implemented, expanded and modified just as quickly. The agility of our customers and our company to adapt to new opportunities—such as those powered by APIs, mobile, IoT and the cloud—have led to strong revenues and customer adoption worldwide, validating our vision,” said Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana, WSO2 founder, CEO and chief architect. “With the investment by Pacific Controls and Toba Capital, both leaders in cultivating technology innovation, we can now strategically accelerate our ability to deliver on this vision.”

WSO2 will use the growth financing to advance the worldwide delivery of next-generation middleware solutions that address new business and IT models fueled by APIs, IoT, mobile computing, and the cloud. Notably, WSO2 API Manager subscriptions continue to more than double each year; cloud solutions now contribute to more than 15% of new revenue; and enterprises’ WSO2-powered IoT solutions extend across a range of industries—from transportation to automotive, manufacturing, construction, healthcare, communications, and smart cities. WSO2 also will use the financing to expand the company’s global operations; marketing, sales, and support teams; and channel programs.

With the investment, Dilip Rahulan, executive chairman of Pacific Controls, has joined the WSO2 board as an observer.

Pacific Controls’ investment in WSO2 further extends the strategic relationship between the two companies. Pacific Controls has standardized on the WSO2 platform to build the next generation of its industrial IoT cloud platform, which enables manufacturers to IoT-enable any device—elevators, escalators and fans to name a few—in order to transform themselves into data-driven providers of products as a service. Additionally, the two companies are working jointly on Pacific Controls’ smart city initiative.

“As a customer, we have experienced the unique advantage of WSO2’s comprehensive open source platform. Using WSO2’s modular middleware products, built from the ground up to work together seamlessly, we have been able to accelerate our solution delivery and address the broad range of demands required to connect IoT with enterprise systems,” said Dilip Rahulan, executive chairman of Pacific Controls. “Our own experience, coupled with the rapidly growing worldwide adoption of WSO2’s platform, made it clear that WSO2 has remarkable potential to reshape how enterprises adapt their applications and services to today’s demands. We are thrilled to invest in WSO2 and work with the company in building on its success.”

“WSO2 has an exciting team of proven entrepreneurs, who are delivering real value to global enterprises that demand an agile solution for their mission-critical applications,” said Vincent C. Smith, managing director of Toba Capital notes. “We continue to be impressed by the company’s ability to rapidly address new business and IT demands, which is translating into a strong increase in new customers and revenue streams. We are excited to extend our investment in WSO2, and we believe the company has tremendous potential for future growth.”

About Pacific Controls

Pacific Controls (PCS) is at the forefront of the convergence of networked computing and large-scale data management with real time machine intelligence, driving the integration of the physical and virtual worlds. Forcing the pace of development in real-time “smart” systems with its Galaxy 2021, the Internet of Things platform, Pacific Control’s proposition combines three critical elements: end-to-end managed solutions delivery; a new generation of real-time machine intelligence platforms, and large-scale ecosystem collaboration. Together these system elements leverage intelligent sensors, equipment and assets to enable radical new modes of value creation and services delivery. The company provides intelligence at both the hardware and software levels. Unlike other players and solutions in the market that are isolated and narrowly focused, Pacific Controls’ capabilities encompass the comprehensive and transformative nature of machine-to-machine, the IoT, and Smart Systems. Pacific Controls has pioneered the concept of Gbots™, the artificial intelligence framework developed for virtualization of managed services and for the delivery of real-time business intelligence. Gbots are intelligent, autonomous, experienced and cognitive software agents, which can be utilized for diverse tasks across the world. For more information, visit www.pacificcontrols.net.

About Toba Capital

Toba Capital is a venture firm focused on enterprise software and infrastructure. Toba backs entrepreneurs building transformative businesses, both as an investor and as an ongoing operational partner. The firm was founded by Vinny Smith, an early investor and former CEO of Quest Software.

About WSO2

WSO2 uniquely delivers on the promise of the connected business. It offers the only completely integrated enterprise platform that enables businesses to build, integrate, manage, secure and analyze their APIs, applications, and Web services—on-premises, in the cloud, on mobile devices, and across the Internet of Things. Leading enterprise customers worldwide rely on WSO2’s award-winning 100% open source platform and its robust performance and governance for their mission-critical applications. Today, these businesses represent nearly every sector: health, financial, retail, logistics, manufacturing, travel, technology, telecom and more. Visit http://wso2.com to learn more, or check out the WSO2 community on the WSO2 Blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

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Contracts

Kinetic.PR, LLC for WSO2
Shifali-Erasmus Bhagat, 650-315-7526
[email protected]