Data protection firm Druva raises Rs 152 crore

BANGALORE: Data protection software maker Druva has raised a third round of funding led by Silicon Valley investment firm Tenaya Capital. Existing investors Sequoia Capital and Nexus Venture also participated in the investment of $25 million (Rs 152 crore) in the Pune-based company. The deal values the five-year old venture at around $120 million (Rs 730 crore) according to a person with knowledge of the transaction.

Druva, which counts the US Army, NASA, Nikon and universities such as Stanford and Berkeley as clients, plans to use the money to expand its operations in Europe. At present, nearly 70 per cent of the company’s estimated revenue of about Rs 152 crore comes from the US market. “We plan to expand in newer markets such as Belgium and Luxembourg as well as Australia and Singapore,” said Jaspreet Singh, an IIT-Guwahati graduate who co-founded the company in 2008. “This funding prepares us for the third phase of growth, after which we may plan a listing three years hence,” he said.

The company, which has offices in California, has raised a total of $42 million (Rs 256 crore) in venture funding so far but has spent just over a third of it according to 32-year old Singh, who is based in the US.

Tenaya Capital, a spin-off from the investment banking firm Lehman Brothers, has backed firms such as Kayak.com and Zappos. “This investment reflects Druva’s lead in the space, and the escalating need for new data control strategies,” said Tom Banahan, managing director of Tenaya Capital who has joined Druva’s board.

Singh and the two other co-founders — Milind Borate and Ramani Kothandaraman — now hold a minority stake in the company that added over 600 new customers in the past year, taking its total count to 2,100. “Druva’s core assets are centered around differentiated intellectual property that have terrific customer adoption,” said Shailendra Singh, managing director of Sequoia Capital, an early investor in the company.