Auvik raises $20M in latest funding round
WATERLOO — Fast-growing software firm Auvik Networks has raised $20 million in its latest round of financing.
Just a few months removed from a previous round that raised $15 million, the Waterloo company has received another convincing vote of confidence from the same investors — OpenView, Celtic House Venture Partners and Rho Canada Ventures.
Auvik’s co-founder and chief executive officer Marc Morin called it “an opportunity to expand our ambitions.”
An initial round of funding in 2013 raised $6 million for the company.
Last year’s round presented the company with the means to speed up product development and expand sales and marketing initiatives. The latest funds allow Auvik to further accelerate its goals, Morin said.
Founded in 2011, Auvik specializes in network monitoring and management software for IT managed service providers, which are companies that remotely manage IT systems. Auvik’s cloud-based software automates processes and tasks that have traditionally been very time-consuming and complex.
Its rapid growth — the company has more than doubled its partner base in the past year — has been reflected in its workforce. The company currently employs about 115 people, and is hiring across all job descriptions.
Morin said he expects to have about 150 employees by the end of the year, with the bulk of them located in Waterloo. There’s also a small office in Ottawa, and Morin said the company expects to expand its presence in the United Kingdom and European Union.
Auvik is gearing up for a move into a larger space in a Phillip Street building, the latest in about half a dozen moves since its inception.
“You never have enough space,” laughed Morin. “It’s so unpredictable with these companies, how quickly they grow.”
Auvik has more than executed on its plan in the wake of last year’s investment, OpenView partner and Auvik board member Ricky Pelletier said.
“It’s been clear since then that with increased network reliance and complexity, the need for a product like Auvik has never been more critical,” Pelletier said.