Irish software specialists bought by US tech company

DONEGAL software business CloudRanger has been sold to a Silicon Valley buyer for an undisclosed sum.

The purchaser is Druva, which itself has only been in existence since 2008. It has raised around $200m (€170.7m) from investors including venture capital giant Sequoia.

CloudRanger provides IT backup and disaster recovery services.

Druva said the Letterkenny-based business “simplifies management and reduces costs” for companies looking to keep their data safe.

As more and more business is done online, the companies are hoping to reap the benefits from customers who have more complex requirements when it comes to storing data.

The Irish business has more than 300 customers (including American motor racing competition Nascar and Vanderbilt University) and experienced 300pc revenue growth in the last six months, according to Druva.

CloudRanger had previously been backed by Enterprise Ireland (EI), the State body which supports indigenous companies in their efforts to grow in foreign markets.

CloudRanger announced a $1.1m (€940,000) seed round last September, with EI contributing alongside private investors.

At the time, EI said the company “offers an innovative solution to companies to help them be successful in the cloud, and is a great example of how innovation can drive an early stage growth company”.

Druva, which provides protection services for data stored in the cloud, said the acquisition would significantly expand its platform.

“This is an important step in achieving our vision to provide a solution that addresses the challenges our customers face as part of the very real and necessary journey of moving to the cloud,” said Druva’s founder and chief executive Jaspreet Singh.

CloudRanger is the brainchild of its chief executive David Gildea, who said the companies’ combined offering would provide better value to customers.

“Global on-demand protection, substantial cost savings, and ease of use are key requirements from IT leaders,” he added.

Alongside the Letterkenny office, CloudRanger also has an office in Chicago.