Druva now valued at $2 billion after $147-million fundraise

Druva, a data-protection startup that counts American space agency Nasa and drugmaker Pfizer among its customers, has received a $147-million investment as the company rapidly scales in response to accelerated demand for its platform.

The fundraise was led by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a global investment group, with significant investment from Neuberger Berman. This round increased the Pune- and California-based company’s valuation above $2 billion. Existing investors Viking Global Investors and Atreides Management also participated.

“We believe we are in the early innings of enterprises shifting the workload to the cloud, and Druva’s proprietary solutions position the company for long-term success,” said Charles Kantor, managing director, Neuberger Berman.

According to Jaspreet Singh, co-founder and CEO, Druva, “The unprecedented events of 2020 have ushered in a generational cloud transformation for businesses, and data’s increasing value is at the

very heart of it.” He claimed Druva pioneered the cloud data protection category almost a decade ago. “This investment and our continued, rapid growth are further validation of our vision for a simple, open, and unified data protection and management platform,” said Singh. Last June, Druva had raised $130 million, in an investment round led by Viking Global Investors, which made the company a “unicorn”, or a start-up valued at more than $1 billion.

Organisations are quickly moving the workload to cloud

environments, adopting Saas (software-as-a-service) solutions, and looking to combat rising cyber threats. This new investment would fuel the continued expansion of the Druva Cloud Platform help extend the company’s industry leadership as it makes efforts for data protection, Singh said.

Over the last 12 months, enterprises have moved swiftly to adopt cloud solutions to strengthen business resilience. They are also doing it to maintain critical business operations, and support hybrid work models.

Based on this demand, Gartner forecasts cloud adoption would reach a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.7 per cent.

Druva Cloud Platform’s customer base had expanded substantially during 2020. Also, the adoption of multiple Druva Cloud Platform products had increased 50 per cent in the same time period. In the past year, the company’s data under management had grown by more than 40 per cent. Druva supports top organisations including Gamestop, Marriott, Nasa, National Cancer Institute, Pfizer, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.

Phil Goodwin, research director, IDC, said the past 12 months have underscored how organisational agility is at a premium, and IT leaders are increasingly turning to cloud technologies to increase business resilience and velocity. “Companies able to simplify complex data protection processes, particularly by leveraging the cloud, can gain strategic advantage through better data availability,” said Goodwin. “Druva Cloud Platform is architected to make it a compelling choice for organisations navigating cloud migrations.”

“THE UNPRECEDENTED EVENTS OF 2020 HAVE USHERED IN A GENERATIONAL CLOUD TRANSFORMATION FOR BUSINESSES, AND DATA’S INCREASING VALUE IS AT THE VERY HEART OF IT”

Jaspreet Singh Druva’s CEO