Venture capital firms Greylock Partners and Sequoia Capital, together with salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), have invested in Skyhigh Networks, a startup that develops security software for cloud computing, according to a statement released Monday.
According to Skyhigh Networks, it has received an additional $40 million funding from the investors. The startup has now received a total $66.5 million in funds after its latest Series C round of funding. Skyhigh Networks plans to use the money to boost its current offerings, hire additional employees and develop new products.
According to Skyhigh Networks CEO Rajiv Gupta, his firm is “capitalizing on its first-mover advantage and extending its market share and mind share in an explosive market that it helped define,” which attracted investments from Greylock Partners and Sequoia Capital.
Why salesforce.com invested in Skyhigh Networks
He added that salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) also provided funding because Skyhigh Networks thought and market leadership as well as its proven track record in enabling the secure adoption of cloud services are a perfect fit with the cloud computing pioneer. Gupta also emphasized that salesforce.com invests in category-creating companies that help grow the cloud economy.
Furthermore, Gupta said salesforce.com, inc (NYSE:CRM) and other cloud service providers such as Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) are partnering with Skyhigh Networks because of its culture.
“The guiding principles that underpin our culture and drive how we conduct ourselves every single day are: transparency, humility, integrity, innovation, and a long-term view that the job is not done until every customer becomes an apostle, and a true spirit of partnership where you look out for each other’s interest,” said Gupta.
Reason for Greylock’s bullishness on Skyhigh Networks
Asheem Chanda, a partner at Greylock Partners and a board member of Skyhigh Networks told the New York Times, “The reason I’m bullish on Skyhigh is that there’s a secular move to the cloud. Employees and companies are increasingly using cloud services.
Skyhigh Networks started its business only two years ago, and it has already 200 customers including BMC Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:BMC) Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) and DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV). The startup boasts that it helps its customers achieve tangible benefits such as high ROI, risk reduction and secure cloud adoption.
