Media Coverages
GridApp Gets $5 Million
by George White
TheDeal.com
June 29, 2005
Database management software startup GridApp Systems Inc. has closed a $5 million Series A financing, boosting its valuation in a deal led by Ascend Venture Group.
The New York-based investment firm contributed $3.5 million to the round alongside the startup's seed-stage investor, Advantage Capital Partners, which chipped in $1 million. Returning angel investors putting in the remaining $500,000.
CEO Robert Gardos declined to disclose a post-money valuation for his 3-year-old company, but he did say it was a "significant up round." He added that the current round "should carry the company to profitability in the next 16 to 18 months."
New York-based GridApp in 2002 raised $400,000 in angel funding as well as $100,000 in founder's money. New York-based Advantage Capital then provided an undisclosed amount of seed capital in late 2002/early 2003.
Gardos said that being headquartered in New York, as opposed to the West Coast, was a boon to the company's ability to raise venture capital. "There's a thriving VC community in New York," he said. "We had no problem connecting with New York's VC community."
Being located in Gotham also helped the startup develop and sell its software, which it pitches to customers in financial services and the pharmaceutical industry, e-commerce companies and educational institutions, said Gardos. "New York City is fantastic for what our company does," he said. "Our growth has been exponential."
In early 2004, GridApp launched its flagship software product, which is designed to give organizations with mutiple databases one unified view into every aspect of their database infrastructure. The technology provides for access management, monitoring and analysis, change management, auditing, as well as replication and disaster recovery.
Gardos said the startup's software also allows its customers to secure their data through encryption, to patch hundreds of databases and to troubleshoot performance problems. "The benefit is significant and the integration is pretty painless," he claimed.
GridApp's clients include: Carnegie Mellon University; Core Services, a provider of Oracle applications consulting and outsourcing services; e-gaming provider World Gaming World Gaming; and Vitas Healthcare Corp.
The startup currently has 20 employees and expects to use the proceeds from the new financing to double its staff over the next nine months. "Most of our efforts will be sales and business development, as well as for further development of our software," Gardos explained.