Avere Systems, a US-based hybrid cloud technology developer backed by data storage equipment manufacturer Western Digital, agreed yesterday to be acquired by software producer Microsoft for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2008, Avere Systems has developed a scalable file system for cloud, on-site and hybrid data storage.
The technology facilitates the genertion of large-scale computing workloads by clients such as animation film studios, life sciences businesses and financial services groups. Microsoft hopes to integrate the technology into its cloud computing platform, Azure.
Avere had raised $97m in funding, most recently closing a $14m series E round in March 2017 that featured Western Digital’s corporate venturing arm Western Digital Capital and internet technology provider Google.
Venture capital firms Menlo Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Tenaya Capital also contributed to the series E round, having also invested in Avere’s $20m Western Digital Capital-led series D round in 2014.
Jason Zander, corporate vice-president of Microsoft Azure, said in a blog post: “By bringing together Avere’s storage expertise with the power of Microsoft’s cloud, customers will benefit from industry-leading innovations that enable the largest, most complex high-performance workloads to run in Microsoft Azure.
“We are excited to welcome Avere to Microsoft, and look forward to the impact their technology and the team will have on Azure and the customer experience.”