Open-source software provider Red Hat agreed yesterday to acquire US-based IT infrastructure automation software producer CoreOS for $250m, giving exits to chipmaker Intel and internet and technology group Alphabet.
Founded in 2013, CoreOS has developed an open-source software product that helps automate functions for cloud infrastructure such as installing important software updates, updating and patching servers, and tackling issues such as machine failures or networking outages.
The software is compatible with Kubernetes, an open-source system that automates the creation, growth and management of containerised applications. Red Hat will combine it with its existing Kubernetes and container-based offering.
The acquisition comes after $48m of funding, including $20m in a series A round featuring Alphabet subsidiary GV, Accel, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers (KPCB) and Fuel Capital that closed in 2015.
GV also led the company’s $28m series B round in mid-2016, investing alongside Intel’s corporate venturing unit, Intel Capital, Accel, KPCB, Fuel Capital and Y Combinator Continuity Fund.
Alex Polvi, chief executive of CoreOS, said: “Red Hat and CoreOS’s relationship began many years ago as open source collaborators developing some of the key innovations in containers and distributed systems, helping to make automated operations a reality.
“This announcement marks a new stage in our shared aim to make these important technologies ubiquitous in business and the world.”