US-based app development platform operator Vercel secured $150m yesterday in a series D round featuring cybersecurity services provider Latacora, internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet and enterprise software provider Salesforce.
Venture capital firm GGV Capital led the round, which included Accel, Bedrock Capital, CRV, Geodesic Capital, Greenoaks Capital, 8VC, Flex Capital, SV Angel and Tiger Global Management.
The round took the company’s overall funding to $313m and valued it at $2.5bn. Alphabet and Salesforce participated through corporate venturing subsidiaries GV and Salesforce Ventures.
Founded in 2015, Vercel provides a software tool that allows web app developers create products using its proprietary Next.js framework, which is designed to help static web pages achieve search engine optimisation.
The company will use the cash to increase headcount, improve its platform and further expand its enterprise customer base.
Salesforce Ventures and GV had joined Latacora in a $102m series C round in June this year led by Bedrock Capital and also backed by 8VC, Accel, CRV, Geodesic Capital, Greenoaks Capital, Flex Capital, GGV Capital and Tiger Global at a reported valuation of $1.1bn.
GV had already led a $40m series B round for the company in December 2020, investing alongside Greenoaks Capital, Bedrock Capital, Geodesic Capital, CRV and Accel, the last two having previously taken part in a $21m series A alongside Jordan Walke and Nat Friedman eight months before.
Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch said: “With the web increasingly becoming the go-to platform for major app development and deployment and Next.js at the core of that movement, Vercel’s relevance and criticality only continues to grow.”
