Symform Adds $2 Million to Series A

Symform, Inc. has exceeded its growth projection for 2011, achieving an 800 percent increase in its user base over the last six months, a 60 percent quarter-over-quarter gain in license revenue, and more than doubling the number of registered channel partners.

Over the last year, Symform’s Global Cloud Storage Network has expanded with users in 46 countries storing over 2 billion data packets.

The company also received a second patent for its peer-to-peer data storage network, and secured an additional $2 million investment from WestRiver Capital, rounding out Symform’s Series A funding to $7.5 million.

Symfor offers up to 200GB of free storage, and has created a peer-to-peer data storage network that allows users to contribute unused, local storage in exchange for free or flat fee cloud storage. With Symform, users decide how much storage space they want to contribute and can receive up to 200GB of free cloud storage for registering, contributing and referring friends or colleagues.

"Current cloud storage prices are not economical, reaching nearly $1,000 a month on average. We are in the midst of a storage revolution whereby businesses are in need of a much more cost-effective option, but current providers are stymied by the limitations of traditional, centralized datacenter approaches for cloud storage and backup," said Matthew J. Schiltz, CEO at Symform. "This enormous market opportunity has set the stage for Symform’s disruptive, global peer-to-peer storage network, which is offered at a revolutionary low flat fee for unlimited and secure cloud storage. It is this unprecedented value proposition that is fueling our tremendous growth."

Other highlights from 2011 include:

• SSAE 16 Compliance: The company achieved compliance to the recently-revised SAS70 mandate, now known as the Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) 16, which is the highest industry standard to validate controls at service organizations. Symform is the first company with decentralized storage architecture to receive the SSAE 16 compliance for operational controls at a data center.
• Patent Granted: Symform received its second patent in just three years. The title of invention for this latest patent is, "Storage Device for Use in a Shared Community Storage Network," certifying the security, availability, and reliability of devices that store data across the Symform network.
• Industry Validation: In June, a report by analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group acknowledged the advantages of Symform’s cloud storage network over traditional storage vendors, including security, durability, high availability, data protection and low cost. In addition, over the past year, Symform won four awards that recognized its disruptive cloud storage model, including the ChannelWeb Storage Superstar and CRN’s Top 20 Cloud Storage Vendors of 2011.
• Strategic Partnerships: In November, Symform partnered with QNAP Systems to extend QNAP NAS devices to the cloud for affordable and easy backup disaster recovery for SMBs. The company also announced integration with ConnectWise, bringing an unlimited cloud storage option to the ConnectWise platform. In September, Equus MSP solutions and StorageCraft partnered with Symform to offer the first ever unlimited cloud storage included with MSP hardware.