Spanning Cloud Apps Nabs $6 Million in Series B Funding

Spanning Cloud Apps, Inc., creators of the powerful, enterprise data protection solution Spanning Backup for Google Apps, announced the company has secured $6 million in Series B funding.

An undisclosed strategic investor led the round. Existing investor, Boulder, CO-based Foundry Group LP also participated. The new round brings the total capital raised to date to $9 million.

"We’ve spent the last two years building the best backup system on the planet for the millions of businesses that use Google Apps," said Charlie Wood, CEO and founder of Spanning. "This infusion of capital will allow us to accelerate the build-out of our direct sales team and reseller channel, while extending the product lead we’ve established over our competitors. It also provides us with an important strategic partner."

Company executives anticipate growing headcount at Spanning’s Austin, TX-based HQs from 20 employees today to 50 by the end of 2013.

Businesses are increasingly moving away from the traditional desktop-based Microsoft Office to the more collaborative and cost-effective cloud-based Google Apps. With over five million businesses and 50 million users currently leveraging Google Apps worldwide, and 5,000 businesses migrating to Google Apps each day, it represents a fast growing business productivity solution segment. With more business-critical information in the cloud, protecting against data loss means avoiding devastating IP, business process and financial losses. According to a recent Aberdeen Group survey, one-third of cloud computing users have suffered a data loss.

"Spanning’s cloud-to-cloud backup solution solves a critical issue for leading organizations worldwide whose data is at risk," said Seth Levine, MD, Foundry Group, and Spanning board member. "This leadership team has extensive experience in Google Apps and a deep track record of success in enterprise software. They are building the right culture and have a great vision for growing their business."

Highly-rated by Google Apps Marketplace users,
Spanning Backup provides:

• A secure cloud-to-cloud environment for protecting Google Apps data and SSAE 16 Type II audited processes that ensure its integrity.
• Backup and recovery of the complete Google Apps suite: Gmail, Drive, Sites, Calendar and Contacts.
• Robust data recovery capabilities to easily recover data in the event it is lost or corrupted.
• Constant monitoring of backup, allowing administrators to correct issues before they become problems.
• An user interface that allows end users to easily restore emails and files without the help of IT.

"Business is being transformed by the ease, cost-effectiveness and flexibility of the cloud. At the same time, users are realizing the data loss risks inherent in the cloud and seeking a solid data protection solution," said Jeff Erramouspe, chief revenue officer, Spanning. "Our vision is to allow organizations to confidently take full advantage of cloud computing through data protection."

Since its founding in 2010, the company has helped thousands of business customers and tens of thousands of users backup and restore their business-critical data.