Appirio Receives $60 Million In VC Funding, Plans More Acquisitions

Cloud provider Appirio said it has received $60 million in venture funding, much of which it plans to use for mergers and acquisitions to bolster its worldwide cloud consulting practice.

The funding, one the largest of its kind according to Appirio, will also be invested in its technologies and in its CloudSpokes crowdsourcing developer community, which has more than 30,000 developers in more than 65 countries.

The Series D funding is being provided by the investment firm General Atlantic, with participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital and GGV Capital, Appirio said.

The infusion of cash should continue Appirio’s rapid growth as a player in the rapidly expanding cloud arena.

“We started out with the notion of helping enterprises move to the cloud and we said we would transform the global systems integrator model. This remains true today,” Narinder Singh, co-founder and chief Strategy officer at Appirio , said in an interview with CRN. “We want to help large enterprises come to the cloud, and help enterprises connect to social and mobile solutions.”

Singh said Appririo is planning on investing in other cloud providers that are working in similar areas as Appirio. “We would like to buy 'mini-Appirios' that are doing what Appirio is doing around Web services and which are developing ways to help enterprise extend social media like Twitter and Facebook,” he said.

Appirio, which counts Salesforce.com, Google, Workday and Amazon as partners, also wants to continue to develop its own technologies, including its cloud management, assets control and development projects, Singh said.

Last year, Appirio bought four cloud-based companies -- Saaspoint, a London-based cloud consulting services provider; San Francisco-based VMG, a consultancy specializing in structured, cloud-focused training and learning programs; Louisville, Ky.-based Infowelders, a Salesforce.com consulting and ISV player; TRE3 Group, a technology services firm that provides collaborative selling solutions.

Gary M. Reiner, an operating partner of General Atlantic, said in a statement that Appirio is “defining what a next-generation technology services provider will be in the era dominated by cloud solutions.

“The company’s unique combination of technology and crowdsourcing - along with their cloud focus and experienced team - have the potential to completely disrupt the $793 billion worldwide Global Systems Integrator market,” Reiner said.

Appirio, a privately owned company, does not release income and revenue figures. However, Appirio said in a statement that in 2011 it increased year-over-year revenue by over 80 percent.