Investment Round to Fuel Rapid Growth for Commercial Open Source CRM Provider
CUPERTINO, Calif. (February 07, 2008) –
SugarCRM, the world’s leading provider of commercial open source customer relationship management (CRM) software, today announced the completion of a $20 million round of financing led by New Enterprise Associates, bringing total funding to $46 million. Existing investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Walden International also joined the round.
SugarCRM will use the proceeds to fund continued growth in the CRM market, including research and development and global expansion, particularly in Europe and Asia.
“SugarCRM’s commercial open source model is transforming the CRM market,” said Scott Sandell, General Partner, New Enterprise Associates. “SugarCRM’s strong set of products, customer momentum, and world-class management team positions the company for continued rapid growth.”
“This additional funding will allow SugarCRM to accelerate its goal of moving the CRM market from a proprietary lock-in model to an open, value-based model by delivering the most modern, open, flexible CRM platform in the industry,” said John Roberts, CEO and Co-Founder, SugarCRM.
Since its founding in 2004, SugarCRM has seen global adoption of its commercial open source CRM products, with over four million downloads, 470 product extensions, 75 language translations, more than 60,000 community members, over 12,000 registered developers, and a customer base of nearly 3,000 commercial accounts.
SugarCRM’s innovation in the CRM market has been recognized by industry experts, with the company being named a “Rising Star” by CRM Magazine, an Always On Top 100 Private Company, and a Leader in the InfoTech Decision Diamond for CRM Solutions.
In December 2007, the company announced the release of Sugar 5.0, a landmark release that includes an Ajax email client, multiple homepages for users, a state-of-the-art multi-instance On-Demand architecture and Module Builder, which gives non-technical users the ability to develop and deploy custom modules within the application.
To download Sugar Community Edition, please visit: http://www.sugarforge.org/content/downloads/downloads.php#ce
About NEA
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) is a leading venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs create and build major new enterprises that use technology to improve the way we live, work and play. Since its founding in 1978, the firm has followed the same core principles: supporting its entrepreneurs, providing an excellent return to its limited partners, and practicing its profession with the highest standards and respect. NEA focuses on investments at all stages of a company’s development, from seed stage through IPO. With approximately $8.5 billion in committed capital, NEA’s experienced management team has invested in over 550 companies, of which more than 160 have gone public and more than 230 have been acquired. NEA has U.S. offices in Chevy Chase, Maryland; Menlo Park, California; and Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. has an office in Bangalore, India and New Enterprise Associates (Beijing) Ltd. has offices in Beijing and Shanghai, China.
For additional information, visit www.nea.com.
About Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Draper Fisher Jurvetson is the preeminent venture capital firm with global presence through a network of partner funds, with offices in more than 33 cities around the world and over $5.5 billion in capital commitments. DFJ’s mission is to identify, serve, and provide capital for extraordinary entrepreneurs anywhere who are determined to change the world. Over the past twenty years, DFJ has been proud to back more than 300 companies across many sectors including such industry-changing catalysts as Hotmail (acquired by MSFT), Baidu (BIDU), Skype (acquired by EBAY), United Online (UNTD), Overture (acquired by YHOO), Athenahealth (ATHN), EnerNOC (ENOC), Interwoven (IWOV), Four11 (acquired by YHOO), Parametric (PMTC), and Digidesign (acquired by AVID).
About Walden International
Walden International is a leading international venture capital firm that has provided investors access to cross-border IT opportunities with the advantage of an unrivaled Pan Asia network since 1987. The firm’s funds total over US$1.8 billion in committed capital. WI’s investments include Creative Technology (SGX: CREAF SP), MindTree Consulting (BSE: MTCL IN), SINA (NASDAQ: SINA), SMIC (NYSE: SMI and HKSE: 0981.HK), WebEx (acquired by Cisco). For more information, please visit www.waldenintl.com.
About SugarCRM
SugarCRM is the world’s leading provider of commercial open source customer relationship management (CRM) software for companies of all sizes. Sugar easily adapts to any business environment by offering a more flexible, cost-effective alternative than proprietary applications. SugarCRM’s open source architecture allows companies to more easily customize and integrate customer-facing business processes in order to build and maintain more profitable relationships. SugarCRM offers several deployment options, including on-demand, on-premise and appliance-based solutions to suit customers’ security, integration and configuration needs. For more information, call (408) 454-6900 or 1 87 SUGARCRM toll free in the US, email contact@sugarcrm.com, or visit http://www.sugarcrm.com.
Media Contacts:
Chris Harrick, SugarCRM
charrick@sugarcrm.com
408-454-6947
Jen Spark, Schwartz Communications for SugarCRM
SugarCRM@schwartz-pr.com
415-512-0770
Source: SugarCRM