AppDirect Raises $35 Million Series C to Drive Growth of the Global Cloud Economy

San Francisco, Calif., April 10, 2014 — AppDirect, the leading cloud service marketplace and management company, announced today that it has raised $35 million in Series C funding led by new investor Mithril Capital Management. Existing investors, including iNovia Capital and Foundry Group, also participated. The large investment cements AppDirect’s leadership in cloud services brokerage, the fastest growing sector of cloud computing, and will enable the company to continue its rapid, aggressive growth.

“AppDirect’s founding vision was to make it incredibly easy for businesses to find, buy, and use the services they need to be successful. We’re well on our way to making that vision a reality, and with this investment, we’ll be able to accelerate and go even faster,” said Daniel Saks, co-founder and co-CEO of AppDirect. “Now, we can focus on growth without sacrificing the vision and values that have powered our success so far, and will continue to guide us as we shape the future of software delivery and the global cloud economy as a whole.”

AppDirect’s marketplace and management platform makes it possible for companies of all sizes to find, buy, and manage the technology they need to be competitive. The company’s Series C funding follows a year of tremendous growth. Over the past 12 months, AppDirect has launched marketplaces with some of the world’s leading technology companies—including Samsung, Pivotal Cloud Foundry, and TeliaSonera—and expanded its global reach to 20 million businesses.

Significant growth milestones for AppDirect in the past year include:

• AppDirect’s reach has grown from 12 to 20 million businesses worldwide
• AppDirect’s geographic reach has expanded from 80 to more than 150 countries
• The number of business users on AppDirect-powered marketplaces has grown by 200 percent
• Application sales on the AppDirect Network have grown by more than 25 percent month over month
• AppDirect has doubled the size of its team to 150 employees
• AppDirect acquired Standing Cloud, a leading application packaging and orchestration company
• AppDirect opened an office in Montreal, Canada, adding to its global presence that now includes San Francisco, Boulder, Colo., Ottawa, London, and Munich

Based in San Francisco, Mithril is a global technology investment firm founded in 2012 by Ajay Royan, its managing general partner, and Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, and first outside investor in Facebook. Mithril focuses on the long-term success of companies and offers both strategic and financial support to companies as they build powerful and sustainable franchises worldwide. As part of the investment, Royan will join AppDirect’s board of directors.

“AppDirect has created a new category of software that makes technology intuitive and easy to use. Thanks to AppDirect, what we used to call the cloud is solidifying into a concrete and useful resource for countless businesses,” said Ajay Royan, co-founder and managing general partner at Mithril Capital Management. “We invested in AppDirect because we think its rapid growth, constant innovation, and foothold in several industries mark the potential for durable growth as well as transformation of the software economy. Our investment will help AppDirect grow its team and service in order to drive its global impact as a major player in the cloud space.”

The round also marks another investment from the Foundry Group Select fund. Launched late last year by the Foundry Group, the Select fund is specifically earmarked for late-stage growth rounds of portfolio companies that have achieved significant success. “We feel privileged to work with investors who are not only focused on truly disruptive, game-changing companies and technologies, but are also aligned with our commitment to long-term, value-based growth,” added Saks.

Recently named a Forbes Most Promising Company for 2014, AppDirect has also been recognized as a Gartner “Cool Vendor” in Cloud Services Brokerage. In addition, the company has been named to the JMP Securities "Hot 100 Software Companies" list, as well as a top 20 cloud software vendor of the CRN Cloud 100, alongside Citrix, Oracle, and Google.

About AppDirect
AppDirect is the leading cloud service marketplace and management company at the forefront of powering the global cloud economy. Its innovative platform powers the marketplaces of trusted companies around the globe—including Samsung, Staples, Deutsche Telekom, TeliaSonera, Rackspace, Swisscom, Cloud Foundry, and more—and helps connect more than 20 million users in 150-plus countries to leading solutions such as Microsoft Office 365, Box, and Google Apps. Founded in 2009, AppDirect is based in San Francisco and has presence in London, Munich, and Montreal.

About Mithril
Mithril is a global investment firm that provides capital to leading growth companies by partnering with teams who use technology to build valuable and lasting businesses, often in industries long overdue for change. Each of these businesses is unique, but all face common challenges to unlocking long-term growth. Mithril helps navigate these critical inflection points by investing in size and with conviction. www.mithril.com