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Canberra-founded data analytics platform provider Instaclustr may soon be acquired by US software company NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) for an undisclosed amount, building on a series of strategic acquisitions made by the new owner.
NetApp says the proposed acquisition will bring together its cloud-based data intelligence platform with Instaclustr’s management solutions to enhance its technology for clients who are increasingly demanding more from providers.
The pair have signed a ‘definitive agreement’, which would see US-listed NetApp buy Instaclustr - founded in Canberra in 2013 and initially bootstrapped by co-founders Peter Lilley and Doug Stuart.
Since then, the company has expanded Internationally and now has offices in the US and Europe, delivering its suite of open source data base services to clients including IBM and ClearCapital.
During that time, the company attracted more than $20 million in funding from investors, including $2 million seed funding from ANU Connect Ventures and $21 million from Bailador Technology Investments (ASX: BTI).
“NetApp has long been a leader in solutions enabling customers to run applications,” NetApp CEO George Kurian said.
“The acquisition of Instaclustr will combine NetApp’s established leadership in continuous storage and compute optimisation with Instaclustr’s fully-managed database and data pipeline services to give customers a Cloud Operations platform that provides the best and most optimised foundation for their applications in the public clouds and on premises.”
For NetApp, the Instaclustr acquisition builds on a series of strategic acquisitions made recently, including Spot, CloudCheckr, Data Mechanics and Fylamynt.
The US company says these purchases have made NetApp a compelling platform for applications that use multiple clouds, lowering costs for clients and saving them time in the process.
“As companies race to modernise and digitally transform in the cloud, they must implement solutions that enable them to focus more on building and releasing cutting-edge applications at speed, spending less on infrastructure management and operations,” NetApp executive vice president and general manager, public cloud services Anthony Lye said.
“Instaclustr does just that and will be a significant addition to our Spot by NetApp portfolio, solving common challenges of cloud complexity, cost overruns, single vendor lock-in, and customers’ lack of internal technical resources.
“The acquisition marks a critical advancement in our strategy to run application driven platforms and infrastructures.”
Instaclustr CEO Peter Lilley said he was excited to see his company work alongside NetApp.
“Data management technology platforms are an increasingly essential priority for today’s modern enterprise as companies look for new ways to accelerate application development for competitive advantage,” Lilley said.
“Instaclustr’s growth has been driven by the fact that companies want to leverage open-source databases, pipelines, and workflow applications without overwhelming themselves with the complexity and cost of managing and operating them.
“We are excited for organisations building applications for their multi-cloud and hybrid cloud reality to benefit directly from Instaclustr’s data PaaS solutions along with NetApp and Spot by NetApp’s infrastructure solutions, while minimising operations burdens.”
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