Thursday, December 4, 2008

GlassHouse grabs $9.8 million Series F financing

By Mass High Tech Staff

IT consulting firm GlassHouse Technologies Inc. has reportedly pulled in $9.8 million in its sixth round of funding, according to online reports. The Framingham data and storage services provider got financial support from new investor Cisco Systems Inc., a PE Hub article stated.

A vendor-independent business, GlassHouse uses consulting and management services to help companies integrate virtualization technology.

At the time of its Dec. 18, 2007, registration for an initial public offering, GlassHouse revealed hopes of raising $100 million. The PE Hub report cites about $64 million as its current level of total investment. Earlier financing rounds came from GrandBanks Capital, Jafco, Kodiak Venture Partners, Montagu Newhall Associates, Paladin Capital Management, Shiprock Capital, Dell and Sigma Partners. LRG Capital Group, Velocity Capital Group and Leader Ventures also contributed $16 million in convertible note funding, the report said.

Just prior to its IPO registration, GlassHouse went on a year-long $30 million spending spree in acquiring four companies: Chicago-based server virtualization consultancy RapidApp in a stock-and-cash deal worth $10.5 million; London-based data center services company Data Center Moves International for $8.5 million; and Israel-based companies MBI Advanced Computer Systems Ltd. and Integrity Systems Inc. for a total of $10.8 million in stock and cash.

Last year GlassHouse’s total work force more than doubled in 2007 -- from 200 in September 2006 to 425 in September 2007.