A multimillion-dollar deal has gained for one firm independence from one of the largest cloud-computing services companies.
Earlier this month, several subsidiaries formed on behalf of a San Antonio-based secure backup company for businesses raised $11 million in equity among eight investors — allowing the firm, known as JungleDisk LLC, to become independent from Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX).
Now JungleDisk, which is led by chief executive officer Bret Piatt, aims to expand its operations and hire dozens more employees in the coming year. The company is set to lease a corner office suite on the 2nd floor of the Rand building, a few floors down from Geekdom LC., a tech-centric co-working space.
JungleDisk LLC, which is powered by the cloud, was acquired by Rackspace in 2008 as part of a deal that also included another startup at the time called SliceHost Inc. The price tag was $11.5 million in cash and stock.
The price of freedom can be steep in the technology sector. Holding companies for JungleDisk — namely Porthcawl Jackson LLC, Porthcawl TopCo Holdings Inc. and Porthcawl MidCo Holdings Inc. — sold the multimillion-dollar fund with a minimum investment of $250,000, according to a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange filing.
An additional debt offering listed as part of the deal, as well as other terms, was not publicly disclosed.
Piatt previously worked for Rackspace as the general manager of its cloud office service, which included JungleDisk as one of the services provided.
As part of the transition, a board of directors was created. Huw Edwards was listed as the chief strategy and financial officer of JungleDisk and also as a director of the company. Edwards previously worked as the general manager of JungleDisk, when it was part of Rackspace.
Local meat processing firm leader Neal Leonard is also a director. Leonard runs namesake firm Leonard Holding Co., which includes subsidiaries Surlean Foods and New Earth Soils and Compost.
The founder of Inspired eLearning LLC, Martin Rico, is also a director and shareholder in JungleDisk, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Kristen Mosbrucker: Reporter San Antonio Business Journal