Science & Technology
Science and Technology
Science and Technology
Tue, June 30, 2009
Mon, June 29, 2009
CloudSwitch, Inc.: CloudSwitch Adds Industry Veteran John McEleney as CEO and Secures New Round of Financing
BURLINGTON, MA--(Marketwire - June 29, 2009) - CloudSwitch, Inc. today announced that it has added John McEleney as its Chief Executive Officer and President and completed a second round of financing from top-tier venture capitalist firms. Led by Commonwealth Capital Ventures, the $8 million series B round includes initial investors Matrix Partners and Atlas Venture and brings the Company's total funding to more than $15 million.
CloudSwitch ([ www.cloudswitch.com ]) is developing an innovative software appliance that delivers the power of cloud computing seamlessly and securely so enterprises can dramatically reduce cost and improve responsiveness to the business. With CloudSwitch, enterprises are protected from the complexity, risks and potential lock-in of the cloud, turning cloud resources into a flexible, cost-effective extension of the corporate data center.
John McEleney joins the Company after a highly successful tenure at SolidWorks Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dassault Systems S.A. (
"Cloud computing is a major platform shift and the CloudSwitch approach is unique in addressing the needs of enterprise applications and environments," said John McEleney. "I'm excited to join this world-class team. The level of interest we're seeing from prospects, partners and investors is a reflection of the strength of our value proposition and the exponential growth of the cloud market."
The addition of John McEleney as Chief Executive Officer rounds out a strong existing management team, with seasoned executives from market-leading enterprise software and systems companies including BMC, EMC, Netezza, RSA, the security division of EMC, and Sun Microsystems. McEleney also joins CloudSwitch's board of directors, which includes David Skok of Matrix Partners, Axel Bichara of Atlas Venture, Elliot Katzman of Commonwealth Capital Ventures, Jit Saxena, Andy Palmer and Ellen Rubin.
"Having worked closely with John McEleney for many years, we are excited to back him and the CloudSwitch team," said Elliot Katzman, Commonwealth Capital Ventures. "We believe in partnering with entrepreneurs at the early stages of innovation, and saw the opportunity to accelerate the series B financing as a way to accelerate the growth of the company in this highly dynamic market."
Co-founded by Ellen Rubin and John Considine in 2008, CloudSwitch is built on the vision that cloud computing is a disruptive force that will dramatically improve the economics and flexibility of enterprise computing and reduce the dependency on ever-growing traditional, costly data centers. Rubin was an early member of the management team at Netezza Corporation (
"We are thrilled to add John's talent and leadership to the CloudSwitch team," said David Skok, Matrix Partners, and a member of the SolidWorks board of directors since 1994. "John has a proven track record in building early-stage technology companies into market leaders with impressive financial results. He created a vibrant customer-focused culture at SolidWorks that propelled the company to success, and we look forward to working with him and the team to build CloudSwitch into an equally dominant force in the enterprise cloud market."
About Commonwealth Capital Ventures
Commonwealth Capital Ventures ([ www.commonwealthvc.com ]) (Waltham, MA) is a venture capital firm focused on software and software-based services, Internet and digital media, communications technology, and instruments and systems investments in the Northeastern United States. The firm's collaborative investment approach leverages the entire team's venture and operating expertise, experience, and contacts to guide portfolio companies through all stages of their development. Since its inception in 1995, Commonwealth Capital has invested in more than 140 high-growth companies. Commonwealth currently manages over $580 million of committed capital across four funds.
About Matrix Partners
Matrix Partners is a venture capital firm focused on early stage investments in the communications, consumer Internet, mobile, semiconductor, and software sectors. The firm emphasizes long-term relationships with world-class entrepreneurs. Founded in 1977, Matrix Partners ranks among the industry's top-performing venture capital firms. Prior portfolio companies include Apple, JBoss, OpenWave, SanDisk, Sycamore Networks, and Veritas. The firm manages over $2.5 billion in assets from its offices in Boston, Silicon Valley, Beijing, and India. For more information see [ http://www.matrixpartners.com ].
About Atlas Venture
Atlas Venture is a leading early-stage international venture capital firm that invests in technology and life sciences businesses in the US and Europe. Since inception in 1980, its partners have helped build over 350 companies in more than 16 different countries. In the past decade, 44 portfolio companies have been acquired and 47 are now public companies with an aggregate market capitalization of over $15 billion. Atlas Venture manages over $2.5 billion in capital through offices in Boston and London. For more information, visit [ www.atlasventure.com ].
About CloudSwitch
CloudSwitch provides an enterprise gateway to the cloud. The CloudSwitch software appliance enables enterprises to benefit from the cloud's dramatic improvements in cost, rapid deployment and scaling. Backed by Matrix Partners, Atlas Venture and Commonwealth Capital Ventures, CloudSwitch is based in Burlington, MA and is led by seasoned entrepreneurs from BMC, EMC, Netezza, RSA, SolidWorks and Sun Microsystems. For more information and to receive updates on CloudSwitch, please visit us at [ www.cloudswitch.com ].
CloudSwitch is a trademark of CloudSwitch, Inc. All rights reserved.
