Check out the pitch deck software startup Replicated used to nab $50 million which lays out the $400 billion infrastructure-as-a-service opportunity
- Replicated netted $50 million from Blue Owl, Lead Edge Capital, and Headline, among others.
- The tech company enables software sellers to deploy apps inside their customers’ own programs.
- CEO Grant Miller told Insider about growth plans and the pitch deck that netted him $50 million.
Blue Owl just led a $50 million funding round for a six-year-old tech company based out of Culver City, California.
Blue Owl Capital, the tie-up of alternative asset manager Owl Rock Capital and private investor Dyal Capital, alongside venture capitalists Lead Edge Capital and Headline are the latest to invest in Replicated, a firm that helps Software-as-a-Service vendors transport apps through secure means.
Cashed-up private lenders like Blue Owl are sitting on trillions of dollars in dry powder, and they’re keen to put their money to work on tech companies poised to grow in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
Software companies in particular are hot commodities for lenders and investors as businesses plow resources into greater remote-working capabilities and water-tight cybersecurity measures.
If a software vendor needs to integrate updates to an application, it can do so safely with Replicated’s tech infrastructure. Replicated’s users can place their apps securely into host environments like Amazon Web Services’ GovCloud or VMware’s Vsphere.
It counts companies like S&P Global, software company Smartbear, and database company Flatfile as customers.
Some of Replicated’s existing investors, including Two Sigma Ventures, Amplify Partners, BoldStart, Ridgeline, and Heavybit also contributed to the $50 million Series C funding.
BoldStart, a seed investor in Replicated, introduced the company to Blue Owl, Grant Miller, co-founder and CEO of Replicated told Insider.
“Our existing investors have done a good job of funneling new investors to us,” Miller said in an interview. “[Blue Owl] just got it from day one.”
It’s Blue Owl’s first investment into Replicated, but it’s a firm the investor has been tracking for several years, Albert Koh, a vice president with the private credit firm said.
It’s a far cry from the $2.3 billion that Blue Owl provided to support Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of Calypso Technologies, but an important part of the firm’s investing strategy. Blue Owl’s invested in a number of private tech companies, and a large part of that is focused on high-growth firms that are still in their early years of development, according to Koh.
Proceeds from the fundraising will hire new engineers and beef up Replicated’s sales and marketing teams, Miller said. The firm currently employs about 80 people, up from 25 a year ago.
Replicated “didn’t need the money” but Miller felt it would be an opportunity missed if the company didn’t take advantage of solid market conditions.
Tech companies are packed with sky-high valuations, and in a world of low-interest rates, investors are clamoring for opportunities to put their money to work on higher-yielding opportunities.
Replicated’s focus on tech Infrastructure-as-a-Service, however, has not been devoid of detractors.
Marc Benioff, founder and co-CEO of Salesforce, predicted the end of such services as companies pivot to cloud-based software or SaaS offerings. But Miller, while acknowledging that Benioff made several correct predictions, said he missed a trick.
“Benioff’s long cried that this $400 billion industry should go to SaaS. It’s dying, but not in the way people think,” Miller said.
Here’s the pitch deck that Replicated used to raise its Series C round of funding.
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