Softricity Gets Boost From VCs

Softricity, which makes an application deployment and management platform called SoftGrid, completed its third round to bring its total funding to $40 million. New investors TD Capital Technology Venture and FA Technology Ventures led the round, joined by Hunt Ventures and Markpoint Venture Partners, along with previous investors Prism Venture Partners, Longworth Venture Partners and Technology Link Capital. The most recent round was oversubscribed, meaning investors offered more funding than Softricity had expected.

"It's a great sign," says Softricity CEO Harry Ruda. "We're pretty pumped up."

Softricity's flagship product, SoftGrid 2.0, simplifies software installation and upgrades by housing applications on a central SoftGrid-powered server and sending them piece by piece to the client devices, eliminating the need for installing and updating applications on a machine-by-machine basis. SoftGrid supports Windows desktops and Windows Terminal Server environments.

"We dramatically reduce software administration and installation time by automating the processes," Ruda said.

Softricity has been aggressively courting resellers in recent months in an effort to strengthen its channel program. The company formed an alliance with Citrix Systems earlier this year, coupling SoftGrid to Citrix MetaFrame clients aiming to reduce the number of servers running MetaFrame, and is currently focused on recruiting Citrix solution providers.

Softricity also recently forged a multi-year strategic alliance with Microsoft involving joint development, sales and marketing initiatives to turn Windows applications into .NET-managed Web services.