Apigee, which provides an API platform to simplify the creation of apps, has landed $35 million in a Series E sizable enough it could carry the company to an IPO. The round was led by a fund under management by a subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc ., with participation from Accenture, Bay Partners, Focus Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), SAP Ventures and Third Point Ventures.
“Digital businesses are powered by APIs and Apigee’s platform helps companies turn their digital assets into an engine for ongoing innovation and growth,” said Jin Lee, senior managing director, Accenture Mobility. “We are teaming with a market leader like Apigee because the application economy is creating unprecedented new opportunities in mobility and cloud, and our clients in every industry are aggressively deploying digital strategies to fuel their revenue growth and expand market share.”
The company will use the financing to expand globally as well continue to evolve its platform. The round brings the company’s total funding to $106 million.
Founded in 2005 originally as Sonoa Systems, Apigee specializes in a platform that simplifies APIs, the foundations for software applications. It takes its name from the name of its API management platform. Apigee’s software make it easier for companies to build their own apps, as well as provide the tools to measure the effectiveness and use of those apps. The products allow any company to link applications and relevant data to gain better control over the development and marketing of their apps.
“Mobile changes everything, and every business must have a comprehensive digital strategy that includes reaching customers and expanding through mobile apps,” said Chet Kapoor, Apigee CEO. “Apigee helps companies of all sizes deliver and manage the core elements of a connected mobile world: apps, data and APIs. We are in a market sweet spot, and this additional funding will help us quickly expand our product portfolio and international sales and marketing.”
Based in Palo Alto, Apigee features three product offerings: Apigee Enterprise, an API management platform; Apigee Insights, which provides data analytics; and Apigee API Exchange, an app ecosystem provider.
The company serves over 400 customers, including AT&T, Dell, Shell, Bechtel, OnStar and Marks & Spencer. Its products are used by 20 percent of the Fortune 100 and over 10 percent of the Global 100.
“Apigee helps even the largest organizations evolve their businesses to act more like agile Web companies,” commented Promod Haque, senior managing partner of NVP. “The company has impressive momentum, and we are confident that Apigee will continue its trajectory as our world becomes increasingly driven by data-rich apps as part of the ‘Internet of things.'”