The financing included VentureLink LP and Covington Capital for $2.5 million each, and several unnamed individuals and companies for the remaining $3.4 million.
The company makes software to help companies control costs and IT performance through managing virtual servers.
Embotics, which has seen 300 per cent sales growth in the past year, plans to use this round of funding to accelerate its push to sell its technology overseas – just at the time that cloud computing is becoming popular among international companies.
"Right out of the gate, we want to hire 10 people across (engineering and sales) functions," said Embotics CEO Jay Litkey in an OBJ interview.
The company is not disclosing the amount of staff it has globally due to competitive reasons, but says it is planning to do hiring in Ottawa. It has staff in the United States and Europe as well.
A recent Gartner Group poll that Mr. Litkey read noted that 75 per cent of surveyed firms plan to execute on a private cloud strategy in the next 24 months.
"Every single IT technology company on the planet is trying to figure out how to latch on to the trend of cloud," Mr. Litkey said. The company, which he says has been in virtual stealth mode since its founding, is planning to talk publicly more often about its technology now "to let people know we didn't show up yesterday."
Embotics is looking to expand its presence in international markets, mainly through resellers. One example is a recent deal with German-based Magirus, which sells IT solutions through Europe. The contract gives Embotics access to 6,000 resellers in the region.
The most recent financing round, officially announced Tuesday, marks $18 million raised for the company since it was founded in 2006. This includes three major rounds across multiple closings, Mr. Litkey said.
Its last financing, for an undisclosed amount, took place in February 2011. That round of funding was intended to help Embotics increase international sales and marketing for its flagship V-Commander technology. The product allows users to automate virtual server creation and manage their effect on capacity and performance.
Mr. Litkey said the company has signed several deals in the public sector in Canada since then, including with the federal government and the Quebec police force. Other prominent recent Canadian clients include Deloitte and Bell Canada.
Embotics was also named an OBJ Startup to Watch in 2009.
.jpg)
