Berlin-based web hosting startup cloudpartner.de has raised €1.5 million from Runa Capital, a Moscow-based venture fund operating internationally. This Series A round – the terms of which have not been disclosed – will help the company provide managed services from infrastructure based entirely in Germany.
With the many privacy concerns raised after the extent of the US government’s international espionage operations became known, Cloudpartner.de hopes to provide an alternative to large US cloud providers such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon that will abide by Germany’s strict privacy laws. All customer data will be stored locally and be administered under explicit information security management controls (ISO 27001).
“The cloud is a tectonic shift toward the way IT is delivered and consumed, and to date in Germany it has been leaving behind traditional IT channels – distributors, resellers, VAR, system integrators. The managed services of Cloudpartner.de are delivered securely from a German-based cloud, enabling these traditional channels to survive and thrive in the new cloud world,” commented Runa Capital’s founder Sergey Beloussov.
The company is not starting from scratch. It will be taking Microsoft products and “tailoring them specifically to the needs of German SMBs”. “With Microsoft we also use a technology from the USA, but we are seeking to break the dominance of US cloud hosting services by offering German IT companies a secure local alternative,” Cloudpartner.de CEO Markus Kempkes explained.
In the foreseeable future, the startup will keep focusing on the German market, Runa Capital’s PR Director Liliana Pertenava told East-West Digital News. “At a certain stage, further expansion across Europe may be considered. Runa will be there to help with its vast contacts in the cloud business.” The startup has no plans to enter the Russian market, Pertenava added.
Russian money for global clouds
As Russian venture investors have been asserting themselves on the global scene over the past few years, cloud companies have become one of their favorite targets.
Last year Runa invested in Dutch startup Backup Agent and in the US cloud telephony service provider Infratel, while Maxfield Capital, a $100 million fund, invested in Java application hosting platform Jelastic. Runa Capital also teamed up with Almaz Capital to support global cloud ERP vendor Acumatica.
In 2012 Almaz took part in a $7 million round for US cloud backup provider nScaled while VTB Capital made a $7.5 million capital injection in Eccentex, a California-based cloud computing solutions provider for dynamic case management.
